Nursing Care of the Pediatric Neurosurgery Patient

Cathy C. Cartwright, MSN, RN, PCNS, is a Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist in Neurosurgery at Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Mo. Prior to this position, she had worked for over 20 years at the Children's Hospital, University Hospitals and Clinics, Columbia, Mo. in a variety of positions, including Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist in Neurosurgery, Manager of Pediatric Services, Pediatric Outreach Coordinator, and Manager of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. She has received many awards, including an Excellence in Nursing Award (Advanced Practice), an Advanced Practice Research Award, an Excellence in Advanced Practice Award from the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses, the Sigma Theta Tau Excellence in Nursing Award (Alpha Iota Chapter), the Donna Pruzansky Award (Craniofacial), March of Dimes Future of Nursing Award (Pediatric) and a Circle of Excellence Award (Management). From 1990 to 2003 she was a member of Sigma Theta Tau, the National Honor Society of Nursing. She was President of the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses in 2009-10, having previously served as Secretary-Treasurer and Pediatric Focus Group Chair. She has an extensive publication record and has given numerous national and international presentations.

Donna C. Wallace is currently a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at Children's Mercy Hospital, in Kansas City, Mo. Prior to that, she was a Nurse Practitioner for 16 years at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. Ms Wallace has been a manager, and has also held several teaching positions. She has received several awards including the Mary Decker Mentorship Award, and the Excellence in Advanced Practice Award, from the American Association of Neuroscience Nursing (AANN). She is a current Director at Large on the Board of Directors for AANN, and past Special Focus Group Chair for Pediatrics. Her passion for writing has resulted in numerous articles and lectures.