Akron Children’s nurse practitioner 1 of only 5 in the country to receive Magnet Nurse of the Year Award
12-27-2024 (Akron, Ohio)
Leah Rawdon, DNP, APRN-CNP, lead pediatric nurse practitioner at Akron Children’s, is one of five nurses nationally to receive the 2024 Magnet Nurse of the Year Award from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
According to the ANCC, the awards “recognize the outstanding contributions of clinical nurses in each of the five Magnet® Model components: Transformational Leadership; Structural Empowerment; Exemplary Professional Practice; New Knowledge, Innovations, and Improvements; and Empirical Outcomes.”
Rawdon was awarded the 2024 Magnet Nurse of the Year Award in Empirical Outcomes. She was recognized for her work as the lead nurse practitioner of Akron Children’s Hospital Medicine Group, where she leads a team of over 16 Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) across Akron Children’s campuses.
Her contributions include:
- Spearheading the development of the Hospital Medicine APP program, and under her leadership, expanding the scope of practice of the APPs.
- Creating a Short Stay Unit that reduced costs and length of stay for Akron Children’s patients. The unit saw a 15% reduction in overall length of stay, with some diagnoses seeing a 50% reduction.
- Working on the hospital’s adolescent idiopathic scoliosis clinical pathway, which led to a significant reduction in patient length of stay. A clinical pathway is an evidence-based guideline that promotes consistent, safe and effective patient care.
Rawdon joined Akron Children’s in 2006 as a nurse tech and became a staff nurse in 2009. As lead nurse practitioner for Akron Children’s Hospital Medicine Group, she co-manages patient care with hospitalists and sub-specialty providers and works in the Infusion Center.
“Leah’s commitment to advancing nursing practice at Akron Children’s is extraordinary,” said Chief Nursing Officer Chris Young. “As a leader, she has an innovative approach that empowers her team to strive for excellence. As a practitioner, she’s focused on providing the highest quality care to her patients and families. As someone who exemplifies the core principles of the Magnet model, Leah is incredibly deserving of this recognition.”
