Return to Main Menu

Texan taken with Old South ways, MUSC by Heather Woolwine Public Relations Vicki von Ehrenfried, R.N., is a proud Texan, but these days her heart belongs to the Old South and MUSC Children’s Hospital.   “There’s just this genuine kindness here that’s totally different from the friendliness of Texas,” she said. “When I came to interview here, I passed three or four people on the street and every single person spoke to me. As I look around now, I see that here in the Children’s Hospital. Nobody’s perfect, but there is such a strong sense of every one here really wanting to be the best and provide the best care for each one of our patients.”   It is that desire for total service excellence within Children’s Hospital staff and administration that prompted the merger of children’s services and women’s services under the Children’s Hospital umbrella, and subsequently the creation of von Ehrenfried’s new position as director of Perinatal Services.   “The staff here is at the high end of educational levels,” von Ehrenfried said. “You’ve got the best obstetric and neonatal intensive care unit nurses in the country, and a score of other staff and professionals who are top notch. There’s so much research going on. I want to be a part of all that. Nurses want to work where good things happen.”     She came to the Children’s Hospital in September with years of nursing and administrative experience from the private hospital setting to various medical centers in Utah, Michigan, Texas and Florida. Most recently, von Ehrenfried worked as the director of Women’s Services at Northeast Baptist Hospital in San Antonio. She earned her nursing degree from Texas Christian University, and a master’s degree in business and another in nursing from Texas Women’s University.   Her background in obstetrics and pediatric level III nurseries made her a choice fit for the new job. Her knowledge comes from nursing experience in the pediatric intensive care unit, bone marrow transplant unit, pediatric hematology/oncology unit, and adolescent services.   “I actually began my nursing career wanting to be in labor and delivery because I love caring for mothers and babies, but there were no openings, so I began my pediatric experiences,” she said. “When the chance came along to cross train in high-risk obstetrics (OB), I jumped at it. Since then, it has come to make more and more sense to me to put mothers, babies, and all children under one umbrella as perinatal services.”   Having worked in both areas, von Ehrenfried said she feels that by combining the two, “we will really enhance our OB services here at MUSC.   “We’re ready to follow the MUSC path to excellence that will make us the provider of choice in the area, not only for mothers with high risk pregnancies, but for every mother who desires a caring and quality environment for the delivery of her child,” von Ehrenfried said.   While her immediate responsibilities include directing all obstetrical and nursery services, she sees her most pressing matters at the moment as getting to know her staff and beginning to break down any barriers that might hinder the new perinatal services department from achieving its full potential. “All of these practitioners have been doing wonderful things; now its time to bring them all together as one team,” she said.   Traditionally, much overlap occurs among nursery and children’s services and obstetric services. Von Ehrenfried’s task is to make that overlap work more efficiently, which she hopes will create an environment that is easier to manage from an administrative and business standpoint, and at the same time create better patient outcomes.   Familiar with other hospitals and centers that have worked for and achieved excellence through the Studor Excellence Training Program, von Ehrenfried is optimistic for MUSC and the Children’s Hospital’s future.   “I’m anxious to see where we’ll be in six months to a year,” she said. “I would bring my family here, and it’s important for us to show mothers and their families that they can have positive experiences here and feel that they have gotten the kind of quality care that they want and deserve. This is the premier place to have your baby, receive care for your child and yourself, and the premier place to work.”   A resident of Mount Pleasant, von Ehrenfried is the mother of two grown daughters, grandmother to seven grandchildren, and she loves to spend time with her husband while enjoying the East Coast.     Friday, Dec. 1, 2006 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.