Natalie Thorpe
December 2024
Natalie
Thorpe
,
MSN, RNC-OB, CLE
Maternal Child Health
Torrance Memorial Medical Center
Torrance
,
CA
United States
Whether it’s a middle-of-the-night phone call, an employee with a personal emergency, or even the need for extra hands on the unit for patient care, Natalie is there.
I would like the hospital to know that I’m not just impressed but rather very grateful and lucky to have a very great director of our Maternal Child Department. I have worked here for 23 years and have never experienced such a great and dedicated director to her work, her people, and our doctors. She’s always available, visible, and helpful, getting on her scrubs and helping out. She will come any time of the night when she’s been called. She always comes to the unit happy and smiling, always asking what we need and what she can offer for help. Today, she came at midnight with some food for the nurses, then came to all her units, gave us the flu shots, and stayed throughout the day. Who does those long hours? Nobody but her. She has been consistent since the time she was our director. She has ears to listen, hands to help, and a heart to love. She has proven to be a “very Extraordinary Person,” and I know her people in the Maternal Child Department would agree with me. I’m proud of her, and I wish for you to recognize her. Everyone should know that we have one Best Director. Thank you.
***
For a never-ending dedication to her work and her units. She showed genuine love for her responsibilities and role as our new director. She comes to our unit consistently and hears our concerns and problems. She is very visible to both the day and night shift crew almost every day. She gets on her scrubs to help out in chaos or with difficult patients, staff, and doctors. As well as very fair with decision-making; never had we had a very dedicated director in my 2 decades of working here in our unit. I’m proud and want you to commend her as a very extraordinary person to get this recognition.
***
I would like to nominate Natalie Thorpe for a DAISY Nurse Leader Award. I was a patient after the birth of my baby. I was a readmit and also, unfortunately, struggled with postpartum depression and anxiety. I received a handwritten letter from Natalie at my home that brought me to tears. She expressed that I was in her thoughts since I was having a tough time postpartum and that she wanted me to be ok. I was concerned about my job because I was still quite new to Torrance. She told me that I would have a warm welcome back. I am still in awe that someone in her position, as busy as she is, took the time to let me know that I was cared about. I will never forget her kindness, and I strive to be this kind of person.
***
I would like to take this opportunity to nominate Natalie Thorpe, Director of MCHS, for the DAISY Nurse Leader Award. In her almost 24 years at Torrance Memorial, she has shown relentless dedication to her patients and team in whatever role she is in. Over the years, she has grown from Staff RN -> Alternate Lead -> Primary Lead -> L&D/MB Manager to her current role as the MCHS Director. Natalie has proven her passion for the nursing profession time and time again. She expresses her gratitude for being able to work with her favorite population, moms and babies, every day. She is always saying, “In what other job do people get to be a part of a family’s most special day?” And I swear I see a twinkle in her eye every time she says it because she truly means it!
If there is one single attribute that sticks out to me, it is that she is always there when anyone needs her. Whether it’s a middle-of-the-night phone call, an employee with a personal emergency, or even the need for extra hands on the unit for patient care, Natalie is there. She will stop what she is doing and give aid to the person in need. Natalie devotes long hours to Torrance Memorial and gives her 100% every day. She is approachable, kind, and eager to serve her staff. Natalie also has the unique ability to see both sides of any situation and use her critical thinking to develop “out of the box” solutions if need be. She is fair and just, and will always do the right thing.
On a personal note, Natalie has used her amazing leadership skills to help grow mine. Although she is not much older than me, I have always looked up to her and wanted to follow in her footsteps since I was a staff nurse. She has supported me from day one and for the past 17 years. She encouraged me to become a Lead on the Labor and Delivery unit and fostered my leadership skills by nudging me towards management, something I never thought was for me when I was a bedside nurse. She has provided me the ability to trust her as a nurse, a leader, and most of all, a person. I am so thankful for that!
***
I would like to nominate Natalie Thorpe for the DAISY Nurse Leader Award. Natalie is one of the most dedicated nurse leaders that I know. She is consistently focused on quality care and RN satisfaction. She has demonstrated her commitment to quality care by assisting staff in difficult staffing situations. She frequently helps out on her units to make sure the patients are being cared for and that staff has the support they need, even in the middle of the night. She consistently goes the extra mile when staff are experiencing a crisis. She assists them with locating resources they might need and helps them in the workplace when they return. I can think of countless times that she has helped her staff, her leads, and even our MDs when they needed a hand.
