Lisa displays empathy and compassion in all her interactions with not only frontline staff, but also everyone she encounters. Her greatest strength is active listening. Through active listening, she demonstrates non-judgmental support and approachability. All this comes together to foster an environment of trust and respect that can sometimes be absent from educators.

Lisa is also able to share her own professional experiences and challenges in a way that creates openness and vulnerability. This connection allows the learner to feel comfortable in sharing the challenges they are facing. Lastly, Lisa often makes a personal connection when rounding by simply saying, “How are you doing today?” She not only does this to nursing staff, but she also interacts with other staff, such as EVS. She is truly genuine. She doesn’t know this, but several years ago, as a new manager, she stopped by my office with a smile and said, “How’s it going?” I was having a particularly challenging time, but her smile and genuine concern were what I needed at that moment.

Lisa demonstrates effective communication skills through her professional and respectful tone as well as her welcoming body language. She makes eye contact and truly engages with people. She is adaptable to the learner and the situation. For example, she can prepare and present to learners in both a formal setting as well as an informal setting. In addition, she can avoid all the “jargon” and present in a way that is relatable and understandable.

Way before Lisa was a Nurse Educator, she was a role model and mentor for nursing. I was lucky to have worked beside her for many years, and throughout that time, she demonstrated nursing excellence through leading by example. Her professionalism is evident through her accountability and integrity. In addition, she is a great supporter of following policies and being an advocate for patient safety. In her role now as an educator, she supports nurses with critical thinking and clinical judgement. Again, she masters this by leaning on her own professional career and challenges and sharing this with others.

Lisa demonstrates adaptability and flexibility by truly knowing who her audience is. As an educator, she is responsible for fulfilling the needs of those who have various learning styles and various levels of clinical experience. When in a teaching environment, she can identify where the needs are and adjust accordingly…sometimes very quickly. Many times, she allows the learner to provide feedback, and then this allows her to “bridge the gap” and identify where the educational needs and knowledge deficits may be.

Lisa truly embraced her role as a Nurse Educator. Once she joined the PND team, she was required to obtain her MSN and specialty certification. She stepped right up and did the work and did not look back. She has a passion for looking forward to what the future holds for nursing and the infant and pediatric populations. In addition, she celebrates the accomplishments of others. She is supportive of professional development and is an advocate for our frontline nurses.

Lisa is always professional and thorough with any project she is given. She can identify the overall goal of a project and then develop a plan that clearly identifies objectives. She recognizes opportunities for improvement and approaches teams in a respectful manner that supports growth and clinical competence.

As mentioned earlier, Lisa is an active listener, approachable, flexible, respectful, accountable, and professional. All these characteristics promote open communication and create trust that is needed to enhance learning and improve patient outcomes. Lisa truly loves people and what she does. She understands it takes a team to care for our patients, and she understands the importance of everyone’s individual role in supporting patient safety.