TUPELO, Miss.—North Mississippi Medical Center recently honored Kaila Reich, RN, clinical educator for the Mother/Baby Unit and Resource Pool at Women’s Hospital, with the Excellence in Nursing Award for Education.

Reich joined the NMMC staff in 2005 as a nurse on 6 South medical/surgical unit. She transferred to Women’s Hospital in 2011 and worked as a bedside nurse on the Mother/Baby Unit, charge nurse and relief nursing supervisor before assuming the role of clinical educator.

A 2001 graduate of Jumpertown High School, Reich earned an associate degree in nursing from Northeast Mississippi Community College in 2005. She earned an associate degree in general studies from Itawamba Community College and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, both in 2020. Reich is currently pursuing a master’s degree in nursing education from the University of North Alabama in Florence.

Reich is certified as an instructor for Basic Life Support, Neonatal Resuscitation Program, Advanced Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support. She holds Institute for Healthcare Improvement Certification in Quality and Safety, as well as Sigma Theta Tau Nurse Manager Certification.

She and her husband, Chris, live in Saltillo and attend First Baptist Church of Fulton. She has two stepchildren, Rhett and Rivers, as well as two “fur babies,” Sassy the cat and Chica the chihuahua. She is a member of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses and is active with the Women’s Perinatal Collaborative, Mississippi Perinatal Quality Collaborative and Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative.