In unprecedented and unknown times, Jessalyn has been not only a fearless leader but one of the strongest influences on her staff. She has navigated rough waters over the last six months without batting an eye. In the midst of a crisis, she made her staff feel as though nothing was wrong. During the beginning of the COVID season, when panic was everywhere, Jessalyn, stepped up and delivered excellent leadership to her staff in dark times. She did not miss a beat, continued to do yearly meetings with staff, had an open door when she was not in one of many meetings and delivered innovative information in hard times. When change was consistently occurring around the staff, Jessalyn stayed up to date on what was necessary for her team and included herself within simulations for critical situations to be run appropriately and most importantly: safely for her staff and the patients.

There have been many instances where Jessalyn stepped up to the plate in the past. She ran a unit of 150+ staff on her own for nearly a year and did so with grace, never showing the frustrations of what the job brought on her and her family. She has shown up on nightshifts before they went home to allow them to know that she was always available. Jessalyn always has an open door for her staff and allows anybody to walk in at their leisure to have tough conversations or emotional conversations or enlightening conversations. She does this to know how her staff feels and what is going on, which enables her to provide excellent leadership to the staff on a deeper, more personal level.

The way that Jessalyn leads inspires her staff to give of themselves. In critical situations, when one sees their manager standing outside the room and asking what she can do to assist the situation, it allows staff to know they are supported on a deeper level. When one’s manager is in the staff's corner, it makes them feel as though they have all the support in the world. There are truly not enough words to explain the depth that Jessalyn’s leadership has impacted the PICU, especially in the last six months, when the PICU staff needed it the most. Her attitude and effort are unmatched. She leads without question and does not need to be praised. IU Health is more than lucky to have her demonstrating their values and leading a group of staff that march on with confidence for the days ahead.

Jessalyn demonstrates the IU Health Value of Excellence by making sure we are always improving and never stagnant. One example of this is how Jessalyn supports our quality improvements such as our strong focus on improving our central line infection rates. She encourages utilizing our Line Team nurses and maintaining the central line bundle compliance. She also sends helpful tips and resources so nurses can continue to learn and grow. Jessalyn shows compassion by helping our team members navigate through new responsibilities, fears, and problems. She is available to help identify stressors, is present on the unit frequently in order to answer questions from staff members, and organizes and runs simulations in order to empower team members and help them feel as prepared as possible while caring for acute children. Jessalyn’s office door is always open and staff members can be found in her office at all times throughout the day to get advice, talk through problems, or just check in with their leader, she truly understands our staff members and frequently reminds us that she supports us through the constant changes on the PICU.

Another way Jessalyn shows the value of the team is by being able to read the “pulse” of the unit. From sad times with increased patient deaths, slow times of team members floating and supporting other units, or times of high patient acuity and heavy workloads, she does a fantastic job of constantly knowing what is going on with her team. She is able to quickly jump in and act to make sure we feel supported.