Beterra Client Leadership Series: Janice Lee Yanez, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, CPPS

Redefining Safety in Pediatrics: Janice Yanez Leads with Purpose, Empathy, and Vision 

In healthcare, true transformation often begins with quiet, persistent leadership, the kind that listens intently, acts intentionally, and brings along others in the process. Janice Yanez, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, CPPS, is an embodiment of that kind of leadership. 
 
As Director of Patient Safety and Patient Safety Officer at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, Janice is reimagining what safety looks like, moving beyond compliance into culture, beyond checklists into conversations, and beyond individual fixes into system-wide change. 

A Path Fueled by Purpose 

Janice’s calling to nursing began in childhood, caring for her sick mother. That experience sparked a commitment to empathy and excellence that still drives her today. Her early days in the PICU shaped how she sees safety not only as a practice, but as a promise to every patient and family. “Nursing is not just about following orders,” she says. “It’s science, math, and empathy in action.” 

Even before she formally entered the world of quality, Janice was already doing the work: Participating in audits, improvement initiatives, and safety rounds. A colleague once told her, “You’ve been doing quality all along.” And she was right. 

Building a Culture That Learns, Not Blames 

Janice’s most profound impact at Nicklaus Children’s has come from reshaping the organization’s safety culture. Drawing from the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI)’s National Action Plan and Solutions for Patient Safety (SPS)’s network’s culture strategy and Safety II principles, she has helped lead a shift from reaction to reflection, where safety is proactive, psychological safety is foundational, and learning is continuous. 
 
“It’s not just about avoiding harm. It’s about building systems that learn from what goes right,” she explains. “That’s how we make safety real—for staff, for families, and most of all, for kids.” 

Seeing the System, Supporting the Staff 

Though she trained as an advanced practice provider, Janice never sought a traditional clinical role. Instead, she chose to zoom out to see how systems connect and where they fall short. That lens shapes and sharpens her work today. “Care coordination, upstream thinking, building processes that support teams. Those are the levers that keep people safe,” she says. At Nicklaus Children’s, she’s helped embed this thinking into everything from strategic planning to frontline workflows. 

Pediatrics Requires a Different Kind of Listening 

The work of safety in pediatrics is different. It’s more relational, more collaborative, more human. “In children’s hospitals, we have to listen differently,” Janice says. “Families often know when something’s not right. Kids can’t always tell us, so we learn to read what’s unspoken.” She’s inspired by trends that reflect that approach: proactive learning, family and youth co-design, and the integration of workforce and patient safety as one unified mission. 

Leadership Grounded in Curiosity and Trust 

When asked what makes a great safety leader, Janice doesn’t hesitate: “Curiosity. Humility. The willingness to listen without judgment.” She believes the best leaders aren’t those with the loudest voice, but those who make space for others to lead. “You have to be open to tough questions and to hearing the hard answers,” she says. That’s especially true in pediatrics, where empathy and trust are non-negotiable. 
 
Janice credits her growth to a wide circle of mentors, some official, many not. “I’ve been lucky to have people who saw something in me before I did,” she reflects. From department chairs to peers in finance, those influences shaped how she leads and why she mentors others. “Some of the most meaningful moments in my career have come from helping someone else find their voice,” she says. “That’s how we build the next generation of safety leaders.” 

Her advice to newcomers in the field is equal parts practical and powerful: “Start where you are. You don’t need a title to lead. Ask questions. Try something small. Connect with others. You’ll be surprised by the impact you can have.” 

Always Close to the Work 

Despite her current responsibilities, Janice still rounds regularly and continues teaching nursing students. “It fills my cup,” she says. “It reminds me who we’re doing this for.” 
 
That presence keeps her grounded and ensures that every strategy, every policy, every metric reflects the real world of care. 

A Vision for Safer, More Humane Healthcare

For Janice Yanez, safety isn’t just a system. It’s culture. It’s built one conversation at a time, one leader at a time, one lesson at a time. And under her guidance, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital is becoming not just safer, but stronger, more collaborative, and more deeply human. 

“This work is hard,” she says. “But it’s also incredibly hopeful. Every moment of care is a moment to make things better.” 

This post is part of Beterra’s ongoing series highlighting exceptional leaders in healthcare safety and quality. Stay tuned for our next story!