We would like to celebrate Deb Zarrella. Deb is not only an extraordinary nurse in her own right - she vigorously supports nurses in multiple manners - one of the most notable ways she does this, is her work with The DAISY Award.
If you've seen her share the story of Patrick Barnes, explain the meaning of The DAISY Award itself, and the importance of "The Healer's Touch" sculpture, you know she is all in - and it means something to her. I love to see the pride in her eyes when she is presenting the award. I've been lucky enough to see Deb present DAISY Awards to frontline staff, nurse leaders, teams, as well as Her Royal Highness, Princess Muna al-Hussein, the Founder and President of the Jordanian Nursing Council.
The vision of LHMC's Division of Nursing is that we are exceptional nurses delivering extraordinary care. Throughout Deb's career at Lahey, she has worked in many roles - where she has always worked diligently to be sure that this vision is a reality.
Epic, my goodness, Epic! And care plans - oh my goodness care plans!! Everyone just loves care plans (we thought that that love-hate relationship was going to end when nursing school did - ha)!! Debbie, the informatics team, and nursing educators worked so hard to help frontline staff operationalize Epic care plans, downtime, LDAs, and all things documentation. Did I mention she helps with Epic? My goodness - she can make things happen with Epic. If she didn't know the answer to something she got it, and then followed up. If the answer was ridiculous, she worked it out, so things made sense. She worked with nurses, providers, pharmacy representatives, and anyone else she needed to - she worked with them so frontline staff could focus on patients, and use Epic as the tool that it is.
I'm aware that there are not a bunch of accolades for nurses who work in informatics - but there should be. Nursing leaders cannot support frontline staff alone - frontline staff cannot care for patients alone - that's why we are a team. Deb always questioned how changing something in "the background" would affect the end-user at the forefront - our frontline staff, and therefore their ability to care for our patients. Deb never lost sight of that. Ever.
I know that many people remember Deb in a variety of other positions - I've heard she was a nurse manager? Director? ACNO? At one time or another - I've always known her from informatics - but the lessons and influence she has had on my career have truly made a difference - with or without acknowledgment or recognition - the job I do affects the exceptional care that frontline nurses provide here at LHMC. Deb has made an influence on my journey to being a truly exceptional leader.
As Deb prepares to move on to the next season of her life, I am so very thankful that I've been able to get to know her and work with her. I have to say though, the thing that I'm most happy I've been able to do with Deb is to recognize and celebrate our amazing colleagues who have received The DAISY Award.