Carol A Musso
May 2026
Carol A
Musso
,
BSN, RN
PHX
Optum- Southwest Region
Phoenix
,
AZ
United States
Carol continues to impact members across the lifespan, bringing decades of experience, critical thinking, and compassion to every interaction.
I am honored to nominate Carol Musso for the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of a career that embodies compassion, leadership, advocacy, and unwavering dedication to nursing.
For nearly 55 years, Carol has devoted a professional life to serving some of the most vulnerable populations—children and families facing developmental, physical, emotional, and cognitive challenges, and later, members across the lifespan. From the very start, she answered a calling that began at the age of five: to become a nurse and serve others with skill, integrity, and heart.
Much of this distinguished career has been dedicated to children with special healthcare needs. Early work as a home-visiting nurse in Early Intervention laid a foundation of family-centered care, providing prescriptive developmental exercises while empowering parents to support their children’s growth. This work required not only clinical expertise, but patience, creativity, trust-building, and deep compassion—qualities consistently demonstrated throughout Carol’s career.
Carol later joined the Child Development Center at Rhode Island Hospital, serving as a parent educator and an integral member of a multidisciplinary evaluation team conducting developmental assessments. She provided leadership and advocacy for families navigating complex diagnoses, helping ensure children received appropriate services and coordinated support.
Returning to home care nursing, Carol provided skilled private-duty care to medically fragile children during long 8–12-hour shifts, performing advanced clinical interventions, including tracheostomy and gastrostomy care. By delivering exceptional, consistent care in the home, she helped keep children healthy and out of the hospital—transforming lives not only for patients, but for families who depended on this stability and expertise.
Leadership soon followed, with service as Director of Nursing for a new home care agency in Rhode Island. In this role, Carol influenced nursing practice, mentored and developed staff, and established high standards of compassionate care.
Guided by a continued desire to remain closely connected to the children and families Carol served, she returned to direct service and joined UnitedHealthcare (UHC) as a Senior Case Manager for Children with Special Needs, overseeing a caseload of approximately 120 pediatric private-duty nursing cases. While the scope of her responsibility was extensive, her approach remained deeply personal, with a steadfast commitment to ensuring every child and family received coordinated, advocacy‑driven care. As her impact continued to grow, Carol became a key contributor to the launch of the Special Needs Initiative/Family Engagement Center program, serving as a Pediatric Disability Consultant and later a Care Specialist, where she supported individuals with disabilities for eight years and helped shape a program that expanded to serve both children and adults. Currently serving as a UHC Nurse Case Manager in the CM DM (Case Management–Disease Management) program, Carol continues to impact members across the lifespan, bringing decades of experience, critical thinking, and compassion to every interaction.
Throughout her career, Carol has been:
* A champion for patients and families
* A trusted mentor and professional role model
* A transformational leader across clinical and administrative roles
* A steadfast advocate for quality, dignity, and continuity of care
Carol’s legacy should not be measured solely in years, but in the countless lives improved, the colleagues mentored, the programs strengthened, and the families reassured during profoundly challenging times. The DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award honors nurses whose careers reflect extraordinary service and enduring influence, and I feel, wholeheartedly, that Carol embodies that ideal in every sense and is profoundly deserving of this recognition. The impact of her work will be felt for generations.
For nearly 55 years, Carol has devoted a professional life to serving some of the most vulnerable populations—children and families facing developmental, physical, emotional, and cognitive challenges, and later, members across the lifespan. From the very start, she answered a calling that began at the age of five: to become a nurse and serve others with skill, integrity, and heart.
Much of this distinguished career has been dedicated to children with special healthcare needs. Early work as a home-visiting nurse in Early Intervention laid a foundation of family-centered care, providing prescriptive developmental exercises while empowering parents to support their children’s growth. This work required not only clinical expertise, but patience, creativity, trust-building, and deep compassion—qualities consistently demonstrated throughout Carol’s career.
Carol later joined the Child Development Center at Rhode Island Hospital, serving as a parent educator and an integral member of a multidisciplinary evaluation team conducting developmental assessments. She provided leadership and advocacy for families navigating complex diagnoses, helping ensure children received appropriate services and coordinated support.
Returning to home care nursing, Carol provided skilled private-duty care to medically fragile children during long 8–12-hour shifts, performing advanced clinical interventions, including tracheostomy and gastrostomy care. By delivering exceptional, consistent care in the home, she helped keep children healthy and out of the hospital—transforming lives not only for patients, but for families who depended on this stability and expertise.
Leadership soon followed, with service as Director of Nursing for a new home care agency in Rhode Island. In this role, Carol influenced nursing practice, mentored and developed staff, and established high standards of compassionate care.
Guided by a continued desire to remain closely connected to the children and families Carol served, she returned to direct service and joined UnitedHealthcare (UHC) as a Senior Case Manager for Children with Special Needs, overseeing a caseload of approximately 120 pediatric private-duty nursing cases. While the scope of her responsibility was extensive, her approach remained deeply personal, with a steadfast commitment to ensuring every child and family received coordinated, advocacy‑driven care. As her impact continued to grow, Carol became a key contributor to the launch of the Special Needs Initiative/Family Engagement Center program, serving as a Pediatric Disability Consultant and later a Care Specialist, where she supported individuals with disabilities for eight years and helped shape a program that expanded to serve both children and adults. Currently serving as a UHC Nurse Case Manager in the CM DM (Case Management–Disease Management) program, Carol continues to impact members across the lifespan, bringing decades of experience, critical thinking, and compassion to every interaction.
Throughout her career, Carol has been:
* A champion for patients and families
* A trusted mentor and professional role model
* A transformational leader across clinical and administrative roles
* A steadfast advocate for quality, dignity, and continuity of care
Carol’s legacy should not be measured solely in years, but in the countless lives improved, the colleagues mentored, the programs strengthened, and the families reassured during profoundly challenging times. The DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award honors nurses whose careers reflect extraordinary service and enduring influence, and I feel, wholeheartedly, that Carol embodies that ideal in every sense and is profoundly deserving of this recognition. The impact of her work will be felt for generations.