Her advocacy for quality care doesn’t stop with the nurses. She also insists upon it with our physicians. She was relentless, with a recent BETA initiative that required all MDs to take a skills test. She even came in on weekends and stayed late to help the MDs log on. She also called a few MDs several times to see how she could help them complete the test. This dedication resulted in Torrance receiving Tier 2 recognition from BETA. She is trusted by other leaders in the organization because she is always ready to help. During several critical patient surges, she has opened beds in the maternal child world for medical-surgical patients. She is open-minded about change and is currently working with staff to trial a new staffing model to support staff education. She is also working with the neonatologists to support them with the recent LOA of their long-time leader. She has an open-door policy, which they all use to share their challenges. Her great listening skills, warm manner, and can-do attitude draw them to her. She led her team to the first Joint Commission, Maternal Levels of Care Verification Survey, to demonstrate the superior outcomes that our staff provide our community. She was also a dominant leader in the Cherished Futures two-year program, which demonstrated her commitment to equitable care. Natalie has spent the majority of her nursing career here at Torrance, and I’m so glad she is a part of our team. She is a very hard-working leader, and she is a perfect example of the great leaders that are here in our organization.
***
For a never-ending dedication to her work and her units. She showed genuine love for her responsibilities and role as our new director. She comes to our unit consistently and hears our concerns and problems. She is very visible to both the day and night shift crew almost every day. She gets on her scrubs to help out in chaos or with difficult patients, staff, and doctors. As well as very fair with decision-making; never had we had a very dedicated director in my 2 decades of working here in our unit. I’m proud and want you to commend her as a very extraordinary person to get this recognition.
***
I would like to nominate Natalie Thorpe for a DAISY Nurse Leader Award. I was a patient after the birth of my baby. I was a readmit and also, unfortunately, struggled with postpartum depression and anxiety. I received a handwritten letter from Natalie at my home that brought me to tears. She expressed that I was in her thoughts since I was having a tough time postpartum and that she wanted me to be ok. I was concerned about my job because I was still quite new to Torrance. She told me that I would have a warm welcome back. I am still in awe that someone in her position, as busy as she is, took the time to let me know that I was cared about. I will never forget her kindness, and I strive to be this kind of person.
***
I would like to take this opportunity to nominate Natalie Thorpe, Director of MCHS, for the DAISY Nurse Leader Award. In her almost 24 years at Torrance Memorial, she has shown relentless dedication to her patients and team in whatever role she is in. Over the years, she has grown from Staff RN -> Alternate Lead -> Primary Lead -> L&D/MB Manager to her current role as the MCHS Director. Natalie has proven her passion for the nursing profession time and time again. She expresses her gratitude for being able to work with her favorite population, moms and babies, every day. She is always saying, “In what other job do people get to be a part of a family’s most special day?” And I swear I see a twinkle in her eye every time she says it because she truly means it!
If there is one single attribute that sticks out to me, it is that she is always there when anyone needs her. Whether it’s a middle-of-the-night phone call, an employee with a personal emergency, or even the need for extra hands on the unit for patient care, Natalie is there. She will stop what she is doing and give aid to the person in need. Natalie devotes long hours to Torrance Memorial and gives her 100% every day. She is approachable, kind, and eager to serve her staff. Natalie also has the unique ability to see both sides of any situation and use her critical thinking to develop “out of the box” solutions if need be. She is fair and just, and will always do the right thing.
On a personal note, Natalie has used her amazing leadership skills to help grow mine. Although she is not much older than me, I have always looked up to her and wanted to follow in her footsteps since I was a staff nurse. She has supported me from day one and for the past 17 years. She encouraged me to become a Lead on the Labor and Delivery unit and fostered my leadership skills by nudging me towards management, something I never thought was for me when I was a bedside nurse. She has provided me the ability to trust her as a nurse, a leader, and most of all, a person. I am so thankful for that!
***
I would like to nominate Natalie Thorpe for the DAISY Nurse Leader Award. Natalie is one of the most dedicated nurse leaders that I know. She is consistently focused on quality care and RN satisfaction. She has demonstrated her commitment to quality care by assisting staff in difficult staffing situations. She frequently helps out on her units to make sure the patients are being cared for and that staff has the support they need, even in the middle of the night. She consistently goes the extra mile when staff are experiencing a crisis. She assists them with locating resources they might need and helps them in the workplace when they return. I can think of countless times that she has helped her staff, her leads, and even our MDs when they needed a hand.
Her advocacy for quality care doesn’t stop with the nurses. She also insists upon it with our physicians. She was relentless, with a recent BETA initiative that required all MDs to take a skills test. She even came in on weekends and stayed late to help the MDs log on. She also called a few MDs several times to see how she could help them complete the test. This dedication resulted in Torrance receiving Tier 2 recognition from BETA. She is trusted by other leaders in the organization because she is always ready to help. During several critical patient surges, she has opened beds in the maternal child world for medical-surgical patients. She is open-minded about change and is currently working with staff to trial a new staffing model to support staff education. She is also working with the neonatologists to support them with the recent LOA of their long-time leader. She has an open-door policy, which they all use to share their challenges. Her great listening skills, warm manner, and can-do attitude draw them to her. She led her team to the first Joint Commission, Maternal Levels of Care Verification Survey, to demonstrate the superior outcomes that our staff provide our community. She was also a dominant leader in the Cherished Futures two-year program, which demonstrated her commitment to equitable care. Natalie has spent the majority of her nursing career here at Torrance, and I’m so glad she is a part of our team. She is a very hard-working leader, and she is a perfect example of the great leaders that are here in our organization.