On behalf of the 6 Med/Surg supervisors and staff, I would like to nominate Lee Hulbert, MSN, RN, CNML, for the DAISY Nurse Leader award. We believe that Lee upholds the highest standards for fostering an environment of trust, compassion, and respect, which serve as an integral foundation for the rigorous level of nursing excellence that Lee motivates all of us to achieve in our work every day. Lee exhibits several core qualities that elevate the profession of nursing and support his candidacy for this award. One of Lee’s defining characteristics as a leader is the depth to which he looks after and cares for his staff. He goes above and beyond to make himself available to his staff as a resource in a multitude of ways, in person and remotely. He has his finger firmly on the pulse of our unit, and is acutely aware of the stress and the struggles that both day and night shifts undergo, this being clearly demonstrated by the simple fact that a majority of the time he arrives to work wearing scrubs, showing his understanding of the goal underlying everything that we do here at Children’s: that patient care comes first. Lee won’t hesitate to watch a nurse’s phone for a break on a busy day, entertain a bored four-year-old to allow the nurse to complete his or her tasks in a timely fashion, or make an attempt at placing an IV when no one else is available during the 6 AM scramble, tasks that exemplify Lee’s willingness to jump in and help however his unit needs him.

For those of us on night shift, he always reaches out to the overnight charge nurse in the morning to check in on the staff, to see if the night went well, and to commiserate if it didn’t, offering sound advice and sympathy in equal measure. Every week, at least once a week, as scheduling allows, he comes in earlier than usual to be available to the night shift, precluding the necessity to seek him out during our off hours during the day. This active involvement in supporting the nursing staff from day to day doesn’t seem to slow down Lee’s administrative abilities. Lee particularly distinguished himself in the interim period while we transitioned between Med/Surg directors by picking up a variety of different projects and committees managed by the outgoing director to maintain their stability before the new director took over.

Of note, he was pivotal to the piloting and widespread success of the BERT program, acting not only as an instructor in that area but also coordinating the rollouts of the program across each unit while adeptly helping to manage staff buy-in on 6 Med/Surg, as we were the initial nursing staff to be trained to the team. At around the same time, 6 Med/Surg started to undergo renovation, resulting in our displacement for several months to a unit half our original size. Before transitions began to happen, Lee had already been strategizing with us to brainstorm ways to improve staff morale and recognition, anticipating correctly that a change that significant would come with challenges to match. It is a testament to Lee’s example that unit cohesion remained as strong as ever through the myriad stressors of constant floating to units that weren’t “home”, lack of resources due to staffing challenges, and the jarring effect of such a displacement, as temporary as it was.

Through this, as ever, Lee has always been a fierce advocate for his staff and our patients alike. Lee holds strongly to a “one team” mindset, that although individual units can live in their own worlds at times, ultimately we are all one team and we should respect and support each other as such. This is particularly relevant when it comes to staffing, especially when numbers are tight and it may be necessary for one unit to sacrifice resources to support another overburdened unit. It is demonstrative of Lee’s mindset that the first step he takes when searching for a solution to these issues is to look at which unit needs the most help, even if it isn’t ours. Lee expects the same from us as supervisors and charge nurses, that we do look to advocate for what is best for our own unit, but remain aware of the bigger picture and what is best for the hospital at large. For good reason, these actions help Lee to build a foundation of trust quickly and solidly across his team members that extends beyond just his relationships with his employees into interpersonal relationships throughout the unit and among his peers throughout Children’s. Lee instills the same values into his staff, leading from the front as an example of trust, compassion, and mutual respect.

Although we hold these in high esteem, one of Lee’s core characteristics, and one that is integral to his success in building an amazing team of people around him, is his humility. Whether it is going to pick up a staff member in his truck during a blizzard to help them get to work, constantly pushing for solutions to staffing challenges, or advocating for a patient, if brought up as an example of great leadership, Lee will say he is “just doing his job.” Lee fundamentally believes that his level of support for his staff is simply what is expected of a leader in his position, and as such, continually places the bar higher and higher. Lee will be among the first to identify and admit his mistakes, and then immediately work to rectify them. As supervisors, this attitude toward self-improvement is empowering and motivating, driving us to adopt the same mindset and, in turn, molding ourselves and the rest of the staff into a more cohesive, strong unit. We view Lee as an exemplar of leadership at Children’s, and we can't imagine a better role model for the way a leader should conduct themselves in the pursuit of Children's mission.