Susana D Airey
June 2022
Susana D
Airey
,
BSN,RN,ONC
Endoscopy Department and Pain Department
Phelps Hospital Northwell Health
Sleepy Hollow
,
NY
United States
I give Susana my highest recommendation and the biggest compliment: Her staff love her!
I base this nomination, the first I have personally made in some 40 years of membership of Medical Staff at Phelps, in several areas:
#1 Leadership: I find Ms. Airey to be an exceptional leader. She leads by example. Her dedication to her profession, her willingness to drop everything to do hands-on nursing, her commitment to the patients whose needs she always puts first, sets the tone in our department. It raises morale and spirits among the entire staff.
#2 Incredible fairness as a leader: Everyone in the department knows that she is a fair and honest broker for all of the complex interactions that go on. So important, she has everyone’s trust. That makes an incredible difference.
#3 Education: She is consistently bringing in tech and endoscopy equipment reps to educate the staff, all the staff, on the latest innovations in this field. Everyone feels they are learning and rising to the top of their abilities. I give Susana my highest recommendation and the biggest compliment: Her staff love her! The staff of the Endoscopy Department including RNs, specialty technicians, administrative assistants, gastroenterologists and anesthesiologists have contributed to this nomination:
In a short time, she has navigated the challenges of her role with professionalism, hard work and confidence during the pandemic, critical staffing shortages, constantly increasing procedure volume and overseeing the implementation of a new documentation system. All of this has been accomplished with the grace and vision of a woman that inspired those around her to strive for excellence every day. In the past year, her ability to lead and motivate those around her was never clearer than when critical staffing issues impacted the Endoscopy unit, which required Susana to be creative to ensure the smooth flow of the unit while maintaining the safety of patients and staff.
Almost daily, Susana was working side-by-side with staff to provide direct patient care, all while accomplishing her administrative duties and offering encouragement, appreciation, and a smile for the staff to continue to provide outstanding clinical care. The evidence is seen in the benchmarks that have been met and exceeded month after month in the Press Ganey and HCAHPS surveys. Susana strongly encourages staff advancement through both unit-based and personal learning opportunities. She advocates for staff to accomplish continuing education through many platforms, pursue higher education and is a strong advocate for all staff to obtain their specialty certification.
An MD states, “Susana is the ultimate team player. She routinely leads by example.”
We could go on and on with the overwhelmingly clear indications of Susana’s excellence in nursing leadership. It is difficult to put into words how a small word of encouragement or outward display of advocacy for a patient, or staff member by Susana can have such an incredible impact on the people around her. We all endeavor to meet or exceed the expectations that Susana sets for us as a unit because her leadership style reflects the same in everything that she does.
#1 Leadership: I find Ms. Airey to be an exceptional leader. She leads by example. Her dedication to her profession, her willingness to drop everything to do hands-on nursing, her commitment to the patients whose needs she always puts first, sets the tone in our department. It raises morale and spirits among the entire staff.
#2 Incredible fairness as a leader: Everyone in the department knows that she is a fair and honest broker for all of the complex interactions that go on. So important, she has everyone’s trust. That makes an incredible difference.
#3 Education: She is consistently bringing in tech and endoscopy equipment reps to educate the staff, all the staff, on the latest innovations in this field. Everyone feels they are learning and rising to the top of their abilities. I give Susana my highest recommendation and the biggest compliment: Her staff love her! The staff of the Endoscopy Department including RNs, specialty technicians, administrative assistants, gastroenterologists and anesthesiologists have contributed to this nomination:
In a short time, she has navigated the challenges of her role with professionalism, hard work and confidence during the pandemic, critical staffing shortages, constantly increasing procedure volume and overseeing the implementation of a new documentation system. All of this has been accomplished with the grace and vision of a woman that inspired those around her to strive for excellence every day. In the past year, her ability to lead and motivate those around her was never clearer than when critical staffing issues impacted the Endoscopy unit, which required Susana to be creative to ensure the smooth flow of the unit while maintaining the safety of patients and staff.
Almost daily, Susana was working side-by-side with staff to provide direct patient care, all while accomplishing her administrative duties and offering encouragement, appreciation, and a smile for the staff to continue to provide outstanding clinical care. The evidence is seen in the benchmarks that have been met and exceeded month after month in the Press Ganey and HCAHPS surveys. Susana strongly encourages staff advancement through both unit-based and personal learning opportunities. She advocates for staff to accomplish continuing education through many platforms, pursue higher education and is a strong advocate for all staff to obtain their specialty certification.
An MD states, “Susana is the ultimate team player. She routinely leads by example.”
We could go on and on with the overwhelmingly clear indications of Susana’s excellence in nursing leadership. It is difficult to put into words how a small word of encouragement or outward display of advocacy for a patient, or staff member by Susana can have such an incredible impact on the people around her. We all endeavor to meet or exceed the expectations that Susana sets for us as a unit because her leadership style reflects the same in everything that she does.