Methodist Mansfield Medical Center

By
Meredith
Knight

Those who know Nora Frasier weren’t
surprised when she was selected to receive the 2022 Excellence in Leadership
Award from The Texas Organization for Nurse Leadership (TONL). As
vice president/chief nursing officer at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center,
Nora serves as the connection between a nursing staff she admires and a
community she loves.

Each year
TONL bestows the Excellence in Leadership Award to a nurse leader who has
“made significant contributions as a nurse executive demonstrating the
ability to relate and connect with their nursing staff through unique and
effective methods and has
improved their community through schools, clinics, and civic organizations”.
Those who know Nora know she’s done both with heart and innovation.

Yet, this
nursing career that’s impacted so many lives almost didn’t happen. “I was
majoring in psychology when a friend came to visit and convinced me to apply
to nursing school,” she said. “I did so with the intention of becoming a
psychiatric nurse, but the second I stepped into an ICU, I knew I’d found my
calling.”

What
followed has been a long and impactful nursing career spent exclusively at
acute care nursing facilities with the majority of it in nurse leadership.
“What I love about nursing is the perfect blend of caring with science and
technology,” Nora said. “As nurses we assess and analyze what we can do to
make our patients’ better. Then, we apply science and technology to make it
happen. It’s wonderful to be able to make a difference in someone’s life when
they’re at their most vulnerable.”

While the
nurses on the front line practice their craft by applying their hearts and
hands, nurse leaders like Nora make that care possible as they connect the
heart, hands, and head in a relationship-based model of care. “The secret to
our success at Methodist Mansfield is our connection to the community,” Nora
said. “Our mission doesn’t stop at our four walls. This facility has really
raised the standard of caring by owning the responsibility of improving the
health of our community.”

They do this
in many ways including volunteering around the community. They serve
at nonprofit organizations such as Mansfield Mission Center, offer free
sports physicals to high school athletes that include echocardiograms,
sponsor the annual Run with Heart fundraiser, volunteer at community health
fairs, sponsor the annual back-to-school bash, and present the Josh the Otter
drowning prevention program for free around the
community.

Nora herself
serves on the Tarrant County College Foundation board of directors and
volunteers as an appraiser team leader for the American Nurses Credentialing
Center’s Magnet Recognition Program©. “My role with the program enables me to
experience the cultures of many wonderful hospitals during on-site surveys
and gain an extensive network of professional colleagues,” Nora said.

We join
Methodist Mansfield and the Mansfield community in a heartfelt thank you to
Nora and nurses like her who make a difference in the lives of so
many.

The
Texas Hospital Association is celebrating Women’s History Month by honoring
notable women in Texas hospitals, health care and public policy in 2023. Nora
Frasier is one of 23 of those women!