Ms. Rita's leadership is both an art and science, with healing, nurturing and bringing about optimal states of being for individuals and/or organizations at its core. Her leadership can be defined as behaviors and ways of being that inspire a positive, enduring impact on those whose lives are influenced by one's presence. No matter the breadth of influence, much of the healing potential of her leadership is grounded in a deep sense of authenticity and integrity.
She is a strong leader, courageous and guided by what she believes is valuable, meaningful, and true. She is an excellent and extraordinary leader because she has an inner compass to inspire, coach, and guide others with compassion, clarity, and purpose.
She is an authentic leader, she cultivates an awareness of who she is as a person to convey a sincere sense of self. She is able to understand the staff's personal strengths, weaknesses, and the best contributions. She creates practices that encourage them to "check in" with their humanity to better their capabilities. She built on the foundation of knowing the self and then having the courage to present the genuine self to others, authentic presence is highly valued as her leadership skill. Her mindfulness practices most often result in a deeper sense of compassion and forgiveness that extends more naturally to staff nurses, head nurses and clinical nurse managers
MS. RITA'S LEADERSHIP INSPIRED BY STAFF AND PATIENTS
She learned from the challenges that, "you can do anything If you want to." She added to us that we must, "treasure the intimacy, not the task. To be conscious of our own role modeling as a leader and take opportunities to mentor whenever possible."
SHE IS AN ACTIVE LISTENER
She gets to do these things - it's extraordinary. She always finds a way to listen to the head nurses and also to the staff nurses and accept them. She says that "good listeners see the world through the eyes of others." She listens to the staff problems, to understand different opinions and see the bigger picture. This way she identifies different kinds of personalities well and changes their way of thinking. Her listening skills play a huge role in her success.
ADVOCACY
Ms. Rita creates a trusting, caring, safe, collaborative, knowledgeable, scientific, innovative, positive, and family-centered environment for her staff members and nurse managers to provide the highest quality nursing care.
TRUST
Ms. Rita created the environment in the Pediatric Hospital that promises everyone (all the health care providers) will receive the highest level of safe, compassionate, physical, emotional and spiritual care. She built trust that we work in a safe and healthy environment, where we are supported and encouraged to care for ourselves and for each other.
CARING
Ms. Rita is committed to building a healthcare system where patients get the right care and the best care every time. We are inspired to see our roles beyond tasks and technology in the true heart of nursing: caring. Her caring behaviors are evident in the way we care for our patients and families, ourselves and our colleagues.
SAFETY
Ms. Rita is a patient advocate in assuring patient safety and high-quality care.
COLLABORATION
Ms. Rita is committed to cultivating an environment that fosters open communication, collaboration, and teamwork. She plays a pivotal role in sharing knowledge, decision making, innovations, and feedback. She produces exceptional outcomes in a dynamic and challenging environment.
KNOWLEDGE
Ms. Rita believes in creating an environment that promotes professional growth and development, supports the mission and vision and ensures high quality and safe care outcomes. She uses her knowledge to empower others and drive change.
SCIENCE
She is the one best described as advancing nursing practice through the use of assessment, problem solving, knowledge and experience, and the integration of evidence into practice. Because of her, our outcomes have continually improved. She supports the nursing conducts through our Nursing Shared Governance (unit-based councils).
INNOVATION
Ms. Rita is challenged every day and also developed innovative ideas that show results in improved efficiency, safety, quality, service and professional practice.
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I can still remember the first day I met Rita. During a morning endorsement meeting we were told that finally, the new director has arrived. That sharp stare and serious looking face just made me think that she was kind of like a so-called "mother-in-law" type who only sees what's wrong in anything that people do. After which she left Saudi Arabia for something then I thought "oh, perhaps she changed her mind and decided not to join KSMC."
Then one day, she came back. Initially, I was hesitant to have any direct contact with her because of my first impression of her. There were instances when I really avoided attending endorsements because of her. To make the story short, in the end, I found out that she is totally the opposite of what I thought she was.
When I got promoted and had the chance to deal with her directly, I felt that she is totally a real person. Somebody who would be as elated as you when everything is right; a person who would get disappointed and even disgusted at times when things are extremely up-side-down. She would even get teary-eyed in not-so-good stories.
She does not act on things according to her mood. She deals with things objectively. There were several instances where her schedule was loaded and it was very obvious she was exhausted but when I went and asked her for some other things, she would still be perfectly fine.
There was an instance when I asked her for help. Despite her position, I did not hear a "no" or a "yes but later ignore reaction". She gave me updates about it. Though I was not able to get what I wanted, I felt that she really did something about my personal concern.
Just recently, I had some projects in mind which I think would be of help to the staff. When I told her about it, I thought that she would just passively accept it. But contrary to what I expected, she really appreciated it. I feel like I found somebody who sincerely wants a change and an improvement. Even though things around are not favorable, she would make you feel that the simple thing you do is something big.
She is really a well-balanced person and an excellent example to many. She has lots of humor which I really enjoy listening to. She has a very brilliant way of expressing herself. She teaches us many things, not only through words which we get during morning endorsements but even through her actions. To add to that, she eats healthy food which I do not know if people notice, but it makes an impact on me, personally.
With all her power and position, she still spends the time to talk to people. Even though she knows things, she will never act and decide on something without looking at all angles of the story. Her stern-look just needs a time for people to get to know her. She is a woman with a very sincere heart, who wants things done accordingly but still shows respect and compassion to others.