December 2013
Toni
Ford
,
RN, MSN, CMSRN
Medical Unit
Hendricks Regional Health
Danville
,
IN
United States

 

 

 

Toni is energetic and enthusiastic about the profession of nursing. She was one of our unit's first preceptors and when she learned of the need for nursing instructors, she changed her schedule to work weekends so that she could be an instructor for a local university in the area of Med/Surg. She now is an adjunct faculty member for Marion University. When she is asked to explain her career as a Med/Surg nurse, she will say, "I hit the jackpot", because of what she gets back for caring for our patient population and for being able to teach students and novice nurses entering the profession. She is an innovator, often makes suggestions for improving workflow or staff education to our management team. She is creative in her ideas and her creativity is contagious to others. She is known for brainstorming best practice on the unit or organization she works on.

She instituted the idea of a drive for recognizing medical surgical nursing as a specialty to HRH and made it part of her Master's work for a marketing plan. Toni role-models marketing of the nursing profession. Within the AMSN organization, Toni is active in the local chapter, and has hosted AMSN meetings and educational offerings at HRH. She has been able to recommend two HRH associates to be speakers at the National AMSN convention, one of which was in such high demand, became a webinar. Toni has been awarded expert levels in education and clinical levels of the Aim High program and has a goal to obtain all levels of the Aim High program at HRH.

She is active on the Medical Unit Practice council, Falls Committee, Chair of the Nursing Practice Council, Shared leadership and is a Magnet Champion for the unit. Professionally, Tonie is a member of the Indiana Sate nursing Association, American Nursing Association and an active member of the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses. She will chair the committee for 2014.

She is definitely motivated and self-directed in pursuing her own professional development as a nurse was well as mentoring and encouraging others. Toni is a true asset to the nursing profession, and exemplifies the level of integrity that a DAISY nurse should.