It is challenging at times to be recognized by patients and families when you move into leadership roles and are not as often acting as primary nurse. A charge nurse is dealing with difficult layers of social issues, angry patients and family, frustrated staff and doctors, and still organizing the floor as discharges and admits come in. In my eyes, a 5th-floor charge nurse on dayshift must wear a cape. You are a superhero. Organization and precision in the 5th floor CN role is key to making or breaking any given Tuesday.
Kelly goes above and beyond to ensure safety for her patients. The chaos that could be a reality, with their rapid coming and going is doable when she is here. She cares deeply about the operations of her unit. Every aspect is of importance to her. She demands professionalism with fun. She has high standards for the care delivered and will not take anything short of it. She must juggle the wants and needs of patients, her staff, the Periop CN, Mission Control, the House Supervisor, radiology, her manager and clinical coordinator, and on and on...oh, and the surgeons! She is never surprised by an admit, she already knew it was coming. She is never miscounting on discharges versus admissions. She, of course, has the bed planned for each one. And each night before she goes home, the unit is packaged up into a pretty, well-organized bow. Her advocacy for her nursing staff should be noted. They feel supported and protected by Kelly, even when they are being hit with discharges and admits again and again.
Some may say that all the things mentioned are things that leaders are expected to do. That's why they get paid the big bucks, right? I am here to tell you that she does what is expected and so much more. If you are a patient and you never meet her, it is because your amazing primary RN and your charge nurse, Kelly, made a seamless visit for you. Her skillful placement of patients and the support of her staff sets up your care team for success. If you are a patient and get the pleasure of meeting Kelly, it's because she wanted to make sure you were getting care at unit standards, even if your stay was challenging.
Thank you for your wealth of knowledge, your leadership in tough situations, your integrity to say when you don't know, your eagerness to find the right answer, and for making MY Tuesdays fun and bearable...when they have the potential to be quite the opposite.