Deb is an excellent nurse leader and is highly respected by the nursing staff and providers. She works tirelessly to ensure the nursing schedules are covered, supplies/process are in place, and the team is prepared to care for our patients every day. I believe she has one of the most challenging positions and handles it with grace, competence, and skill. She is the most giving person I have ever met. She consistently gives her time to help patients, nurses, and providers with whatever extra needs they may have, even at her busiest times. She is extremely personable, always kind, and considerate to everyone she comes in contact with.
I often hear positive comments from the patients she cares for and I know how much care and compassion she consistently gives. An example that comes to mind involves the several patients we have who come to the clinic with "challenging veins" who require frequent blood draws. She is often requested by our patients to draw their blood because of her skills with the procedure. Not only does she have great nursing skills, but she also has such a calming way with our patients. One of the many things I admire about her is the way she mentors the nurses she works with. She shows calmness with the nurses, works along with them and encourages them to be successful and will go out of her way to make this happen.
Her passion for nursing is demonstrated in her nursing leadership, mentoring, and the delivery of patient care she provides. She is a great advocate for her patients and nurses. She will never leave a patient's needs undone. Many evenings I see her working late to make sure that patient callbacks are not only done but that the patients truly understand what the lab results mean, what the medication is for or just to listen to someone needing an ear. Many of the patients she cares for have been coming to the clinic for many years and I often hear how they feel so comfortable with her and how kind she is. She will also go out of her way to help patients get transportation arranged. She just brings that feeling of compassion and safety when you see her walking the halls in our clinic. It's hard for me to put in words how much positive energy she brings to our department and the top-notch nursing care that she provides to our patients every single day is truly wonderful. Her intelligence, critical thinking skills, calm and caring manner stand out.
She adapts easily to change and always steps up to challenges. In the last year, she has led the nurses through a new electronic medical record system change and became an "Epic Superuser." She devoted many extra hours for EMR training sessions for herself and the nurses she oversees. She continues to be a great go-to support person for the nurses and providers. I feel like she was very instrumental in our successful EMR implementation in our department. She serves on many committees to improve processes in our department.
Quality care is extremely important to her and this shows with the way she leads her nurses and the quality improvement work she does. She is honest and accepts responsibility for her actions and the actions of the nurses she supervises. She leads by example and mentors new nurses and has repeatedly shown her leadership skills guiding new nurses in keeping our patients safe and healthy. She has a very demanding non-stop position in our department that she handles with grace and poise. She remains approachable with a "down-to-earth" manner that makes others around her feel at ease. She promotes an atmosphere or trust, respect, and compassion and is the type of person who can walk in a room and create an instant connection with anyone. She consistently displays our core values of stewardship, excellence, dignity, hospitality, integrity, and teamwork every day. She is so kind, treats everyone with respect, a true professional. We are fortunate to have her in our facility. She inspires me every single day.