One of the first examples I saw at UCLA of an authentic leader was my CNS. Throughout my entire nurse resident journey, she provided kindness and guidance. Throughout the years, I have seen her mentor numerous nurses on the two units she covers as a surgical services CNS. She is a quiet leader who works diligently in the background to promote nursing excellence, improve patient outcomes, and encourage professional development. She empowers nurses around her to grow and challenges them to reach their full potential. If you have a goal, she will be your biggest supporter, and she will also provide the tools you need to accomplish it. If your goal is to be certified, she will make sure you set a date and provide you with supplies to study. If your goal is CNIII, she will pour over your application and make sure you will be successful. If your goal is to submit an abstract, she will work on her days off to edit and review it so it is accepted. If you're presenting at a conference, she will listen to you practice until you feel ready. Most importantly, if you need someone to listen compassionately, she will be there to support you but will also be the first to remind you to keep going. 

She makes herself available, regardless of the date or time, to answer any clinical questions. You can ask her anything, and she will never make you feel bad about not knowing. She truly wants staff to learn and become kind, competent, skilled nurses. Staff have always been in awe of her clinical knowledge and dedication to nursing. She leads by example and is the first to jump up if she hears a bed alarm, if there's an RRT/Code blue, or if staff simply need support to help educate a patient. She goes above and beyond to find professional development opportunities for her staff. Whenever you approach her with an idea, she will help translate it into reality. She fosters a spirit of discovery. She holds you accountable, pushes you to grow, and reminds you to mentor others along the way. She is a great role model of a leader and inspires others to embrace their leadership potential.

Throughout her time at UCLA, she has created the urine retention management nurse driven protocol, urine culture stewardship, and adult CAUTI risk stratification tool. UCLA has seen a 28% reduction in CAUTI as a system from 78 events to 58 events in the previous calendar year that she served as a CAUTI SME. She's presented at numerous conferences and has published her work. She will be the first to celebrate our smallest accomplishments but rarely celebrates her own. She lives up to our mission of delivering leading-edge patient care, research, and education. 

Leadership extends beyond accomplishments. It's the legacy you leave behind through the people you have mentored and the relationships you've nurtured. She has created a profound legacy of kindness, compassion, integrity, and excellence.

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I respectfully nominate her for the great impact she has had on our unit, our staff, and our patients.  She creates an inspiring learning environment for our unit. Her expertise and support help us improve our clinical practice.  She is always available to answer our clinical questions and works hard to mentor us in our decision-making process. Her positivity helps to make our unit a cohesive team, with each teammate looking out for each other. She has tremendously helped us grow and inspires us to be the best in what we do. As one nurse puts it, “She is our security blanket,” and I feel more confident when she’s around. She is a true DAISY Nurse Leader. Thank you.