I had the pleasure of being McKenna’s third-semester clinical instructor at Ascension All Saints in the Summer of 2024. From day one on the unit, you could tell she was a silent leader. She brought a ton of healthcare experience and knowledge to the group based on her work experience as a CNA and nurse intern, however always proceeded to assist her peers in a humble and approachable manner. Early on, McKenna showed her fierce ability to advocate for her patients by collaborating with doctors who would round on the unit, suggest changes to the plan of care in rounds with the interdisciplinary team, and provide great insight to the nurses on the unit regarding things that she was seeing at the bedside. She was even able to find multiple errors in medications, charting, and orders during our clinical time when the electronic health record was down, and we had been doing all of our charting on paper.

At the end of one of our clinical days, McKenna recognized the patient since she had cared for previously at her work. This patient had been on the unit for over a month and was extremely challenging to care for due to her cognitive deficits and erratic changes in behavior. This patient was medically stable but unable to be discharged to a facility due to her refusal to work with physical therapy and provide proof she was safe to discharge. This issue alone delayed her discharge for over a week. McKenna approached the patient in a manner that she knew she would be receptive to based on her previous encounters with her, including using her stuffed animal, and convinced the patient to go for a walk with her in the hallway. The patient agreed and walked up and down the hall with her while the nurse quickly called physical therapy to come and assess the patient. The patient was cleared and finally discharged the very next day.

McKenna consistently correlated her theory learnings to clinical, sharing her knowledge and findings with her peers in post-conference. She was always engaged and eager to learn every day.