Erika was the lone AND for our unit during 4H’s transition down to 3H. While moving is always stressful, our unit had additional implications such as tanking burn patients on 3E, being separated from our burn OR and those resources, and organizing supply storage for burn dressings that 3H wasn’t designed for. Construction required closing some patient rooms and coordinating with 3G + CVRR for patient shuffling and nursing assignments. Erika always prioritized safety, and all our safety concerns were brought to her attention throughout these disturbances. She coordinated with the burn attendings to implement our Interdisciplinary Considerations for Safe Tanking on the 3E policy. She created a thorough and detailed report sheet for our new graduate nurses and a burn-specific rounding sheet for improved patient care and communication. She also consistently maintained an optimistic attitude while navigating throughout this transition, and a calm demeanor while supporting her very stressed-out nurses.

She’s now a strong advocate and supporter of our CGC’s data collection project on the time our burn dressings take, as well as our new graduate Nurse Residency Project on nursing fellowships for specialty areas and a peer mentor program for continued support of new graduate nurses in the ICU after completing orientation. She’s also spearheading a way to designate or certify the specialty training of our PCTs’ unique training for burn dressings. These leadership activities, initiatives, and behaviors have been pivotal in maintaining our unit's Gold Beacon Award-winning workplace culture and her staff's morale throughout difficult times. She makes us feel safe, heard, supported, and motivated to continue practicing with high-quality standards. I’ve worked with Erika at the bedside before she was hired into a management role.

I cannot express how proud I feel as I’ve watched her grow into this role. I speak for the nurses on our unit as a whole in saying that we also continue to look up to her for her bedside clinical knowledge, skills, and expertise. On the rare occasions she is in the numbers, we are confident in her ability to care for patients with any level of acuity. She deserves to be recognized not only for the hard work she has dedicated to her team, but also for who she is as a person and a leader as well.