Melissa demonstrates caring and compassion in everything that she does. Her amiable personality and demeanor engage both her teams and her peers. Melissa serves as a role model in many ways. Melissa’s behaviors demonstrate all of the Sentara Commitments. Melissa holds her teams accountable and ensures everyone understands the “Why” of their role. During high capacity times, Melissa has served as a monitor tech on the surge unit, held patients in both of her departments, and opened the TUMS unit to decompress the ED. As we approached high capacity this year, Melissa planned for holds and always had a plan. Melissa stood out this year as a creative problem solver and a “doer”. She approached each high-capacity day with a positive, can-do attitude. This approach helped her teams as well, as they better understood their role in capacity management.

Melissa’s leadership and work style demonstrates compassion and creates a caring atmosphere. She has good relationships with all that she interacts with. Melissa is an excellent listener who “listens with the intent to hear”. She is genuine and is trusted by all of those with whom she works. Melissa is often described as a “shining star” and this is an apt description. As a leader, she is strong, yet soft enough to be trusted and approachable. Melissa demonstrates trustworthy behaviors, earning respect from her teams and peers. She is kind, yet straightforward in her communications. She has the ability to deliver an honest message without offending the recipient. Melissa is fair and objective in the way that she runs her departments, earning respect from her teams because everyone is held accountable. Melissa is able to develop buy-in and engagement from her team with an honest, clear-cut approach.

Recently, her department absorbed Infusion Center volume to allow for growth in Cancer Services. There was great concern about several different types of infusions. Melissa was able to take a step back—pause—and develop guidelines that both educated and empowered her teams. This was a great example of supporting the team. Her willingness to request a pause in sending these patients until she performed research and created guidelines made her team feel supported and valued. The “new go-live” has been successful, with positive feedback from both her and the team. Melissa serves as a mentor to emerging leaders, role modeling behaviors that instill accountability. She serves as a mentor to the TC in A/R, helping her with critical conversations and unit management.

Recently, Melissa promoted someone to UC in the PACU. During this transition, Melissa worked with her, discussing her strengths and weaknesses. This mentoring was apparent at a recent meeting, when the new promote answered pointed questions about scheduling and resource management in the PACU. Following the meeting, Melissa reinforced her progress by giving her feedback. Melissa has made herself available to both these people, helping them in real-time with issues that arise.

Melissa makes herself available to others and is responsive to all needs. Melissa often changes her schedule to accommodate the needs of her departments or the inpatient units. Melissa never hesitates to reschedule or cancel meetings during high capacity, in order to do what is best for our patients. She ensures that her departments have space and resources, making herself available as a resource. Melissa can often be seen transporting patients or getting Act of Kindness gifts for patients that are holding. Melissa’s professional presence reflects well on leadership at SMJH. She is calm and collected at all times and works collaboratively with others to achieve the best outcomes. Melissa is active with her church and her family. She works hard to maintain a healthy work/life balance, as she understands the importance of personal time.