In the short few years Julie has worked at Good Samaritan Hospital, she has made a hospital-wide impact on patient care. Julie is extremely dedicated to her teammates on the medical-surgical units. She makes herself available from the second she walks in the door each morning. She ensures she makes a presence not only for the day shift but also arrives early enough to ensure the night shift has their needs met. Not only does she include both shifts in her daily routine, but she also makes plans to come in overnight to make sure the night shift is set for success with challenging skills or patient scenarios. Recently, she co-developed a night shift education session focused on the specific, individualized needs of nurses who typically have less presence of leadership during night shift. She created an exciting way to reach them in a timeframe that was meaningful to the nurses. 

Julie displays the qualities of a nurse leader by leading by example in evidence-based practice. She is continually searching for the best practice to bring forward. In doing so, she engages the teammates and patients alike to incorporate what she has found as evidence-based practice. She has been selected multiple times to showcase her spirit of inquiry at local and national conferences. A nurse leader helps to grow others, not just the nurses in our immediate organization.  She is full of expertise in so many aspects of patient care. From mobility to chest tubes, to trach care – there isn’t anything she can’t do. Even more so, there isn’t anything she can’t find an individualized approach to teach teammates. Many of our new graduate nurses rely on Julie. I think this is because they find her so approachable. She takes each question, challenge, or mistake as a learning moment for the nurse. For example, she is often asked by managers to coach nurses on challenges with the heparin calculator. She meets each nurse where they are at to find out where the disconnect may be. She assists in ensuring their needs are met by offering education in multiple settings. What I respect about these situations is how Julie holds the teammates accountable for their own learning. It is not an easy thing to do while also showing compassion and patience to the nurse. She does it with ease.

Julie is always looking out for the teammates making sure they are treated fairly by providers. She doesn’t stand down when she knows something isn’t being done correctly or to the highest level of quality and safe care. She has ability to impact patient care at the bedside and behind the scenes.