Nurse Leader Exemplifies Innovation

During the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses once again showed their resilience and innovation. Dr. Tommye Austin, senior vice president and chief nursing executive at University Health System, designed a highly effective mask that would be available to protect health care employees if San Antonio experienced a deluge of COVID-19 patients. When Dr. Austin, who was honored as a 2019 Visionary Leader by the nursing school, became concerned that a flood of patients could deplete the area’s N95 respirator supply, she designed a mask using AC filter material that had a 96.5 percent filtration efficiency. Local alteration shops produced 600 masks per her pattern and instructions.
Photo by Mark Greenberg for University Health System