July 2020
Angela
Zientara
,
RN
ICU
Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital
Lake Forest
,
IL
United States
Angela's commitment to her patients is made apparent in the story about her supinating an obese COVID patient by herself, and during the surges of patients in the past months, Angela has done many of these above and beyond measures that have undoubtedly saved lives. But her performance is not new to the pandemic. Her commitment to her patients and the staff is quite evident in all of her work.
Her ability to take on the extreme physical demands of being an ICU RN is matched by her profound clinical expertise. She asks to precept new hires; she volunteers to be in charge; she finds opportunities for unit growth and takes initiative for the growth to happen. There are many new hires to the ICU who have benefitted from her mentorship. They are consistently grateful for the extra efforts she makes to ensure they transition to the ICU successfully. Her orientees remember her for their entire careers as someone who positively impacted their growth. The staff continues to benefit from Angela when she is in charge of the unit. She is proactive, has great instincts, and makes sure everyone working feels valued and able to do their work effectively. When Angela sends me a charge RN report that explains the happenings of the shift, I am always confident that it will include a list of ideas to make the unit better and steps she has already taken to initiate the progress. She owns her leadership role and owns the successful operations of the unit. Angela also frequently picks up extra shifts to ensure that a charge nurse is working. She covers vacations and sick calls. It is important to her that the night shift has a leader working who can help get the staff what they need to care for sick ICU patients.
This ICU has grown tremendously since the move to the new building, and certainly since the onset of the pandemic. Certain individuals have a great impact on successful adaptation through change. From my perspective of a nurse manager, I am so grateful to have Angela on our team. I felt OK leaving the unit during some of the most intense pandemic shifts because Angela was working and there wasn't anything she couldn't handle.
Her ability to take on the extreme physical demands of being an ICU RN is matched by her profound clinical expertise. She asks to precept new hires; she volunteers to be in charge; she finds opportunities for unit growth and takes initiative for the growth to happen. There are many new hires to the ICU who have benefitted from her mentorship. They are consistently grateful for the extra efforts she makes to ensure they transition to the ICU successfully. Her orientees remember her for their entire careers as someone who positively impacted their growth. The staff continues to benefit from Angela when she is in charge of the unit. She is proactive, has great instincts, and makes sure everyone working feels valued and able to do their work effectively. When Angela sends me a charge RN report that explains the happenings of the shift, I am always confident that it will include a list of ideas to make the unit better and steps she has already taken to initiate the progress. She owns her leadership role and owns the successful operations of the unit. Angela also frequently picks up extra shifts to ensure that a charge nurse is working. She covers vacations and sick calls. It is important to her that the night shift has a leader working who can help get the staff what they need to care for sick ICU patients.
This ICU has grown tremendously since the move to the new building, and certainly since the onset of the pandemic. Certain individuals have a great impact on successful adaptation through change. From my perspective of a nurse manager, I am so grateful to have Angela on our team. I felt OK leaving the unit during some of the most intense pandemic shifts because Angela was working and there wasn't anything she couldn't handle.