As a Service Line Educator at Atrium Health, I leverage my 17 years of nursing experience and master's degree in nursing education to support and empower my fellow nurses in delivering high-quality patient care. I specialize in orthopedics, neurology, med-surg, and cardiac telemetry, and I have served as an adjunct faculty for Chamberlain University and Northeastern University as a visiting professor.
My primary objective is to foster a culture of operational excellence, evidence-based practice, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovation among my peers. I prioritize patient advocacy, allyship, and patient safety and have initiated and participated in various projects and programs to improve nurses' wellness and resilience, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of my significant achievements includes piloting the role of a "Wellness Break Nurse" at Atrium Health Mercy, aimed at enhancing bedside nurses' emotional well-being and engagement by facilitating uninterrupted breaks and reducing stress and guilt.
To promote a culture of well-being, I collaborated with a colleague to create the Mindful Advocates Well-Being Champion program, offering teammates opportunities to work on their mental health and well-being by adhering to self-leadership practices. The program includes individual sessions with trained coaches and group coaching sessions with coaches and fellow champions. The program aims to provide tangible ways to commit to self-compassion, being present for oneself, and frequent check-ins on recovery to promote healthy work environments.
Another significant undertaking is addressing the decrease in satisfaction scores for newly boarded teammates by newly promoted nurses who require more skills to guide and assist their team members. To this end, I proposed a mentorship program tailored to bedside leaders, such as charge nurses and unit-based educators. The project will also discuss the challenges faced in gaining support for the mentoring process and the goal of increasing teammate satisfaction and addressing the identified gaps in onboarding surveys.