Nina develops a therapeutic relationship with patients and family members on a daily basis. She provides excellent care while ensuring their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs are addressed. Nina recognizes her patients/family members may feel scared, powerless, intimidated or disoriented, acknowledges their concerns while addressing them by name, and empowers them by encouraging them to ask questions, make decisions, and actively participate as a member of the patient's health care team.

Besides providing excellent bedside nursing care, Nina makes lasting impressions by recognizing simple acts, such as providing patients and their family members with fresh water to drink, clean linens, proactively anticipating their needs, and contacting resources to help empower them to feel safe, calm, and comfortable. Nina also actively seeks out opportunities to help her peers and is especially cognizant of ensuring our newer staff feels welcomed and comfortable with their assignment. Nina is a strong advocate for providing safe, quality patient care; she is an active listener and makes a conscious effort to pay attention to what the patient/family member is communicating to her, repeating key points of the conversation to ensure she understands the entire message that is being sent.

Nina works with a variety of practitioners from different professions, including Physicians, Respiratory Therapists, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists, Child Life Specialists, Case Managers, Social Workers, Dieticians, etc., and strives to coordinate care with each professional to meet the patient care goals for each of her patients. She tailors her cares to meet each patient's individual needs, i.e., when caring for a patient who is undergoing a rigorous rehabilitation program she establishes ongoing communication between herself and the therapists and plans her cares around the patient's therapy schedule to ensure the patient is able to perform at their maximum potential during therapy. She ensures education is started early in the hospitalization, utilizing a variety of available resources (checklists, handouts, models, video, demonstration, hands-on practice, etc.) to ensure parents are comfortable performing cares prior to discharge

As the Level 6 Urology liaison and member of the Target Zero CAUTI (Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection) Committee, Nina takes action by maintaining open lines of communication with the Urology physicians, educates staff on Urology updates, the importance of following the CAUTI bundle, and conducts audits on patients with indwelling Foley catheters, to ensure our staff provides proper Foley catheter care. As part of her role as Urology liaison, after collaborating with Urology physicians, Nina updated all of our Urology Best Practice Guidelines and uploaded them onto the 6th floor website, where they are available as a resource for staff on other units. Nina also worked directly with a Urology Clinic nurse to assist her in providing education to parents whose child has a new ACE/Mitrofanoff by writing and submitting a work order request for the CAS (Clinical Application Services) Department specialist to include communication to nurses, in the order set, to have at the bedside the teaching supplies needed by the Urology nurse when she comes to meet with the family and provide education on post op day five.

Nina role models support for change by frequently volunteering to be a super user, as demonstrated by not only educating and providing continued support to staff on several recent changes, including Barcode Medication Administration, proper disposal of pharmacology waste, and Epic upgrades, but also by motivating staff to embrace these changes.

As one of our valued preceptors, Nina instructs her student nurses, new hires and/or new grads about the importance of following CHCO policies and procedures and reviewing them regularly, especially before performing a task (for example, the care of a patient with a tracheostomy or a patient with a chest tube). She models exemplary service to patients, families, staff, and colleagues. She is an excellent role model for her peers, actively seeking out opportunities to help others and work for the good of the team which leaves a lasting impression for students, our future nurses, as well as our newer staff. She knows that without role models, staff can find it difficult to feel motivated or to gain confidence in their own abilities. As a seasoned professional and trusted peer, she is crucial in providing helpful advice, guidance, and inspiration. As member of the Preceptor Excellence Committee, she helped to create the Preceptor Communication Tool to help the preceptors from the 6th, 8th ,and 9th floors understand where each new grad stands as far as learned skills and competency in providing cares for 1, 2, 3, or 4 patients. Nina actively participates in quality improvement projects. She is currently working with the EMU (Epilepsy Monitoring Unit) staff and the Pharmacy Department to develop and implement a Seizure Rescue Medication Guide. This guide will improve the nurse's response and clinical performance in the event a patient has a seizure.

Nina is a Clinical Nurse III, a Certified Pediatric Nurse, and active member of The Society of Pediatric Nurses, Rocky Mountain Chapter. She actively participates in community service activities such as volunteering at Project C.U.R.E, and serving meals to families at The Ronald McDonald House.

Nina recently returned to school this fall to pursue her Master's Degree in Nursing, with plans to become a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in the future.