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5/10/19 news article

nurses honored during national nurses week 2019

honoring the amazing ways they make a difference in our lives

We love our nurses at Dayton Children's! Nurses week gives us a chance to honor those amazing caregivers that make a difference every single day in the lives of children, their families, co-workers and the community.

Cameo of Caring: Michele Nadolsky - emergency department

Michele Nadolsky is an exceptional nurse and leader in the emergency department who routinely exemplifies the Dayton Children’s values. Over the last 25 years, Michele has been a driving force in process improvement initiatives throughout the organization. Her clinical expertise, vast knowledge and clinical aptitude have put her on the leading edge of several ground-breaking endeavors.

Michele was one of our first trauma nurse leaders (TNL) in 2011. She led efforts to elevate Dayton Children’s Hospital to a level 2 trauma center, developing training modules for novice nurses to improve knowledge on trauma response and documentation. The TNL program has been recognized by the American College of Surgeons.

Michele was handpicked to be part of the first staff-led, Magnet ambassador group in 2013 - aka Magnet Five. In preparation for Magnet designation, Michele helped educate and prepare employees, requiring countless hours of coaching during all shifts over several weeks. This effort enabled staff to feel confident in discussing excellent nursing care with appraisers.

In 2016 Michele became one of the first clinical team leaders (CTL) in the hospital, quickly adapting to her new leadership responsibilities and bridging the gap between management and front line staff. Michele was chosen to present at the Tristate Nursing Excellence Collaboration conference in 2018. The title of the presentation was “Improving Comfort Level of Nurses with the Implementation of Documentation Modules.” Over 500 nurses attended this conference and were able to gain valuable information from Michele’s presentation.

As a facilitator of learning, Michele routinely precepts new nurses, students, and Partners in Practice nurses from Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Michele guides novice airmen through the intricacies of emergency medicine and prepares these troops for deployment in foreign lands. Her orientees consistently give her exceptional reviews.

Michele’s commitment to serving others extends to the community. She volunteered her services to the American Red Cross following Hurricane Michael, deploying to southern states to provide medical care to the victims. Michele is also involved in the American Legion as the head of her post, devoted to mentoring youth and sponsorship of wholesome programs in our communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting strong national security and continued devotion to our fellow service members and veterans.

 

What do kids think our nurses do?  You may be surprised... 

Caring practices: Ashley Gremling - hematology/oncology

Ashley always enters a room with a smile on her face. She is passionate about her job and the love she gives toward her patients makes a difference.

Ashley went above and beyond for a patient with sickle cell disease recently who spends a lot of time in and out of the hospital. She always greets this family with open arms, taking time to get know the patient and make sure that the family is comfortable. 

She listens to their concerns, helps them understand the treatment plans and works hard to help the patient reach his goals.

 

Advocacy/moral agency: Amy Kunkel - IV therapy

Amy is a true champion for the patients she serves. Amy takes care of patients with PICCs, central lines and peripheral IVs. She rounds with the nursing staff to review education and help with any concerns they have. She is an advocate for the nurses on her team, listening to them and using their feedback to drive practice changes. 

Amy's dedication to clinical inquiry and quality improvement that is helping patient care and preventing infections. She lives and breathes our values of safety, ownership and innovation here at Dayton Children’s. 

 

 

 

 

Systems thinking:

May Bustillos - Dayton Children's Pediatrics

May recently transitioned from inpatient care to outpatient care, demonstrating exceptional patient- centered, compassionate care and serving as a positive role model. She brought a vision for helping improve processes with her for the greater good of the hospital, her team and the patient she serves.

While the department was transferring to central scheduling, May adjusted the triage desk phone lines for better efficiency. She also organized many of the patient resources and handouts in the nurses’ station for more efficient service. She remains on the patient/family advisory committee as a representative and advocate. 

 

Clinical inquiry: Cassandra Harris - emergency department

Cassandra continually seeks innovative ways to improve the care of bedside nursing. She is always looking for learning opportunities, teaches new staff and students, and participates in quality improvement initiatives. 

Cassandra is an active member of the unit’s hematology/oncology and bereavement committees. She made an educational poster for staff to stress the importance of expediting door to antibiotic time for our cancer patient population and routinely performs chart audits on this vulnerable patient population to ensure the best care. She is also an active member of a unit-based quality improvement project on strep throat treatment.

 

 

 

Facilitator of learning: Ashley Brugger - TCU

The goal of a preceptor is to educate nurses to improve the quality of care to patients. Ashley’s enthusiasm to help a fellow nurse succeed shows up in many contexts. She is patient with new employees and adjusts her teaching styles to the way that best suits their learning. She takes the time to explain details and rationale.

Staff members she has trained describe her as calm and understanding. She works with you at your level and understands that it is stressful being a new nurse, but she is able to help you relax and make learning easy. 

 

 

 

 

Clinical judgment: Chelsea Frantz - 2 west

Chelsea is a remarkable nurse and has been part of the implementation of many process improvements on the unit.

Recently, she enacted change in the protocol for the headache pathway based on observations and research. She was diligent in following her best judgment to ensure that the protocol was the very best it could be for patients. Her collaboration paired with her clinical judgement led to a better experience for the child and the families involved. 

 

Collaboration: Diane Faulkner - Trauma PI coordinator

Diane is a true collaborator and team player. She brings all the right people to the table when something needs to be addressed. She works well with other team members, physicians, nurses, managers and others to determine the problem, provide documentation of the error, policy and request feedback. Diane's position is very difficult as she has to address fellow staff's mistakes. 

Diane always leads by example, listens and is open to suggestions. Diane will ask for help or a second set of eyes to review an identified concern or if a concern needs to be elevated.

 

 

 

 

Outstanding new graduate: Kayla Hurst -specialty pediatrics

Kayla has excelled in her first year as a nurse, moving seamlessly from the role of PCA to RN. Families almost every day rave about how wonderful her care is. She demonstrates great compassion towards patients and families as she always goes the extra mile to provide them what they need.

Kayla is also a great critical thinker and an amazing resource for other staff on the floor. She is a great person to go to when you need a second opinion. I am amazed at how much value she has added to our unit after just one year as an RN.

 

Response to diversity: Kymbrynn Henneke - house float

Kymbrynn will always go above and beyond to make sure that patients and their families are accommodated - no matter what the need is!

Recently, she found a better way to communicate to a family who speaks Kinyarwanda. Neither the mother or father spoke or read English. The patient’s mother wasn't able to read in her own language either. Kymbrynn created a chart that showed pictures of basic care that we would provide through the day such as holding the baby, changing the diaper, suctioning the patient, etc. This provided the nurses and PCAs another way to communicate with the patient’s mother when the interpreter wasn't present.

 

 

 

Outstanding new employee: Amanda Friedlander - surgery

Amanda has made quite the impact in her time here. She is consistently recognized by patients and families during leader rounding.

Recently, Amanda had a special needs patient who was going to be seen frequently in our department. Amanda made sure to introduce herself to the patient and to the mom the day before surgery. She found out that the patient loved Batman. Over the weekend prior to the next procedure, she handmade a Robin costume for the patient to wear. She also got a Batman logo for the patient to wear to upcoming procedures. Mom was very appreciative of the effort made and the care given.

 

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