For over 20 years, The DAISY Foundation has been recognizing the compassion and skill direct care nurses bring to their patients every day. The executive leaders, directors, managers, clinical staff leaders who supervise these outstanding nurses do not often consider their roles as eligible for The DAISY Award. However, they fully support recognition for their direct care staff as they deeply appreciate and respect the care that staff nurses provide. As the healthcare landscape becomes more complex, with increasing demands on Nurse Leaders, we believe that those who create an environment of compassion and recognition for others strongly deserve to be recognized themselves. Despite working under tremendous pressure, through their leadership, these Nurse Leaders provide a haven of safety for staff, both physically and emotionally. Leaders provide a setting where compassion is valued, and staff, in turn, treat patients and their families with deep humanity.
This leader has been an employee at Southeast since 2003, an RN since 2007, a nurse Leader since 2013, and became Director of Patient Care Services in 2018.
Role Model for Compassion
Lance has been acknowledged by one of his direct reports as "providing great feedback and in a caring and compassionate way. He is always there to lend a helping hand and leads the inpatient nurse managers with great skill and grace. He is very much appreciated and his greatest skill is communication. He always communicates with us and takes time to explain the reasoning behind initiatives."
Lance spends countless hours talking with patients and families helping them through difficult times. Patients and families react differently in stressful situations and may complain about what is happening with their loved ones. Whether family members can agree about next steps with their loved one, having a hard time letting go, "upset about visitation restrictions" (recently experiencing anger by a family member on the phone), Lance has a way that he speaks with compassion to calm families' fears, provide direct information to aid in decision making and support the patient care team through difficult patient/family matters. Through his compassionate communication skills, he successfully deescalates stressful situations and supports the patient and family at the same time. (The same family member who was angry at him called back to the nursing unit to find Lance so she could apologize for her behavior as she was dealing with a stressful situation.)
Role Models behavior perceived extraordinary
An example from one of his leader peers "From the very get-go he was highly integrated into the opening, transition, training, etc. for the COVID unit. It was long challenging days were and it was an ever-changing process. He led his team with confidence while being in the mix of everyone, leading within the trenches. He kept the team calm, confident, and focused. He was integral in key processes to make our COVID unit a success. He stopped in every morning to the command center, he was quick to go and respond and assess any time there was an issue that arose. He was an advocate for his team and patients all the way through.
Creates an Environment that fosters care and compassion
Lance leads with confidence. He empowers his team to lead and provides the necessary tools for them to succeed. Lance consistently rounds with his team to address concerns, provide feedback, and offer support to build and engage the team.
Creates an environment where attributes of trust, compassion, mutual respect, continued professional development and ethical behavior are modeled and supported.
Lance consistently promotes a trusting environment. He is sure to explain process changes and "The Why" and provide honest feedback. He always says "Do the right thing for the patient" keeping patient front and center in the decisions we make. He is very supportive of the professional development of the team, working with the team on the Nursing Professional Enhancement Program and the PCT advancement levels to promote professional development. For our first year of the Professional Enhancement Program, we have over 85 participants. He is a strong proponent of nursing certifications and advancement and supports the team to provide the necessary certification prep courses.
Motivates staff with a shared vision and enthusiasm to achieve better outcomes for themselves and for their patients
Lance promotes a positive and caring environment for his leaders and staff, who then feel empowered and supported. He actively participates in the Nursing Leadership Council, Nursing Practice Council, Several Committees, Performance Improvement teams, and collaborative projects to investigate and provide feedback to improve outcomes. Lance is always quick "on his I-Pad" to research evidence-based practice and provide input to the team to aid in decision making that is best for patient outcomes and experience.
Is a mentor to staff
Lance spends much time with his Nurse Managers and Clinical Staff Leaders to promote their development and provide mentorship to grow in their career. He is always willing to listen, provide positive, yet direct information that is always encouraging, promoting self-confidence, and supporting the staff.
Accessible, available and responsive to the need of others encouraging critical thinking and problem solving for individuals and with the context of teams
Lance has a large span of influence as Director of Patient Care Services. Through leader rounding and the numerous teams, he is involved with, he makes himself accessible and is very responsive to the needs of the staff, patients, and their families. He empowers his team to provide solutions, acknowledges their efforts, and gives always credit to his team for their contributions.
Promotes and enhances the image of nursing within the organization, the community, and the profession
Lance is definitely a role model for the image of nursing. He leads by example, fostering a positive, uplifting environment, where people want to be on his team, where ideas are encouraged from all members of the team. He "jumps in" to patient care as needed, whether that is being a Rapid Response Nurse, Code Blue Nurse, IV nurse, Dialysis Nurse, or tech to name a few. He never complains, always has a smile, very professional and respectful in all that he does, and funny! I will have to say, "The best part of the day is to hear Lance laugh across the hall". It is very uplifting to work in an environment where people are caring and compassionate, enjoy working together, and laugh!
Thank you Lance for leading by example and that is why you are the first DAISY Nurse Leader Award Honoree at SoutheastHEALTH!