When we think of nursing, our thoughts automatically go to the nurses we see at the patient bedside. However, with changing technology and increased demands on healthcare facilities to provide quality care, the nurse's role in the hospital has expanded. The nurses in these positions have come through the bedside role with great knowledge of healthcare and its many facets, and are ready to tackle these new roles utilizing the clinical knowledge from those years at the patient's side.

My nomination for the DAISY Award is one of those nurses. Her name is Kathryn (Kate) Callaham, peer review specialist in our Quality & Safety department. Kate's strong clinical background is apparent in her dealings with physicians from various disciplines in the peer review process, collecting and analyzing quality indicators and occurrence screen data for those physician groups. She demonstrates excellent critical thinking skills, and her working knowledge of disease and healthcare processes is outstanding. She honed her skills for several years as a nurse at the bedside at Harrison, and has been integrally involved in the restructuring of the physician peer review process.

While Kate is still busy with physician peer reviews, she has undertaken increasing responsibilities with her usual competence and dedication. One of those projects is with the Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) section. The goal is to reduce elective deliveries prior to 39 weeks of pregnancy, reduce the C-section rate, and improve breastfeeding rates. These are important mother/baby initiatives designed to improve perinatal outcomes. She has worked tirelessly with the OB/GYN physicians and nurses to help them be successful in these areas and to help Harrison more fully implement these evidence-based initiatives.

Harrison is in the process of implementing a new data integration system called Midas. Kate has been responsible for building and implementing the Quality module, which will be the system used to document physician quality monitoring, including peer review. She traveled to Tucson to receive training in order to take on these extra responsibilities.

Kate's director, Lauren Newcomer, RN, says "Kate does a fabulous job for our team and for the hospital as a whole. She really makes a difference in the lives of our patients."

In the Quality & Safety department, we all agree that Kate is a leader. Her coworkers comment that she is a "diligent, organized worker who is willing to go the extra mile for patients," "I am proud to work with Kate. Her kindness and commitment to do the right thing is evident," and "Kate is a great role model, coming in early and staying late for peer review meetings, always prepared and friendly." In addition, Kate juggles a work life while raising her fourth grade daughter, and was recently married to the love of her life, Ryan.

Kate's knowledge, job performance, professionalism, and kindness are goals we all share as nurses, whether we are at the patient's bedside - or as in Kate's case - making sure that the bedside experience is a safe and satisfied one for the patient. We are lucky to have Kate working for our patients.