Harris Health System RNs named among 20 Outstanding Nurses for 2017

Two Harris Health System nurses are among the 20 Outstanding Nurses for 2017, an award given by the Texas Nurses Association, District 9. The pair joins honorees nominated by peers and coworkers as exemplary registered nurses from greater Houston.

Shela E. Ecobiza, BSN, RN-BC, has been a nursing professional for 27 years. She is a direct care nurse in the Cardiac Intermediate Unit at Harris Health's Ben Taub Hospital.

Ecobiza, a resident of Meyerland, is an active member of the Philippine Nurses Association of Metropolitan Houston, where she's held several leadership positions: president for four terms and treasurer for eight years. Currently, she is the chair of the association's finance committee.

She has also been instrumental in developing various policies for the hospital's cardio-vascular pre-operative and post-operative care units. She also serves as a Magnet Champion, a person who educates colleagues from various disciplines about the Magnet nursing designation embarked by both Harris Health hospitals-;Ben Taub and Lyndon B. Johnson.

Ecobiza mentors others as a clinical preceptor, and serves as a buddy for graduate nurses and RNs from foreign countries. She is active at Holy Family and Second Baptist Church. Most recently, she participated in several #HoustonStrong volunteer efforts aiding victims in the recovery of Hurricane Harvey.

Lourie Moore, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, is a nurse administrator with more than 30 years of nursing experience. She is the director of Harris Health's Nursing Knowledge Management, and is a member of the Executive Nursing Practice Group.

Moore, a resident of Missouri City, is currently a student at the University of Alabama-Huntsville's Doctoral Nursing Program with a concentration in leadership. Her colleagues describe her as dedicated to nursing practice improvement, scholarship and education, evident by her development and implementation of the Nursing Professional Practice Model (NPPM) at Harris Health.

She is an advocate for nursing excellence. She designed online courses for clinical quality improvement, evidenced-based practice and research. For nursing education, she created a module that is interactive with voice-over narration that offers a foundation promoting the tenets of nursing excellence and clinical practice. Moore also is a recipient of the Good Samaritan Foundation's 2016 Excellence of Nursing Bronze Award.

Harris Health employs 2,383 registered nurses throughout its network of hospitals, health centers and specialty facilities, a majority in direct patient care roles. Of the total number, 1,076 RNs work at Ben Taub Hospital, 671 RNs work at Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital and 329 in Ambulatory Care Services.