I’ve worked with Colleen for the past two and a half years on a large and very complex CPOE project. During that time, I’ve seen Colleen grow into one of the strongest Clinical Strategists I’ve ever worked with. One of the biggest challenges we had with our project was bridging the gap between the clinical and IT staff, which Colleen was determined to remedy. She would meet with the clinical leaders to make sure they were kept informed of the project, and she would have no problem saying in an IT meeting that a decision wasn’t in the best interest of nursing. She could say these things because Colleen had an ability to pull back from a situation to see the entire picture; then come up with a brilliantly simple and logical solution that satisfied everyone.

Colleen built strong and lasting relationships with many nurses and nursing leaders at Baptist over her tenure. This is especially noteworthy because others prior to her were never able to have open communication and dialog with these leaders. Because Colleen was able to do this and share the vision of the project with them, they were completely on board with the project and making it a success. When the project started, the area Colleen handled was our most worrisome area and the hospital was sure they would pull out of the entire CPOE project. But by the end of the project, this same area was our example of what we wanted the rest of the organization to look like.

Without Colleen, this project wouldn’t have been the great success it is. Her dedication, selflessness to do the right thing, and ability to make others see the vision and big picture kept us all afloat. She’s not only a shining star among Cerner, but a shining star in nursing.