UM Shore Regional Health Respiratory Therapist Recognized With “Rookie Therapist of the Year” Award

Kendall Dixon, BS, RRT, a respiratory therapist with University of Maryland Shore Regional Health (UM SRH), recently received the "Rookie Therapist of the Year" award from the Maryland/District of Columbia (MD/DC) Society for Respiratory Care (SRC).

"We are so excited, not only at the Respiratory Services department level, but within UM Shore Regional Health as a whole, for Kendall to have won the "Rookie of the Year" award, said Steve Eisemann, BS, RRT, Director, Respiratory Services, UM Shore Regional Health. "Kendall represents everything our department and our organization stand for: A focus on making sure we deliver high quality, efficient patient care."

Dixon, a resident of Greensboro, Md., began working with UM SRH in 2022 after finishing her clinical rotations at UM Shore Medical Center at Easton. Dixon said she enjoyed her clinical rotations and the UM SRH staff so much that she decided to add an additional summer and winter clinical rotation to her schedule, prior to finishing her degree requirements. She graduated from Salisbury University in May 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Therapy and sat for her Registered Therapist certification exams soon after graduation.

"Being considered, nominated and ultimately selected for this prestigious award displays only a trace of the encouragement that personnel at UM Shore Regional Health receive," Dixon said. "I am blessed to share success with the incredible individuals that make up our team."

Nominated by numerous colleagues at UM SRH, Dixon received the award at the SRC's ceremony, where details of her nominations were shared. One nominator wrote, "During the worst part of the COVID-19 pandemic surge at UM Shore Regional Health, during 2021 and 2022, Kendall came on board to our team as a senior extern during former Governor Larry Hogan's emergency order. She worked as an "extender" to our respiratory therapists and made a massive difference in our ability to care for an overwhelming number of patients. Not only was she attending classes at Salisbury University while paying for summer and winter internships with Shore, she also worked nights and weekends when we needed her in order to help us through the worst part of the COVID surge."

"We were so busy that our staff was working overtime on a regular basis," wrote another nominator. "With an increase of very sick COVID patients, our hospital, like many others, saw full units and our workload was immense. She was a great help to our department and she worked tirelessly to ensure our team members were covered and our patients were well-taken care of."

"Kendall is a breath of fresh air," another nominator wrote. "She is fully committed to learning and growing in this position with Shore Regional Health, and providing exceptional care to our communities."

The MD/DC Society for Respiratory Care "Rookie Therapist of the Year" award recipient is selected by a committee. Criteria for recognition include exceptional service to the profession and/or place of employment; leadership in the field of respiratory care at the local, state or national level; involvement in the development and implementation of innovative strategies/protocols that improve the delivery of respiratory care or enhances the practice of respiratory care; exceptional team leadership skills that motivate others to higher standards of care and practice and advancement in degrees, credentials and/or specialty practice. The therapist must be in their first two years of working as a licensed respiratory therapist in order to be eligible for recognition.