Donna is the image of an extraordinary nurse. She began her career over 10 years ago in the OR. During her tenure she has worked diligently with the neurosurgery service as a back-up to the specialty nurse, as a charge nurse, a preceptor, a team lead, and as a major team player in general surgery. Often surgeons request her assistance with more complex OR cases. She is the preferred choice when pairing new nurses with preceptors. She is diligent, kind natured and has a unique way of teaching. She is ever so patient and is able to think outside the box. She has a trusting rapport with the multidisciplinary team. She demonstrates the value of customer service in her every interaction with patients and their families and often goes out of her way to put them at ease. I have witnessed her mentoring the new staff, reassuring them as they begin their journey as new nurses and providing constructive feedback regarding their progress. When others with her magnitude of skills have looked elsewhere to grow, she has invested her time, growing the department and the staff through education and support. She is the face that I would want to see if my child was emergently taken to the OR. Our success as an organization is due to the hard work and dedication of compassionate nurses like Donna.
***
It is difficult to establish a relationship with families as an operating nurse. In the day surgery and holding areas, she works with families to let them know what will be going on and how they will be updated. She puts these families at ease in some of the most frightening situations. Recently, she provided great leadership to the Periop 101 nursing interns. Many of the interns come with limited or no nursing experience. Her calm approach to teaching and guiding them on their journey to success is reassuring to me that we will have strong nurses in the end, just like Donna. We are very thankful Donna is on our team.