I am new to the organization, but in the few months that I have been here, I have had the pleasure of witnessing Alex display all the behaviors of a leader.  One of Alex’s biggest strengths is that she advocates for the time and resources to ensure key stakeholders are well-informed and the appropriate clinical staff development nurses are assigned to educational projects. Her talent lies in her ability to assess project requests in order to meet priority deadlines quickly.

Exemplary Practice and extraordinary behavior are part of Alex’s everyday routine.  Alex serves as the educational liaison on many projects; this year alone, she has been the clinical resource for changes in the Learning Center, multiple pipeline programs (Student Nurse Tech, High School Intern, and Summer Nurse Intern), intranet restructure, general orientation content, the opening of the simulation center, nurse residency accreditation, and nurse residency coordinator. 

Alex prides herself on knowing her team and fostering care and compassion.  She knows people’s names, their stories, and what makes them tick.  She is available to them when needed because she has strong foundational relationships with them and can give meaningful support.  She is the first one to display cultural leadership skills when people bring up an issue—she doesn’t look down on someone for making a mistake but looks at the process and system to see how we can fix it.

Alex creates an environment of trust, compassion, mutual respect, professional development, and ethical behavior through open dialogue and conversation.  This year, when planning skills summit, there were some ideas proposed to do things differently.  Alex embraced this and shared her concerns, but also created an environment where people could brainstorm and think through the logistics of operationalizing the change.  Through this conversation, she was able to foster a meaningful conversation that helped the group arrive at the best solution. Motivating staff through shared vision and enthusiasm is something Alex incorporates into her leadership style.  Those who know Alex know that when Alex takes something on, she gives it 150%--she quickly finds the win in it for the end user and starts getting others on board.  Even with challenging changes, she can engage people and show them the bigger picture and how the change will make them, their team or our system stronger.

I often hear Alex talk about how much she loves the mentorship aspect of her role, mentoring both staff and her fellow Staff Development Nurses (SDNs). She spearheads the nurse residency program, and her face lights up when she talks about the mentorship opportunities she has with our new grad nurses.  She loves to be part of a moment where something “clicks” for someone.  Accessible, available and responsive to others, encouraging critical thinking and problem solving—all of these qualities could be used to describe Alex.  Alex has an open door policy—she is often seen collaborating with SDNs and other members in Patient Care Division about barriers they’re encountering or new, innovative ideas they want to try out.  During recent interviews, Alex recommended a different employee than the group, and she did a great job understanding the logic of the other members and asking open-ended questions.  She isn’t afraid to challenge the popular consensus but does so in a way that is respectful and based on facts, not emotion.