Susan Gallucci
October 2025
Susan
Gallucci
,
BSN, RN, NPD-BC
Nursing Education
Overlook Medical Center
Summit
,
NJ
United States
Susan shows the passion and drive to make a difference. She motivates and inspires learners to provide compassionate, safe, and effective patient care.
It is with great honor that I nominate Susan Gallucci for the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award. With over 30 years in Nursing Education at OMC, she has made a lasting impact on the many nurses and PCTs that she has come in contact with throughout her tenure. She is a highly respected Nursing Professional Development (NPD) Practitioner who has made significant contributions to the professional development of our team members, not only throughout OMC but across AHS as well. In her role, she leads continuing nursing education as the Primary Nurse Planner for the AHS Provider Unit, leads the OMC Phlebotomy and Dysrhythmia courses, leads the clinical ladder program for RNs and Patient Partners, as well as holds a leadership role in Shared Governance as the facilitator of the Professional Development Council.
Susan shows the passion and drive to make a difference. She motivates and inspires learners to provide compassionate, safe, and effective patient care. She is a great role model and the biggest cheerleader for each and every team member that she comes in contact with. Her kindness and active listening skills create a safe place where people can share their challenges and receive guidance. This trust encourages open sharing and promotes a culture of safety. She embodies the characteristics of a change agent, learning facilitator, mentor, leader, champion for inquiry, a partner for practice transitions, and an advocate for the NPD specialty.
One example that demonstrates Susan’s best qualities is the work she did to correct the challenge of low-volume blood culture draws and the contamination of specimens across OMC. She ensured she was thoroughly educated on best practices and recognized the need for targeted intervention to prevent unnecessary harm and potential threat to life. She utilized her NPD skillset to complete an environmental scan and needs assessment of the current challenge. She created a remediation plan that was based on data, demonstrated prioritization of resources, and maintained consistent communication of progress with leadership. In regard to learning assessment and content delivery, she ensured assessment of understanding and demonstration of competency. Her enthusiastic and engaging teaching style had countless learners who initially thought they didn’t need the class, leaving, expressing how much they had learned. Following this intervention, OMC saw significant improvement in performance, which has downstream benefits to patient safety and sepsis management. Her work on this project was accepted for a poster presentation at the OMC Research Symposium and has also been submitted to the national ANPD Conference.
Susan participates in numerous committees and subcommittees dedicated to continuous quality improvement and innovative positive change, including system-level and hospital-level leadership, shared governance council participation, and special project workgroups. An example of her collaborative work is the redesign of the preceptor course to provide a more interactive and engaging experience for learners, allowing them to put theory and knowledge into practice. Her recommendation of a safe phrase to encourage thoughtful recognition of safety coaching moments is being implemented by a new generation of preceptors. She is also the primary driver pulling together subject matter experts in the conversion of competencies to competency statements and the validation of needed nursing competencies. She managed the implementation of the e-competency platform from inception and recently expanded its use in the outpatient wound care and the ED settings.
Across meetings, classes, and in one-on-one interactions, Susan takes the time to hear people and call out their ideas and contributions. She ensures everyone has the opportunity to share and the opportunity to shine. Her encouragement of others also has a ripple effect of morale and confidence enhancement. One example is her pearl initiative, where she gifts pearls to certified nurses to regift to others as a tangible sign of faith in their ability to successfully pursue certification. These caring moments create personal connection and inclusion.
These are only a few of the many examples of what Susan has accomplished in her 30+ years, and we are beyond grateful for all that she has contributed to maintain high standards for our team members and a safe place for our patients. She has always been everyone’s biggest cheerleader, and now it’s time for us to cheer for her!
Susan shows the passion and drive to make a difference. She motivates and inspires learners to provide compassionate, safe, and effective patient care. She is a great role model and the biggest cheerleader for each and every team member that she comes in contact with. Her kindness and active listening skills create a safe place where people can share their challenges and receive guidance. This trust encourages open sharing and promotes a culture of safety. She embodies the characteristics of a change agent, learning facilitator, mentor, leader, champion for inquiry, a partner for practice transitions, and an advocate for the NPD specialty.
One example that demonstrates Susan’s best qualities is the work she did to correct the challenge of low-volume blood culture draws and the contamination of specimens across OMC. She ensured she was thoroughly educated on best practices and recognized the need for targeted intervention to prevent unnecessary harm and potential threat to life. She utilized her NPD skillset to complete an environmental scan and needs assessment of the current challenge. She created a remediation plan that was based on data, demonstrated prioritization of resources, and maintained consistent communication of progress with leadership. In regard to learning assessment and content delivery, she ensured assessment of understanding and demonstration of competency. Her enthusiastic and engaging teaching style had countless learners who initially thought they didn’t need the class, leaving, expressing how much they had learned. Following this intervention, OMC saw significant improvement in performance, which has downstream benefits to patient safety and sepsis management. Her work on this project was accepted for a poster presentation at the OMC Research Symposium and has also been submitted to the national ANPD Conference.
Susan participates in numerous committees and subcommittees dedicated to continuous quality improvement and innovative positive change, including system-level and hospital-level leadership, shared governance council participation, and special project workgroups. An example of her collaborative work is the redesign of the preceptor course to provide a more interactive and engaging experience for learners, allowing them to put theory and knowledge into practice. Her recommendation of a safe phrase to encourage thoughtful recognition of safety coaching moments is being implemented by a new generation of preceptors. She is also the primary driver pulling together subject matter experts in the conversion of competencies to competency statements and the validation of needed nursing competencies. She managed the implementation of the e-competency platform from inception and recently expanded its use in the outpatient wound care and the ED settings.
Across meetings, classes, and in one-on-one interactions, Susan takes the time to hear people and call out their ideas and contributions. She ensures everyone has the opportunity to share and the opportunity to shine. Her encouragement of others also has a ripple effect of morale and confidence enhancement. One example is her pearl initiative, where she gifts pearls to certified nurses to regift to others as a tangible sign of faith in their ability to successfully pursue certification. These caring moments create personal connection and inclusion.
These are only a few of the many examples of what Susan has accomplished in her 30+ years, and we are beyond grateful for all that she has contributed to maintain high standards for our team members and a safe place for our patients. She has always been everyone’s biggest cheerleader, and now it’s time for us to cheer for her!