I am delighted to nominate Courtney McClellan for the DAISY award. Please allow me to share some of the reasons I feel she would be an excellent recipient.
I believe that in order to be a successful pediatric nurse, an individual must demonstrate caring and compassion. Courtney goes so much further. She takes the time, even in a fast-paced environment, to ensure that her patients and their families feel safe, comforted, and valued. She truly demonstrates empathy to each and every person she encounters. She recognizes that any time a child needs surgery, that it is a stressful experience for both the patient and the family. She takes the time to actively listen to their questions and concerns.
In addition to her exceptional family centered care, Courtney is one of our team leaders in the PACU. No matter how busy we are, she maintains an atmosphere of calm. For example, we recently had a shift with three sick calls. Courtney assured the staff that she was aware that they were working harder to make up the difference. Because of her organizational skills and leadership, patients and families had no idea that we were working with less than optimal staffing.
Courtney not only is an exceptional nurse herself but she is also an exceptional teacher. She has precepted new staff and nursing students including senior practicum students. Each of these students has left their clinical experience with a very positive view of The Children’s Hospital and specifically the PACU. Many of them have expressed an interest in employment at Children’s and one has become an employee in perioperative services.
Courtney demonstrates excellence in her patient care as demonstrated by her achieving the goal of becoming a Certified Pediatric Nurse (CPN.) In addition to her own efforts, she has taken the time to recognize her colleagues who have also obtained certification. She spoke with each certified PACU nurse and discussed why certification was important to them and encouraged these nurses to share their feelings with the other staff members to further those nurses’ goals to obtain certification. Courtney compiled all of these encouraging words along with pictures of the certified nurses and made a poster which is prominently displayed in our department. Along with encouraging others to obtain certification, this poster also demonstrates to each family member who enters our unit how many certified nurses we have.
After joining the PACU team, Courtney quickly set a goal for herself to advance along the clinical ladder. One of the many things that she did to further this goal was to form and chair the PACU/Sixth Floor Liaison Committee. The goal of the committee is to improve communication between the two units through constructive criticism and productive solutions to problems. This committee has not only improved staff-to-staff relationships but has also improved the continuity and quality of our patient care. Courtney brings insights from these committee meetings back to the PACU and promotes them through her membership in the PACU Shared Governance Committee.
Courtney volunteered very quickly to take on the project of recognizing the PACU staff during Perianesthesia Nurses Week. She could have simply made a poster, given us a card, or sent us an email. However, she went far beyond this. She went to numerous businesses in the Denver area and explained to them that she wanted to recognize the PACU staff. She asked these businesses if they would contribute gifts. She got such a positive response in the form of coupons, product samples, makeovers, food, and many other items. She took the time to put these gifts together into individualized baskets for each PACU staff member including support staff. In addition to the gift baskets, she held a drawing for additional larger gifts daily during the week. No other unit could have felt more appreciated than the PACU did during Perianesthesia Nurses Week due solely to her efforts.
Courtney always has a smile on her face and a kind word to share. She makes everyone feel special when she is talking and working with them. It’s as if she has this inner light that is infectious to everyone around her. I can think of nobody that I have ever worked with that better exemplifies the spirit of the DAISY Award than Courtney McClellan.