Janet Handy, MS, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE is a nurse because of her deep passion for person-centered care and her profound sense of love and empathy for humankind, creating a space where all belong. As a nurse executive with more than 50 years of nursing experience, the ripple effects of her efforts are infinite. She role models the core values of caring, commitment, teamwork, and integrity in all that she does. Janet is one of those ‘one of a kind’ individuals who has an uncanny ability to connect with people. She has the key qualities of an excellent mentor; patience, passion, willingness to share knowledge and trust. What makes Janet a respected mentor is her caring, integrity, wisdom, intelligence, commitment, approachability and accessibility. She demonstrates a sense of humility, transparency, and a genuine personality of being a real person that cultivates trust.

She helped to institute the Little House Pantry located on the campus of Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) which has serves as a robust resource for individuals in need throughout the Charlotte region. Demonstrating her ability to promote teamwork, Janet enlisted the help of her colleagues to take on a monthly assignment of stocking the pantry to ensure that it is used appropriately. Because of her leadership abilities to engage teammates, the pantry remains stocked with food, toiletries, clothing, books, and other items. A family of five, including three small children, was seen by one of the Central Market’s Nurse Directors accessing the pantry to take items they needed. The oldest of the three children started jumping up and down in excitement after finding a can of ravioli in the pantry. The Nurse Director who witnessed this event, shared this as a Connect to Purpose and thanked Janet for her leadership in ensuring that this Pantry continued to serve as a resource for those in need. In addition, Janet serves as a mentor for the Women in Leadership Mentoring Initiative and is a strong advocate for the Dress for Success program in addition to Habitat for Humanity, Holy Spirit Bereavement Ministry, Salvation Army, Crisis Assistance Ministry, and Urban Ministry Soup Kitchen.

Janet Handy is a nurse leader because she consistently goes the extra mile to make a human connection with others around her. Our patients and their families describe Janet as bringing “hope, strength, and vitality”, displaying “empathy but never pity”, and “exuding joy and hope, connecting to build bonds of trust and confidence”. In July 2018 a patient was admitted to her oncology division with a poor prognosis from his cancer diagnosis. His daughter had recently got engaged in Key West Florida and was planning on getting married in 2019. This patient’s daughter could not bear the idea of getting married without her father present, and she shared this information with the medical team. Janet immediately went into action serving as the main orchestrator of creating a small ceremony in this patient’s room to fulfill this patient’s dying wish. She oversaw decorations, gathering an audience of healthcare teammates, music, and everything else that would make this event special, including a reception. The finishing touch of the reception was a three-tiered cake made by the hospital’s executive chef. During the ceremony, the patient’s daughter told the patient that she would be all right and that her new husband would take care of her and the women that meant so much to him. At this, the patient replied with the first words he spoke during the ceremony, "I love you". Because of Janet’s love and compassion, this unit embraced this family with love and celebrated this joyous occasion despite the circumstances. They took professional pictures with a photographer arranged under Janet’s leadership. The bride tossed her bouquet to an audience of teammates, and they signed their marriage certificate. This is a moment this team and the patient’s family will never forget.

Janet’s transformational leadership qualities prompted her to help organize Schwartz Center Rounds at CMC. The Schwartz Center Rounds, focus on the human connection between patients and their caregivers. In the 1-hour session, all caregivers come to discuss relationships and case presentations that focus on the human connection. These rounds often unite caregivers from a range of disciplines to share experiences, learn from each other, and focus on the human dimension of healthcare.

Being person-centered is about connecting with the human spirit, something that Janet has been known to do with ease. She seeks out the most challenging patients to visit, jumps at the chance to round on individuals in isolation, and secretly visits teammates and/or their family members when they are hospitalized in our facility to ensure we practice what we preach… health, hope, and healing - for ALL. Over the last year and a half during the pandemic, when most meetings were being canceled Janet saw an opportunity to help reach out to those teammates that were working remote. That is when it was decided to continue the CMC Schwartz Center Rounds by conducting them virtually through Teams. Over the last year and a half, an increase was actualized in Schwartz Center Rounds attendance. This venue served as an important stage to discuss various topics that were poignant, especially during the COVID pandemic. Topics such as anti-Asian violence, civil rights, equity, and the effects of COVID were just a few topics discussed on this platform.

From Janet’s leadership with the Schwartz Center Rounds, the creation of a COVID support group for Atrium Health teammates was born. This support group focused on teammates that contracted COVID-19 resulting in long-lasting effects both physically, emotionally, and mentally. Janet partnered with Human Resources, the Employee Assistance Program, and Pastoral Care teammates to help facilitate these virtual sessions for CMC teammates. After a few sessions at CMC, this COVID support group was quickly opened up for all teammates within Atrium Health system. None of this would have happened if Janet had not advocated for this resource identified as a need from the CMC Schwartz Center Rounds.

Demonstrating the drive for excellence always, Janet is extremely passionate about nursing advancement. She has served as the Nurse Leader Mentor for the Professional Nurse Clinical Advancement Program (PNCAP) in the Central Market for many years. Despite the COVID pandemic, the Central Market continues to exceed past PNCAP totals year after year. Janet is now leading the team to restructure and decentralize the PNCAP program to ensure that efforts are led at the divisional level due to the amount of demand and excessive growth of this program. Furthermore, Janet also supports Levine Cancer Institute’s PNCAP program by providing guidance to ensure that renovations of the program continue to meet system goals and expectations. As proof of her dedication to advancing the nursing profession, prior to COVID Janet approved paid time for nurses to participate in the Inpatient Oncology PNCAP cohort group. By allowing this paid time, nurses were able to participate in the education and work sessions needed to successfully tackle the PNCAP requirements. She supported teammates by helping them find meaningful projects and funding for projects such as the Respite Room on 4B and the Hope and Healing Bags on 3T. She removed barriers that teammates had with obtaining data for their projects and helped coordinate and facilitate PNCAP pinning ceremonies. For the ceremonies, she purchased flowers to be given to nurses along with the PNCAP pin. Planetree is a person-centered systemized approach to delivering holistic healthcare while promoting a healthy, encouraging environment for caregivers and addressing the needs of the community.

