Laila El Bassiouni, a nurse who personifies extraordinary, puts into practice every day the hospital values of teamwork, quality in all things, integrity, compassion and patient focus.

Teamwork - Laila demonstrates that patient care is enhanced and patient outcomes improve when there is teamwork. She has formed excellent working relationships not just within the clinic but throughout the hospital and works well with others to provide quality care whether it is advocating with a physician on behalf of a patient, coordinating with photographic and print shop in developing valuable education materials, or stopping what she is doing to help co-workers when the clinic is extremely busy. She is excellent charge nurse through her effective communication, problem solving abilities and organizational skills.

Quality - Laila has been a true Magnet Champion for the clinic throughout the Journey to Excellence. She co-chaired the successful Magnet kick-off, provided ongoing education to co-workers as the journey progressed and most importantly, worked to explain the impact of Magnet Accreditation on quality improvement for nurses and nursing care in the clinic and all over the hospital. She is the Professional Development representative for the clinic, and shows her support for EBP by liaising on research studies within the clinic and leading the Journal Club.

Integrity - You can count on Laila. She is trustworthy, dependable, principled and accountable. Through her example, she works to create a positive and supportive work environment. Everyone she comes into contact with, all patients and their families, and all her co-workers are treated with the same dignity, respect and professionalism.

Compassion - Compassion in nursing has been described as "intelligent kindness" and Laila consistently demonstrates this in her work through her excellent clinical skills and her genuine caring. Patients and their families seek her out to educate when they don't understand, she teaches them new skills such as Heparin injections, to solve problems when they don't know how to, and to provide support when they need someone just to talk to. The same concern is shown to her co-workers, answering endless questions, always willing to help and always supporting new staff.

Patient Focus - Laila is one of the leaders on the clinic Performance Improvement project to provide improved, more structured antenatal education for patients through antenatal classes. She is constantly working to improve the quality of the classes, recently coordinating with anesthetists who are now providing weekly sessions on anesthesia in labor & delivery, and will soon include weekly sessions by physiotherapists. Recognizing the positive impact of education for patients, their families and the community, Laila has co-developed many education materials and led on Awareness Days such as Spina Bifida, Urology, Newborn Screening and Breastfeeding Awareness which has contributed to the recognition of the hospital as a "Baby Friendly Hospital" by UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

Extraordinary is defined as exceptional, beyond what is expected. Laila demonstrates on a daily basis that she is an exceptional nurse, consistently goes beyond what is expected and therefore will be a very deserving recipient of the DAISY Award.