Rona S. Cushman, NNP

Kristen Elmore is a nurse practitioner who provides care for neonates at Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital. She is certified by the National Certification Corporation and is a member of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses and Nurse Practitioners and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.Ms. Elmore is originally from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Language and Culture from the College of Charleston and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Medical University of South Carolina. Ms. Elmore completed her graduate education at Duke University, receiving a Master of Science in Nursing.Ms. Elmore developed her love for the neonatal population during her undergraduate years at the College of Charleston while volunteering to rock infants in the neonatal intensive care unit at MUSC. She later returned to work at MUSC, initially as a patient care technician, in the Pediatric Emergency Department followed by her first position as a staff nurse in MUSC’s neonatal intensive care unit. She gained a wealth of additional NICU nursing experience working at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC and Duke University Hospital in Durham, NC. She now rejoins MUSC from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH, continuing in her role as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. Ms. Elmore is thrilled to continue to manage the care of this fragile but mighty patient population.Ms. Elmore’s interests include health disparities, infant mortality, discharge planning and home care.Ms. Elmore’s interests include health disparities, infant mortality, discharge planning and home care.

Maria Rodriguez-Santos is an NCC board certified neonatal nurse practitioner providing care for infants at Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital. She is a member of National Association of Neonatal Nurses and Nurse Practitioners (NANN/ NANNP). Ms. Rodriguez-Santos attended college at The Ohio State University, receiving an undergraduate degree of a Bachelor’s of Science is in Human Nutrition. She then entered a graduate program for nursing, completing her Masters of Science in nursing in 2016. Ms. Rodriguez-Santos comes with 9 years of experience from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. She worked as a bedside RN in a level 4 NICU for 5 years before transitioning into the advanced provider role. At the bedside, she gained immeasurable experience with surgical patients from birth to 2 years of age. As an APN, she worked in a busy level 3 delivery facility averaging 6000-8000 deliveries a year with a busy maternal-fetal medicine service. Ms. Rodriguez-Santos served on many committees in her previous position at NCH. She is an NRP instructor, was a mock code instructor, precepted NNP students, and taught a lecture to NNP students at OSU. Her passion project was leading the small baby committee and working with a multidisciplinary team to create a protocol for edge of viability infants to improve outcomes. Ms. Rodriguez-Santos’ interests include precepting new nurse practitioners, edge of viability/small baby population, and neonatal ethics.