Susan Ignacio
November 2023
Susan
Ignacio
,
MA, RN
8 East
Mount Sinai Morningside
NY
,
NY
United States

 

 

 

Susan motivates our unit to be the best nurses we can be and to provide the highest quality care to our patients. She celebrates our wins and also is there to help us through the losses. Susan is extremely charismatic, compassionate, and agile.
Susan received several nomination letters:
Susan is an amazing leader, which reflects on her floor. She motivates us every day to work together as a team! I feel privileged to have started my first RN job in 8E, surrounded by amazing people and an extraordinary leader. 

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I first worked with Susan as a staff nurse, where she held a tight ship, and it is expected of you to help keep that ship together. Ensuring that we are completing the necessary education to be deemed competent. She pushes all of her nurses to grow in their skills, whether it be through charge nurse classes, trauma conferences, or participating in UPC. But beyond the hospital, Susan encourages professional development, searching for nursing’s newest and brightest stars. Role model extraordinary behavior? Where do we start? The thank you breakfasts. Thank you ice creams. 8 East Summer Time. Most commendable? If there is an incoming storm, guess where you can find Susan? In her office. Because she always shows up for her team. 

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Susan rounds daily not only with staff but with patients as well, which provides them with reassurance that they are receiving the best care possible.  5 years and 1 month as her staff nurse, then she saw my potential for management. For six months, I was the Assistant Nurse Manager for 8East and 8West. Although brief, during this time, I learned to look at healthcare, look at nursing beyond the floor, and as a bigger picture. This is when Susan taught me how to solve problems, how to manage the behind-the-scenes and most importantly, how to LEAD. These were my life lessons.  Lessons that go beyond my career but have helped to shape me into the person I am today.  As sad, literally crying sad, as I was, or maybe we were, when I announced to Susan that I would take the nurse practitioner role for the department of surgery, she gave me nothing but support. Grow where you are planted, as she once told me. 

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Susan’s love for nursing, for her staff, and for her unit is incomparable. She leads by example with the numerous awards and recognitions she has received within the health system.  She remains true to Morningside’s values of empathy, teamwork, agility, and creativity. She is and respectably will always be 8 East’s fearless leader.  

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Susan Ignacio is an exemplar of a transformational leader. She embodies many of the Mount Sinai Health System values of creativity, teamwork, and optimism. She has a "can do" approach to everything and her unit is always called on as role models of excellence. Recently, 8E was awarded the Beacon Award for nursing excellence. This did not come as a surprise to any of us who know Susan. She assisted the staff in applying for this award, and many of her staff view her as a role model, mentor, and nurse leader extraordinaire. I have known Susan for the past six years in my role as Director of Nursing Education. I can always rely on the fact that her staff are always well prepared for a regulatory survey, participate in Shared Governance Day and have a well-established unit practice council. She holds her staff to the highest standards and her patient experience is only matched by the positive feedback from her nurses, as they have had amazing experiences on 8E. I am honored to support the nomination of Susan Ignacio for DAISY Nurse Leader.

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Susan is the manager of the 8 East Surgical unit. Susan has been the manager of that unit since October 1999! She is an extraordinary person and clinician. She is a highly skilled, extremely knowledgeable, compassionate team player and role model who consistently displays and promotes the highest ethical standards. She effectively demonstrates being an advocate for her patients/family and staff.

A quote by Jack Welch describes Susan's leadership style, "Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others." This role-modeling behavior has become standard for 8 East - Susan guides and nourishes her nurses to gain professional advancement. One example is a staff nurse who moved into an assistant nurse manager role with the encouragement and guidance of Susan. Another example is a staff nurse who was enthusiastic about skin and wound care, who ultimately completed the Wound Treatment Associate program at Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing, and now has transitioned to be a Wound Care nurse. Susan mentors and 
empowers her staff to pursue advancement in the nursing profession, instead of leaving the profession or the bedside due to burnout.

Susan manages the unit, which was recently recognized by the AACN (American Association of Critical Care Nurses) with the Silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence. This was a significant event for the Department of Nursing and for Mount Sinai Morningside as it was such a milestone on the path to optimal outcomes and exceptional patient care. This award could not have been realized without Susan's leadership and support for her staff and the interdisciplinary members as a whole. It is also recognized that this award for 8 East is only one of two awards given to a medical surgical unit in NY state.

In addition to the Beacon Award, Susan has successfully guided her unit through successful Trauma Center & Bariatric Surgery Center designations, in addition to several The Joint Commission accreditation surveys. She demonstrates such a calm demeanor during these surveys that it motivates the staff to maintain the exceptional care they provide daily without getting anxious or flustered.  

It is a key factor in the demonstration of an excellent leader that her staff, physicians, nurse practitioners, and other members of the patient care team on 8 East respect Susan and recognize her as a true exemplar for the nursing profession. It is an honor to nominate Susan for this prestigious award.

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Susan motivates our unit to be the best nurses we can be and to provide the highest quality care to our patients. She celebrates our wins and also is there to help us through the losses. Susan is extremely charismatic, compassionate, and agile. She is always coming up with new ideas to help the flow on our unit and to make the overwhelming workload manageable. She empathizes with her staff and goes out of her way to show her support and compassion with staff. Susan shares her compassion and empathy with our patients as well. She makes her rounds, introducing herself to patients and asking how their care has been. She goes the extra mile for both her staff and the patients. Susan consistently shows up for her team through actions and words of encouragement. She makes sure her team feels appreciated and valued. Susan made sure her nurses felt appreciated and celebrated the entire month of May. Susan regularly brings breakfast for her staff during our monthly meetings and touches base with the team to discuss any issues on the unit that need to be addressed. Susan is active and present at each UPC meeting and works closely with the members to initiate new projects that will improve the workflow and work environment of the unit. The entire unit respects and appreciates having a leader like Susan, who not only expects the best but listens and guides the staff to reach their greatest potential. She routinely asks how the unit is doing, how the work environment is. On hard days that we push through, she does a sweet gesture such as getting us pizza or boba tea; as a sign of gratitude, which to the staff goes along way. Susan has been the best leader to work with, I have felt appreciated, valued, and encouraged to grow professionally, to think outside the box, and to use evidence-based research to aid our unit in becoming an even more efficient unit. Susan is an amazing role-model. She is the type of leader we should all aspire to be.