It is a true honor to nominate an exceptional leader, Dory Walczak, for DAISY Nurse Leader of the Year. Her leadership in 2025 left a lasting imprint not only on outcomes and practice, but on the people she leads and the culture she so intentionally cultivates. She leads with both strength and heart. Through her guidance, clinical outcomes improved, and standards of care were consistently upheld, but what truly sets her apart is how those results were achieved. She practices compassionate accountability, holding herself and her team to high expectations while leading with empathy, respect, and fairness. Her team knows they are supported, valued, and challenged to be their very best. This leader is a deeply committed mentor. She sees potential in others before they often see it in themselves and takes the time to coach, encourage, and invest in their growth.
In 2025, she pushed her nursing team to grow professionally and personally, inspiring them to expand their skills, pursue development opportunities, and step confidently into higher levels of practice and leadership. Her belief in her team has fueled confidence, resilience, and pride. Perhaps most powerfully, she leads by example. She shows up with integrity, consistency, and compassion, even during the most demanding moments. Her presence brings calm, clarity, and purpose, reminding her team why they chose nursing in the first place. Because of her leadership, nurses feel empowered, patients receive exceptional care, and the culture is one of trust, accountability, and excellence.
Dory has achieved many outstanding outcomes, including decreasing ventilator days, Foley catheter utilization, and central line utilization. But perhaps her most notable accomplishment of 2025 is the reduction in HAPI that the CCU has achieved. Dory worked with her CCL to provide evidence-based practice education and coaching, ensuring that her team knew the why behind the what. Keeping the patient at the center of every decision they made, the team was able to decrease their HAPI's to only 4 in 2025. In a unit that has seen HAPI’s as high as 16 in previous years, this is quite an accomplishment. Dory and her CCL have also presented this work at Strive the Thrive this past year and have been accepted to be a presenter at the upcoming statewide VHHA conference.
Dory was also recognized in Q2 of 2025 as an Inspired Impact Award Winner for the Richmond Market for going above and beyond for a family. The nomination reads: “During a recent organ donation case on a young patient, Dory recognized that the family needed additional support after a challenging initial overnight in our unit. She went above and beyond to go to a local craft store to get materials to create a memory box for the patient's family that included a locket of the patients hair (with permission from the family of course), a copy of an EKG tracing so the mother could have this made into a tattoo, and many other things so that the family could remember their daughters experience as positively as possible.  Dory has been a part of organizing several honor walks recently, and she always pays attention to detail to ensure this special recognition is done with dignity and professionalism. I could not be prouder to have her on my team and leading our CCU.”
Dory goes above and beyond to not only provide patients and families with excellence in clinical care, but also in compassion, which is the very essence of the DAISY Award. Her impact in 2025 will continue to shape her team and organization for years to come. She is truly deserving of recognition as DAISY Nurse Leader of the Year.