Kylie Trone

Kylie Trone, BSN, RN, CPEN, is the grateful recipient of the 2026-2027 Barbara L. Tate Scholarship from Nurses Educational Funds. Kylie is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania in the Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania’s accelerated nursing program in 2021 and previously received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Spanish from Villanova University.

Kylie has spent more than a decade working in pediatric healthcare, beginning her career as a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS). In that role, she provided psychosocial support, procedural preparation, education, and advocacy for hospitalized children and their families. Through these experiences, she was deeply inspired by the nurses and nurse practitioners with whom she worked and witnessed the profound impact they had on patients and families during some of their most vulnerable moments. Motivated to expand her clinical role and ability to care for children, Kylie pursued nursing and completed an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at the University of Pennsylvania.

Since becoming a nurse, Kylie has worked in the pediatric emergency department and Level I trauma center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In addition to providing family-centered, evidence-based care to patients ranging from infancy through young adulthood, she has been an active participant in leadership, mentorship, and quality improvement initiatives. She has served as a Patient and Family Experience Champion, Harm Prevention Champion, Breastfeeding Resource Nurse, orientation preceptor, and clinical mentor. Kylie is also co-lead of an innovative quality improvement project exploring whether virtual reality can be used to reduce pain and anxiety during invasive procedures in the emergency department.

The work Kylie is most passionate about is her role as lead of an interdisciplinary quality improvement project focused on addressing racial disparities in pain assessment and management in pediatric emergency care. Through this work, she has contributed to staff education, data analysis, conference presentations, and scholarly dissemination, aimed at advancing equitable care for all patients. Kylie was recently promoted to Clinical Nurse Expert, a role that provides additional protected project time to continue advancing initiatives related to health equity, patient safety, and patient and family experience.

Kylie chose the Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program because it aligns with her passion for caring for children with complex and acute healthcare needs while also developing the leadership and scholarly skills needed to improve healthcare systems. She hopes the advanced clinical, research, and leadership training she gains through her graduate studies will enable her to continue leading initiatives that enhance patient and family experiences and reduce inequities in healthcare throughout her future career as a nurse practitioner.

Kylie is incredibly grateful for the support of NEF’s Barbara L. Tate Scholarship. This award will significantly alleviate financial stress and allow her to focus on her studies while balancing the responsibilities of working as a full-time bedside nurse and caring for her two young children. She is honored to be recognized by NEF and looks forward to continuing her professional and academic journey while contributing to the advancement of pediatric emergency nursing.