Baylor Nursing Instructor Receives D Magazine Excellence in Nursing Award for Neonatal Nursing

February 26, 2015
Cheryl Riley

Cheryl Riley (right), D.N.P., A.P.R.N., clinical assistant professor and neonatal nurse practitioner program coordinator at Baylor's Louise Herrington School of Nursing, and her husband, John Riley, after Cheryl Riley was awarded the D Magazine Excellence in Nursing Award in Neonatal Nursing. (Photo submitted by Nan Batten Ketcham.)

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WACO, Texas (Feb. 26, 2015) – Cheryl Riley, D.N.P., lecturer and coordinator of the Neonatal nursing program in Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing, received an award for excellence in neonatal nursing by D Magazine.

“We are all so proud of Dr. Cheryl Riley’s recognition as the winner of the D Magazine Excellence in Nursing Award in neonatal nursing,” said Shelley F. Conroy, Ed.D., dean of Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing in the Robbins College of Health & Human Sciences. “It is our faculty who make graduate nurse practitioner programs at Baylor so outstanding. Each one of us in attendance who were finalists were thrilled and honored to be recognized by our colleagues.”

Riley, who received her B.S.N. and M.S.N. from Baylor University and her D.N.P. at Creighton University, has practiced nursing internationally in Vietnam and India, focusing on infant and maternal mortalities and the benefit of delayed umbilical cord clamping.

“Winning the award has affirmed that what I’m doing is important,” Riley said. “It was an honor to be nominated by my peers, who are all amazing nurses doing amazing things. It was wonderful to be recognized among them.”

Riley has been a neonatal nurse practitioner for 10 years, but she states that she enjoys teaching as much as nursing.

“I love watching when students are able to connect different concepts and have ‘aha’ moments,” Riley said. “Watching students grow and connect the dots is very rewarding. Plus, I work with many of them clinically after graduation, so it’s nice to see them grow from my students to my peers.”

by Ashton Brown, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.

ABOUT LOUISE HERRINGTON SCHOOL OF NURSING

The Baylor Louise Herrington School of Nursing was established in 1909 as a diploma program within Baylor Hospital in Dallas, which is now Baylor University Medical Center, and in 1950 became one of the six degree-granting schools of Baylor University. The first Bachelor of Science in nursing degrees were awarded in 1954, establishing the school as one of the oldest baccalaureate nursing programs in the United States. In 1999, the School was renamed the Louise Herrington School of Nursing after Louise Herrington Ornelas, a 1992 Baylor Alumna Honoris Causa, made a $13 million endowment gift to the school. The School of Nursing offers a bachelor of science in nursing degree and a master of science in nursing degrees in advanced neonatal nursing, nursing administration and management, and family nurse practitioner programs, which are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. The School also offers a nurse midwifery doctorate in nursing practice.