committee chairs 2021-22

 Miss. Manjusha T Maprel is the Robotic surgery coordinator at the South Texas Veteran’s Healthcare System, with over 20 years of experience in the operating room and specialized in Robotic surgery. She served as the team leader and the point person for Robotic surgeries. She is dedicated to coordinating and training resident doctors, nurses, and technologists in robotic surgeries. She served as a mentor for student nurses and participated in various performance improvement projects. She was one of the first daisy award winners at the Memorial Healthcare System. She is currently pursuing her DNP degree and hoping to graduate in August 2021. 

Ven Mallina has been a nurse for the past 6 years. He graduated with his BSN from Wayland Baptist University, he gained most of his bedside experience working with cardiac patients. He has worked on a Cardiovascular Transitional Services unit as a Patient Care Tech and moved on up to be an RN for Methodist Healthcare. While working at Methodist, he was also working at University Hospital as CVICU and Transplant ICU nurse. He enjoyed this more than anything as he learned a great deal recovering post surgical patients from the OR, managing critically ill patients. He was also a preceptor for new nurses and nursing students, and also was in the mentorship program at Methodist. He was recognized by many patients and leadership for his keen interest in helping his patients and his going “above and beyond” qualities by being an excellent role model for fellow nurses. Ven is currently working as a Health Management Nurse. His role is to make sure that his clients with chronic, rare conditions are following their care plan, avoiding hospital stays/emergency room visits and being an advocate for his members. Ven will be leading the public relations committee for SAINA and he is excited to bring this professional organization to the forefront in this generational social media platform. 

 Soosi Abraham is a nationally certified operating room nurse with over 38 years of experience working in different parts of the world. Dedicated, passionate and hardworking, Soosi started her career in India where she completed nursing school in Wanless Hospital Miraj and proceeded to work as a nurse in the operating room. After several years in India, Soosi moved to Saudi Arabia where she worked as the sterile processing department supervisor at King Khaled Hospital Al- Kharj. During this time, Soosi helped establish a new operating room and sterile processing department. Soosi eventually moved to Dubai in 1988 where she worked as an RN at a level one trauma center. In her capacity as a medical professional, she has assisted in general surgery, neuro, plastic and ENT procedures. Soosi’s extensive career has enabled her to work in many different contexts and grow in her field of knowledge and skills. In 2003, Soosi moved to San Antonio, Texas and worked as an RN at Methodist Hospital. As a circulating nurse, she mainly worked in the cardiovascular operating rooms for open heart
procedures, heart transplants, and vascular surgeries. From 2006 – 2016, Soosi was an RN at University Hospital San Antonio where her extensive responsibilities included covering open heart procedures, lung transplants, and working with incoming nursing/medical students. Currently, Soosi works as a cardiothoracic nurse in the operating room at South Texas VA Hospital. In addition to her medical responsibilities, she is also the Charity Coordinator at SAINA where she facilitates donations to help the less fortunate members of society. She was the recipient of
the Transformational Leadership Award in 2019 for her fundraising efforts for the homeless population in San Antonio. Soosi is an active member of her church, St. Mary’s Indian Orthodox Church San Antonio. Her hobbies include gardening, art, and cooking. In her spare time, she likes to spend time with her family, which includes her husband, three daughters, one cat, and one dog. 

Mariamma Shaju is a patient care coordinator. She started her nursing career at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi in the Neurosurgery ICU and worked there for two years. Afterward, she moved to Abu Dhabi and worked in a multispecialty ICU for 15 years. Following the birth of her two sons, she immigrated to the U.S. in 2003. Despite being placed in a new environment, she continued to thrive, build upon her experiences, and promoted the development of every unit she joined. She initially worked at the Methodist Medical ICU for two years and transferred to University Health System in the Surgical and Trauma ICU. During her time in the Surgical and Trauma ICU, Mariamma became a CPR instructor and obtained a national certification with CCRN. After an additional two years, she found her second home, the Medical/Surgical floor at University Health System where she currently working.  Mariamma was recruited to be a member of the hospital-wide pain committee and she presented a project on how to relieve pain with non-pharmacological methods.  Furthermore, she was the chair for the pain committee on her floor and was responsible to train staff on pain management and documentation. In 2017 she was part of a team that completed the Clinical Safety and Effectiveness Course and presented her research project about early mobility and fall prevention. The findings of the research were implemented in 5ACU (Mariamma’s unit) with great success and were adopted by the education department to train new staff members. It was one of the Magnet stories in 2020. Throughout her journey, Mariamma has collected many awards and was recognized by her peers and superiors. Mariamma is a recipient of the Shining Star, Nursing Excellence, the Luminary Award, the 25 best Nurses of South Central Texas in 2019 from The San Antonio Nursing Consortium (SANC), and recipient of the 2019 Exemplary Professional Practice Award from San Antonio Indian Nurses Association (SAINA).

Her latest project is Power Through, in which she is part of a team that prepared and developed tools for a program that focused on discharging the patient before noon. It was piloted in 5ACU and proved to be beneficial for both the hospital and the patient since resources for discharge were prepared early and allowed patients to be discharged faster and more efficiently. Looking back Mariamma has been a registered nurse for 32 years, a charge nurse for the past 20 years, and a PCC from 2013 to the present date. She began her path to success as a young girl inspired by Mother Theresa and still continues to put forth the same passion in nursing. She is one of the founding members and was co-chair for SAINA election board. Plans to be involved in SAINA activities and other community activities. 

 Shinto was born and raised in a small Village called Venmony in Idukki district Kerala, India. He is the one and only person from his village who migrated to the United States of America to date. After having completed his associate degree in Nursing in 2005 in Bangalore, India  he moved to Chicago, IL, in 2007 and then moved to San Antonio Texas in 2012. Currently working as a Registered Nurse at University Health System San Antonio. Shinto currently serving as Vice President of San Antonio United Malayalee Association (SUMA). He is Married to Saimol who is working as an FNP at South Texas Rural Health. He is a father of 5 wonderful kids. Shinto takes pride in being an active member of SAINA and enjoys well working with others to create better a brighter Indian Nursing community in San Antonio. 

 Tessy Kadavil is excited to share her knowledge, skills, and leadership to bring SAINA along with the APRN forum to the next level of professional achievements as well as our contribution to the local community. She is an FNP practicing as a solo practitioner since 2005 with three employees excluding me. She has a dream of conducting community medical clinics to bring healthcare services to our medically underserved people. We at SAINA have contributed tremendously to the underserved and forgotten people in our city San Antonio, and I want to continue that vision. I see the struggles that licensed and certified APRNs deal with to find a suitable job for their qualifications, so this project can help thousands of people who suffer from illnesses and cannot afford the medical attention they need, while also helping APRNs find meaningful work. I quote Mother Teresa, "I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples." as an organized body SAINA can make many ripples to touch the life of many medically underserved people in our community and we could be the stone.

I believe in the personal strength of each person I meet, and I always try to bring the best out of them. I am personally appreciated by my patients, their families, and my coworkers for the guidance I provided to them that improved their knowledge, strength, and reduced their weakness. I have a high rating of patients and their families' the satisfaction of the care provided to them. I was recognized as a TOP NURSE PRACTITIONER in San Antonio in the year 2020 by Today's Nurses Organization. In the year 2020 due to COVID 19, SAINA and the APRN forum could not perform many activities in our agenda. I am proud to be an Indian nurse and believe we (SAINA) can make a change to the lives of people who are in need in San Antonio. I believe we (SAINA) and the APRN forum can address the unemployment status of many licensed and certified APRNs' in our community. I am looking forward to working with the SAINA governing body to find a resolution.