This nurse leader views nursing as a work of the heart! You can count on her to show up and lead with caring and love during unprecedented times. An example of this transformational leader’s ability of leadership is when the organization identified a need for more relaunching the opening of observation l beds, specifically for patients awaiting decisions on admission. This nurse leader sought out a physician champion to partner with her on this project. She attended a conference in partnership with the physician champion to evaluate best practices. Leading a gap analysis and engaging organizational stakeholders, this nurse leader was approved to relaunch a new Observation Unit, with 15 beds, to see if this would help improve patient throughput. From start of an idea to implementation, within six weeks this nurse leader had identified an attending physician partner, nurse manager, and hired nursing team members to open up a new unit on October 3rd. As a result of this new unit, throughput has already seen an improvement.

This nurse leader shared that what most excites her is having a specialized team dedicated to helping the patients and families to navigate the complexities of the healthcare team while awaiting the next steps in their healthcare journey! Additionally on October 3rd, this nurse leader led the movement of an 18-bed Adult Special Care Unit, to an entirely new floor, all on the same day. To ensure she was available to support both nurse managers, she arrived early that morning at the change of shift and was prepared to provide at the elbow support. No matter what the ask, this nurse leader is always willing to rise to the occasion and lead with hands-on support and serve as an expert clinical resource.

One example of this Marie’s exemplary leadership was recently with the opening of the Hybrid-complex Medical Unit, this nurse administrator dived in to assist with taking report on patients being admitted and even supported with transporting patients to the units. She truly is a “hands-on leader.” This nurse leader constantly seeks out innovative strategies and resources to help care for the patients of eastern North Carolina. This nurse leader shows up every day to ensure that the patients and team members that she serves have the resources necessary to provide optimal care.

One of her greatest achievements as a nurse leader is the provision of safe nursing care. She takes accountability as the leader of eight medical units (general and intermediate) and one behavioral health unit. Marie describes patient safety as everyone’s responsibility and seeks out opportunities to hold herself and leaders accountable to “do no harm” when caring for patients. Over the last three years, this nurse leader has led her service line in a 45% reduction in the number of events of harm. She contributes this decrease due to role modeling leader engagement. On a monthly basis, she meets with each nurse manager to review work plans put in place to create shared ownership for outcomes and accountability for safety culture on each unit. She describes her role as the “barrier breaker” for gaining organizational support and resources for each nurse manager, while also ensuring that each leader feels supported with the autonomy to lead their units.

Serving in time of need, this nurse leader always rises to the occasion. Over the last year, Marie’s leadership team served as the destination COVID-19 unit, caring for more than 3,000 positive patients. Overseeing this process expanded this nurse leader’s collaboration with physicians and other healthcare team members. This nurse leader navigated through the fear of the “unknown” to help inspire her team to continue their legacy of excellent nursing care! Her motto is to “keep the patient” at the center of everything that the team does. This nurse leader nurtured and inspired her team even when they felt isolated and a sense of overwhelming responsibility that came with two pandemics. Leading with a servant's heart, she seeks out opportunities to receive feedback from her direct reports so that she may empower them with the skills, tools, and relationships they need to perform to the best of their ability.

A Nurse Manager stated, “Marie has a way of building your confidence and fostering your development as a leader by capitalizing on your individual talents and skills.” During the most recent employee engagement survey assessment, 100% of this nurse administrator’s direct reports were identified as engaged! She contributes this to shared decision-making, active listening and always leading with compassion and empathy.