What is an exemplary leader? To me, it is someone who has the mind, the actions, and the passion of transforming each and every one under his leadership to be the drivers and navigators of their goals and professional aspirations. He is someone who inspires, encourages, and aligns a person back on track despite failures and challenges. He is someone who shares his power to empower and strengthens everyone to be united towards a shared goal and vision.
It is hard to believe that it has been a year since our unit first opened the doors for COVID+ patients. If you were to ask me, my peers, and coworkers about our life during this unprecedented times, we all have a lot of stories to tell. But what I am going to tell you right now is about how our exemplary leadership blended in and played a special role into our stories. His name is Eyad Wahdan. He was once my peer as a charge nurse in the DOU. I have seen in him the qualities of an exceptional leader in the making. Eyad then joined a leadership role as an ADA and interim DA for critical care services. From day one, he exhibited his dedication towards his vision of uniting our team to one goal, that is promoting the culture of empowering and strengthening each other as one team to achieve our Kaiser Permanente mission.
At the peak of the pandemic, we ran into a lot of uncertainties about PPE's, supplies and equipment shortages, but Eyad made sure PPE's were delivered and made available to us promptly. He eased our fears so that we felt reassured of our safety and ability to care for our patients with competence and confidence. Eyad also coordinated with the staffing and scheduling department to ensure that our staffing needs were met. He entrusted and empowered all the Critical Care Services charge nurses to cohesively, independently and unitedly decide amongst each other the staffing needs of all the COVID units based on skill mixes and staff positions (regular/travelers/seasonal staff) so that no unit felt overwhelmed or inadequate. We had a rough time when our staffing ratios were challenging but yet he continued to encourage, motivate, and uplift our morale. Eyad made sure he was physically available to actively help with intubation, prone therapy and troubleshooting operational issues between the three COVID units (DOU, ICU and 4E).
The best thing about this was the patience and humility he showed that even though he is our manager, by helping us in the unit, he made us feel like he is part of our working team. When Eyad walked into the unit, with his deep voice, he greeted everyone with a smile and called out their names with a "hi "or "hello" or "how are you." He made sure he knew everyone's names especially the new staff (travelers and seasonal) to make them feel welcome. He displayed commitment to his role going above and beyond, extending his work hours to help iron out after hour issues. As a charge nurse, I made some inefficient decisions, but he would always make time to mentor me and discuss possible solutions making positive learning opportunities. He is fair and unbiased and valued our input and suggestions for problem solving. Eyad knew the stress level in the unit was so high that he supported whatever it took to ease it down. He encouraged meditation, music, supported our UBT mindfulness project and constantly reminded us to make use of the Lavender Cart and the Zen room. He empathized with the staff and tried to always find coverage for nurses just to be able to step out of the unit to somehow reset and recharge. He surely displayed compassion and respect to the staff as it would trickle down into a culture of compassion and respect among each other and thus to our patients and families. He facilitated patient and family conference to resolve concerns and issues to promote patient-centric care.
I am very proud to share my story. These are just some of the exemplary displays of leadership that Eyad has shown. He is surely an asset to our department and to the whole organization. "Great leaders don't create followers, they create leaders."