Janet lives by this approach and charged the Oncology division with achieving Planetree status to improve care quality. She fully supported her service line educator in heading the inpatient steering committee and connected her with experts from AH Mercy to help guide her through the certification process. Janet recruited passionate interdisciplinary teammates to join the steering committee and held them accountable for attending the meetings regularly. She hosted a Planetree Refresh Retreat in which she engaged and rejuvenated all members to promote the success and garnered support for the efforts. As a transformational leader, Janet attended all of the steering committee calls, advocated for the Care Partner program, organized and coordinated respite rooms for staff on each of the units, ensured staff engagement by having staff vote on chairs, tables, decor, etc., and authorized the inpatient Oncology division's annual competencies to focus on the 10 common threads of Planetree. Furthermore, Janet remained active in this work despite being on a medical leave of absence by attending meetings virtually.

Janet has also built her legacy through mentoring and coaching numerous bedside nurses, nurse managers, and assistant vice presidents. Mentees describe her as “a fountain of knowledge”, “an innovative thinker”, and “a devout advocate for advancing in the nursing profession”. A bedside nurse on CMC 6B reported that Janet has served as a significant mentor for her during her five years of nursing at Atrium Health. Starting as a new graduate RN, Janet oftentimes encouraged and inspired her by sharing personal professional experiences ranging from a new graduate nurse to her current role as Assistant Vice President. This nurse described Janet as a “compassionate person who is passionate about her work. She fiercely advocates for her teammates and the patients we care for. She simply does not take “no” for an answer when patient and teammate safety are involved.” This murse described one example in which a patient needed to undergo surgery. Despite the challenges and barriers, as well as a long string of emails, Janet persevered for the sake of the patient’s safety. She did not give up and because of her efforts, the patients made it into surgery much earlier than originally anticipated. She credits Janet for her current role as Unit Educator, as well as her pursuit of obtaining her Master’s degree in Nursing. Janet challenges her team and colleagues and is always the first to celebrate successes achieved. This nurse noted that Janet’s “passion and dedication to both her teammates and patients is exemplary and unmatched, demonstrating that Janet earns trust through all of her actions. I have said it before: When I grow up, I want to be just like Janet Handy!”

Like the humanitarian and self-taught nurse Clara Barton, Janet’s intense devotion to helping others is not only evident in her daily work at the hospital where she tackles unexpected challenges in her leadership role, but also through her charitable actions both in the community and at work. One of Janet’s four nursing units instituted a clothing closet initiative several years ago to provide coats, shoes, and other necessities to their large homeless population at discharge. Janet was the first to pitch in with regular donations. If eyeglasses or other items were needed for the closet, Janet was the first to go to the store and purchase these items at a moment’s notice. A colleague noted that Janet’s “charity goes beyond the wall and doors of the hospital as demonstrated by her countless hours of serving meals to the homeless as well as her genuine display of kindness shown to teammates who are struggling with personal losses or personal illnesses. She is quick to pitch in and always there to offer a meal, a kind note, or a word of encouragement.” She noted that Clara Barton once said, “I cannot afford the luxury of a closed mind. I go for anything new that might improve the past” along with “the door that nobody else will go in at, seems always to swing open widely for me.” She said that this quote reminds her of Janet Handy because she is always open to change with an optimistic point of view. She frequently says that if the team never loses sight of our goals of safe patient care delivery and teammate safety, everything will always work out. Janet role models safety first behavior and has never been afraid to speak her mind to promote doing the right thing for our patients and teammates. She has embraced her path in nursing and has successfully adapted to the many challenges and difficulties along the way, always pulling others forward in her crusade of making things better in this everchanging world of healthcare.

One nurse manager reported that she learned a lot from Janet and the experiences that she has gained with Janet throughout her nursing career. That manager stated that as a new leader, Janet taught her to manage her frustrations of never being able to get it all done by focusing only on the accomplishments of three things a day. That leader noted that this advice has helped her successfully acclimate to her leadership role despite its challenges at times. Janet is a wealth of knowledge and has been a great mentor for countless nurses throughout her nursing career. Demonstrating that innovation betters the now and creates the future, this outstanding candidate tirelessly pursues excellence in patient outcomes. Janet has been the guiding light in improvements in VTE, C. diff, CLABSI, length of stay, and injury prevention over her years of service. With Janet’s leadership, the Oncology division has successfully implemented acuity adaptable beds on 4 Tower, allowing patients to receive ICU-level care without leaving the comfort and safety of their nursing oncology experts. This transition required a significant time commitment for education and training for each nurse assigned to this fragile population, which Janet thoroughly supported. This has resulted in improved patient satisfaction and tremendous cost savings. In addition, Janet was pivotal in the implementation of a C. difficile bundle which placed many of the critical components of prevention at the fingertips of the nurse. Her support allowed for collaboration with Material Management to support the distribution of this product even when it was being produced manually by bedside nurses, before a manufacturer produced product as available. This work has been credited with the sustained reduction in C. difficile experienced in the Central Market.

Janet actively role models a culture of professionalism through her involvement in multiple professional organizations. As a North Carolinas Nurses Association member, she has supported this organization through involvement as a board member, legislative committee member, and a previous president-elect. She is a Fellow in the American College of Health Care Executives and an active member of the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE). Janet, never underestimate the difference you have made and the lives you have touched. Once a nurse, forever a nurse.