Mandy Garcia, RN

I am honored to nominate Mandy Garcia, our Assistant Patient Care Manager in the CVICU, for the DAISY Nurse Leader Award. Her leadership has had an extraordinary impact on our unit culture, our professional practice, and ultimately the care we provide to our patients and families. One of her most remarkable strengths is her ability to skillfully communicate and engage all stakeholders in ways that feel meaningful and relevant to them. She has a rare talent for fostering open dialogue and mutual respect among nurses, physicians, advanced practice providers, and support staff.

When our team faces complex challenges, she brings clarity by thoughtfully identifying the context and nuance surrounding the issue and helping the team align around shared objectives. Her collaborative leadership style ensures everyone feels heard and valued while keeping us focused on providing the highest quality care possible. This ability has been instrumental in addressing several important challenges on our unit. She played a key role in helping the team respond to recent infection concerns by facilitating thoughtful discussions and solutions that brought multiple disciplines together. She has also helped optimize workflows for our out-of-count nurses and strengthen collaboration between nurses and frontline providers.

Through these efforts and many others, she continues to move our unit toward safer, more effective care. Her dedication to nursing excellence was also evident in her work supporting our journey to the AACN Beacon Award for Excellence. She provided invaluable support to the projects highlighted in our exemplars and played a significant role in helping author the application itself. Thanks in large part to her guidance and commitment, our CVICU successfully achieved the Beacon Silver designation-a milestone that reflects the strength of our nursing practice and culture. Integrity is the foundation of her leadership. She consistently follows through on what she says she will do and holds herself accountable to every team member. Nurses trust her because her actions always align with her words. Among the leadership team, she is affectionately known as the CVICU's "One-woman RSPCT Team." Families in our unit often have complex needs and emotions during incredibly difficult times. She listens carefully to their concerns, understands their perspectives, and communicates with compassion and clarity. At the same time, she skillfully sets expectations and advocates for nursing staff while maintaining appropriate boundaries. Because of her thoughtful approach, she has de-escalated countless situations and prevented many formal RSPCT codes and consultations.

One significant example of this is when we had a family that was threatening staff members. We were unsure of how to appropriately manage this family as their daughter was nearing end-of-life. When I heard a family member threaten staff, I immediately went to Mandy to voice my concern. She listened attentively and quickly ensured that I was safe. She outlined the next steps and stayed with me over the next week or two. When the situation escalated and I felt like my safety was jeopardized, she ensured that I was a priority for her and took immediate action so that I would be away from the family. When I had an unexpected run-in with the family, I went to her office to let her know. I broke down crying as this was a highly emotional time for me. She listened and spoke with me in a way that made me feel she cared about me. She also invests deeply in our nurses' professional growth. Her evaluations thoughtfully highlight how individual nurses contribute to the unit's broader goals, helping staff feel seen and recognized for the impact of their work. She has also demonstrated her leadership through her service as interim manager of the unit on two separate occasions, both times with remarkable success.

During these periods, she maintained stability, supported the team through challenges, and continued to advance our unit's goals. She has also mentored multiple members of the management team, strengthening leadership capacity across the CVICU. Beyond day-to-day leadership, she has organized and led interdisciplinary CVICU retreats that fostered connection, professional development, and renewed motivation among staff. These retreats strengthened our sense of community and directly contributed to a more positive care environment. Despite her many leadership responsibilities, she remains an expert bedside nurse and is always willing to step in clinically when the unit needs support. She is highly visible, accessible, and responsive to her team. Whether helping manage a complex patient situation or simply offering guidance during a busy shift, she consistently shows up for the nurses she leads. When our unit is incredibly busy and she knows the CS nurses are overwhelmed, she is always willing to come to the unit and help relieve nurses for their breaks to help lighten the load for the CS's.

What makes her most special is how she navigates the space between being a supportive colleague and an effective leader. She listens, she encourages, and she advocates. She is always ready with a kind word, a smile, or practical help when someone needs it. Working with her is both inspiring and a true pleasure. Through her integrity, compassion, and unwavering dedication to her team, she creates an environment where nurses can thrive and patients receive the best care possible. For these reasons, I cannot imagine a more deserving recipient of the DAISY Nurse Leader Award.