Thomas Receives Impact Award
Robin Thomas, a Clinic Nurse IV at Anschutz PICU at Children’s Hospital Colorado was recently recognized with the 2026 Ped Nursing and Clinical Impact Outstanding Innovation Award. She is a nurse in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Children’s Hospital Colorado (CHCO), having worked there for 23 years. She originally left adult critical care at another hospital in the Denver area for Children’s with the hopes of gaining more pediatric experience to be a flight nurse but really fell in love with working at Children’s in the PICU and the patients and families they serve.
CHCO serves patients and families from the entire Rocky Mountain Region, including western North Dakota. CHCO is named one of the Top 10 Pediatric Hospitals in the nation according to US News and World Report year after year. CHCO has 600 licensed patient beds, employs around 4,000 nurses, and admits over 21,000 patients annually. The PICU admits around 4,000 patients annually to their 48 bed unit. They care for critically ill children aged 2 weeks to young adults with a variety of diagnoses, including trauma, liver and kidney transplants, oncologic, respiratory, surgical or medical life threatening illnesses/conditions.
Her nomination said that she led the creation and implementation of the Critical Care Outreach Team, an innovative model designed to improve the recognition and management of clinic deterioration across Children’s Hospital Colorado. Recognizing that the existing Rapid Response Team structure no longer met the needs of an increasingly complex patient population, she developed a dedicated critical care outreach program that provides ongoing support from the earliest signs of deterioration through stabilization, transfer and follow-up. CCOT enhanced collaboration between acute and critical care teams, improved early intervention, and reduced emergency transfer rates across multiple inpatient units. By redesigning workflows, standardized processes and embedding real-time education and coaching, Robin transformed critical care outreach from a reactive service into a proactive, hospital-wide patient and prevention program.
The nursing impact awards are held every year to recognize excellence in nursing and the contributions of nursing team members in different roles throughout the Children’s organization. The particular category of her award was focused on recognizing a colleague that adapts a strategy to accomplish care delivery or work in a new or different way, including the adoption of new technology, modifying workflows and implementing new equipment. The program she helped to develop and implement, the Critical Care Outreach Team (CCOT), was put into place to support the acute care units by collaborating and intervening in a proactive response for patients at risk of clinical deterioration.
This is not the first award she has received for her work. In 2021 she received the Circle of Excellence Award through AACN.
As a clinical resource nurse for the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the time, her influence led to excellent outcomes in several areas.
Within the PICU, she was an active member of the interdisciplinary Quality, Safety, and Practice Steering Committee and led the Medication Safety Team. In those roles, she mentored and coached individuals and teams in development and implementation of patient safety and quality improvement initiatives.
Her influence helped lead to a reduction in CLABSIs, CAUTIs, PIV extravastions, and medication errors. As a results, QSPC received the 2019 CHCP Medical Award for Excellence in Patient Outcomes.
Her award information noted she is a strong, passionate and respected nurse leader whose ability to collaborate so effectively has led to enduring partnerships, excellent patient outcomes and a strong, cohesive interdisciplinary team.
Robin is a 1995 Stanley High School graduate. She earned her nursing degree from Dickinson in 2000. She lives in the Denver area and works at the Children’s Hospital there. She is the daughter of Roger and Renae Gjellstad of Stanley.
She says that one fun fact is that her sister, Rhonda, is also a nurse at Children’s Hospital. The work together on occasion and love when they can visit with any families with connections to home. They both give their mom, Renae, all the credit and recognition as who inspired them to become a nurse and continue to look up to her. She says she is also so proud to be sister-in-law to Beth Gjellstad, another family nurse.