Meet Jonathan Hecht, a two-time UT Austin School of Nursing alumnus, BSN 2004 and MSN 2011, and a current part-time PhD student. “I am currently a Nursing Director at Dell Seton Medical Center at The University of Texas at Austin. My responsibilities include oversight of the inpatient abdominal transplant program, the neurosciences service line, and advanced practice.” Mr. Hecht is also a board-certified adult clinical nurse specialist and holds specialty certifications in adult critical care nursing and neuroscience nursing.
Jonathan strongly believes that The University of Texas of Austin School of Nursing has prepared him to address many of health care’s most complicated and complex challenges. His PhD dissertation will explore the factors that contribute to rapid response team nurse expertise in the acute care inpatient hospital setting. As part of his proposal, he is writing a systematic review on the facilitators and barriers of rapid response team activation with Drs. Beth Heitkemper and Linda Yoder.
Mr. Hecht has spent his entire professional career at Brackenridge Hospital, now Dell Seton Medical Center. Since 1999, he has served in many roles including: clinical assistant, staff nurse, unit nurse educator, department clinical nurse specialist, advanced practice supervisor, and now, nursing director. “I have led multiple quality improvement initiatives over the years including developing a nurse-driven protocol for urinary catheter removal, implementing a bundle of interventions aimed at preventing catheter-associated urinary tract infections, and creating protocols and care standards for a dedicated Neurological Intensive Care Unit (ICU) that is slated to open in June of 2023. This new unit will be the only dedicated Neurological ICU in Central Texas!” Mr. Hecht looks forward to continuing this work through the generation of new knowledge and implementation of evidence-based practices following the completion of his PhD.
In addition to his work in the hospital setting, Mr. Hecht has supported the UT Austin School of Nursing for many years as a clinical affiliate instructor. He regularly provides guest lectures on a variety of topics to Alternate-Entry Master of Science in Nursing (AE-MSN) students in their Foundation Year and graduate students in the Adult/Gerontological Clinical Nurse Specialist program during their Acute Care course. As an undergraduate, Jonathan served as the student member of the Undergraduate Admissions Committee. Later, while working towards his MSN, he served as the MSN Representative with the Association of Nurses in Graduate School (ANGS).
We honor Jonathan Hecht for dedicating his career to enhancing the Nursing profession through knowledge and education, and for working to elevate the standards of patient care at one of the largest health care institutions serving Central Texas.