Rachel Pepper, RN, MS’09, DNP’12, NEA-BC

2012 Early Career Achievement in Nursing Alumna

As a nurse manager at The University of Kansas Hospital, Rachel Pepper,

RN, DNP, NEA-BC, demonstrates excellence every day as a caregiver to patients and as a mentor to other nurses.

Pepper grew up in Dekalb, Mo., where her parents still live. She knew she wanted to be a nurse, so she enrolled in nursing school at Missouri Western State University in Saint Joseph, Mo. She would later earn her master’s and doctorate in nursing from the University of Kansas.

Her first job after earning her bachelor’s in nursing was as a bedside clinical nurse and a unit coordinator at The University of Kansas Hospital’s cardiac telemetry unit. Pepper says that first job helped set the stage for her career. The nature of the evolving unit allowed her to be a leader from the start, and she learned quickly that her actions set the tone for the unit, her team, and their patients. Due to her outstanding leadership skills, Pepper was promoted to nurse manager of the hospital’s renal and transplant progressive care unit in 2006.

In her role as nurse manager, Pepper was given the task of building a new unit with new staff. She coordinated a highly effective team of nurses and support staff and promoted a culture that encouraged the highest levels of quality, patient and family satisfaction, and interdisciplinary teamwork.

Over her career, Pepper has been a mentor to countless nurses and staff and has provided moral and emotional support to patients, families, staff and peers during their most needed times. She approaches every challenge with and upbeat and positive attitude and with a passion for finding the best possible outcome for all involved. She makes sure that every member of her team knows they are valued, and she has developed an open atmosphere of communication among her nurses and staff.

Pepper’s involvement in nursing does not stop with her duties at the hospital. She is an active member and Delta Chapter board member of Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society. She also currently serves as a board member and committee chair of the Kansas Organization of Nurse Leaders, a statewide organization of the Association of Nurse Executives.

Pepper is clearly an individual who has demonstrated amazing contributions to the field of nursing in a short period of time. For that reason, the KU Nurses Alumni Association is thrilled to present Rachel Pepper with the 2012 Early Career Achievement Award.