Chad is very dedicated to his team, and he stated his greatest joy is seeing his nursing team succeed, he is determined to have a culture of safety and quality for his staff and the patients they serve, and most importantly, he walks the walk when it comes to compassionate care for his team, patients, and family through strong advocacy by lending his voice and taking action. 

Chad has championed SICU through a summer full of changes. We had new equipment (Belmont, Phillips monitors), new software/schedule changes (UKG), new leadership roles (NPDS, Supervisor), 5 staff on maternity leave, and new nursing standardized practices (Turn Team, Safety Huddle, CNA Checklist). Chad made sure the transition through all the changes was smooth and seamless. He also was a role model and gave us direction through all the changes to different practices.

Chad is consistent and the calm in the storm. He arrives every morning at 0600 so that night shift gets regular contact with management. When the unit is busy, and the nurses are running around doing patient care, Chad is intently looking for ways to help. He will take trash out, help with turns, tidy up to make more room in the hallways, answer call lights, and change out sharps containers.

One example of his hands-on contribution and his facilitation of great bedside care was with a patient who had a paralyzing C-spine fracture. This woman was paralyzed from the neck down and required a ventilator to breathe. She was having symptoms of hot flashes, frequent thirst, and slight adjustments to positioning quite often. Plus, the emotional weight of her injury was sinking in, and our nurses were spending a lot of time educating the patient/family. Chad knew we needed to get her on a sand-bed since she was a very high risk to get pressure ulcers. Our unit was very busy, so he wanted to help the nurses with this time-consuming task of getting her onto the sand bed. He coordinated staff (RT, two techs, one other nurse, me, and Chad) to help get her onto the sand bed. It went smoothly, and we were able to get her all tucked in, so the nurse didn't have to do a thing.

Even though it was a busy summer, and it's mind-boggling to think of how much has changed recently. Chad was consistently present every morning, completed 1:1s every month, and was a rock during stormy times. We had some difficult trauma patients and a lot of complex DCD cases. He reached out to our UBMD on multiple topics, including the DCD (donation after circulatory death) cases, which made sure his nurses' voices and concerns were heard.

Chad takes the time to sit down with each and every staff member on a monthly basis and has each person recognize a peer and what ITEACH Value that was displayed.  He then sends out an email to both the person recognized and the person who provided the recognition.  This showcases comradery amongst the team, mutual respect of colleagues and creating a strong culture of “team”.

Chad creates a genuine, strong, and cohesive culture on SICU. We were able to stand together through all the changes because of our leader and role model.

Note: This is Chad's 2nd DAISY Award!