Elizabeth role models extraordinary behavior and is seen as the quintessential “nurses’ nurse” by many in our organization. Not only has Elizabeth successfully led and coordinated our hospital journey to the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Pathways to Excellence Program designation, but she also continues to promote excellence through the constant creation and support of a healthy workplace through staff empowerment and engagement. Elizabeth administrates and fosters a healthy workplace environment by promoting trust through her leadership and mentorship of our Shared Governance program. Elizabeth individually mentors and coaches our hospital and unit-based leaders by providing resources, guidance, and coaching for inexperienced leaders.

Recently, Elizabeth has introduced the Flight Model program of shared governance. This innovative model opens avenues for bedside clinicians to have a voice in their clinical practice and lead others by promoting best-evidence patient care practices. Elizabeth is transparent in communicating needs and initiatives between clinical, management, and administrative or system objectives and has a gift for connecting key stakeholders and engaged staff. For example, on 2 North, Elizabeth has enthusiastically motivated the bedside staff through education of the Flight Model to develop a process to improve accuracy in recording patient intake and output in the EMR, which will support our system’s Heart Failure goals.

Elizabeth established the Code Lavender program at our hospital as a means of acknowledging events that challenge and threaten to disrupt unit stability and personal emotional equilibrium. These events may include tragedy or loss experienced by a team member, a stressful code, staff conflict with other staff or with a difficult patient, or simply a stress-filled shift when tension and emotions are surfacing. Instead of ignoring these situations, Elizabeth has brought compassion and caring to those under duress, grief, and work-related stress.

Her own gentle heart exudes kindness and genuine concern for all our staff. One of the greatest examples of Elizabeth’s caring and concern was demonstrated in the height of one of our COVID surges. The stress levels were high and constant for most of our team and although, we consider ourselves a resilient group, many of us had unprecedented concerns about our jobs and our abilities to safely meet the demands of the increased patient acuity, workload, and staffing challenges. Elizabeth, always the innovative leader, facilitated a wellness program for the Professional Practice team, which was a pilot program using the Perceived Stress Scale tool to measure before and after the intervention. The team met with wellness coaches for four sessions (every two weeks). We learned how to recognize and decrease stress during our time at work using various types of desk exercise, deep breathing, meditation, music etc. Each team member reported good takeaway information for personal and practical application in the last session.

Elizabeth’s greatest talent is the promotion and advancement of the art of nursing. Elizabeth oversees our Graduate Nurse Program and the new nurse employee onboarding process using research-guided evidence in applying administrative, coaching, and mentorship support techniques for novice nurses as well as re-entry nurses and those who change clinical settings. In addition, Elizabeth serves as the liaison with our local universities and colleges offering nursing clinical course experience. She oversees the education of our Designated Education Unit staff and clinical instructors ensuring that the clinical experience is organized, effective and valuable for our students. Her concern and appreciation for nurse job satisfaction and retention are apparent as Elizabeth spearheads all the nurse recognition programs offered at WDH. As the Chair of the internationally recognized DAISY Award and system-wide, ROSE Award Committees, Elizabeth has embraced the value of publicly distinguishing the knowledge and skill of the direct care nurse providers and support staff who deliver skilled, knowledgeable, and compassionate patient care. Enhancing the image of nursing, Elizabeth supports nurses with resources and guidance for obtaining specialty nursing certification. Every year, Elizabeth organizes a special celebration for recognizing certified nurses by producing videos, posters, luncheons, or treats for those who have achieved nurse specialty certification. As the nurses’ nurse, Elizabeth positively impacts the profession of nursing by relating with each nurse she encounters…whether novice or expert. She uses the nursing process to identify a nurse’s specific need for advancing in skill, knowledge, or ability. She is resourceful in helping nurses to plan their own professional development map and how to implement and periodically evaluate their plan. These are just a few reasons that Elizabeth Berrier is truly a DAISY Nurse Leader.