Michele Chang
May 2022
Michele
Chang
,
BSN, RN, CMSRN
TH 16East
NYU Langone Hospitals - Tisch/Kimmel
New York
,
NY
United States
Michele spent time sitting on the hospital floor with the patient singing Hamilton songs to help mend the nurse-patient relationship. She eventually assisted the patient to sit back on the bed.
It is actually hard to put into words the impact my manager Michele has made on me and on Tisch 16 East: a unit that officially re-opened last year, composed of entirely new graduate nurses and all staff new to NYU. The first time I met Michele was over a year ago when she was 16E’s interim assistant nurse manager. I remember meeting her and being shocked by her infectious positivity, energy, and general kindness towards absolutely everyone. Having worked in COVID units for over a year by this point, these qualities were increasingly hard to come by in nurses. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, I needed to meet a nurse like Michele to help me fall in love with bedside nursing again in this post-peak-pandemic world. When I was thinking of pursuing a leadership position on 16E, Michele looked at me and earnestly told me that she would always support me in whatever I choose to do. She is a manager who unwaveringly sees potential in her staff and supports them with all she has.
Over the past year alone, Michele has encouraged me to go to my first nursing conference, was my cheerleader as I pursued a nursing certification, cried with happiness as she presented me with a Nursing Week award, and supports me in my passion for nursing education. So many of the 16 East nurses have been DAISY Award nominees and recipients despite their only being 1 year or less into their careers. Nearly every day, the patients on 16 East rave about the compassionate care they receive from our staff.
Although Michele is humble and will say these accolades are a testament to the nurses’ and PCTs’ abilities-- which is also true-- another truth is that we are able to work to our greatest potential because of her leadership and her example. Michele always leaves her office door open. It’s not just to be available for everyone and anyone to come to talk to her, but also to dart out the door to respond to a bed alarm or a decompensating patient. She responds to bed alarms to prevent falls, and she helps to check every patient's skin on the unit to prevent pressure injuries. When a patient was once having an ongoing behavioral crisis, laying on the floor, and was distrusting of every staff member, Michele spent time sitting on the hospital floor with the patient singing Hamilton songs to help mend the nurse-patient relationship. She eventually assisted the patient to sit back on the bed.
Michele does not just talk the talk, she walks the walk; she does it all on top of her other management obligations to set an example of what quality nursing care and teamwork look like to our young unit. Before anything else, Michele remains an acute medicine nurse to the core. But more so, she has instilled her passion for nursing excellence in every 16 East nurse so early in their careers, and she has led and supported an entire unit of new grad nurses through their first year working at NYU and through a unit population change. Michele has done all this on top of pursuing her Master’s degree and still remains the most compassionate and dedicated nurse manager. We all have those nurses that we look up to as the quintessential brilliant, kind, empathetic nurse leaders that we strive to emulate in our own practice. For me, Michele is one of those nurses.
Over the past year alone, Michele has encouraged me to go to my first nursing conference, was my cheerleader as I pursued a nursing certification, cried with happiness as she presented me with a Nursing Week award, and supports me in my passion for nursing education. So many of the 16 East nurses have been DAISY Award nominees and recipients despite their only being 1 year or less into their careers. Nearly every day, the patients on 16 East rave about the compassionate care they receive from our staff.
Although Michele is humble and will say these accolades are a testament to the nurses’ and PCTs’ abilities-- which is also true-- another truth is that we are able to work to our greatest potential because of her leadership and her example. Michele always leaves her office door open. It’s not just to be available for everyone and anyone to come to talk to her, but also to dart out the door to respond to a bed alarm or a decompensating patient. She responds to bed alarms to prevent falls, and she helps to check every patient's skin on the unit to prevent pressure injuries. When a patient was once having an ongoing behavioral crisis, laying on the floor, and was distrusting of every staff member, Michele spent time sitting on the hospital floor with the patient singing Hamilton songs to help mend the nurse-patient relationship. She eventually assisted the patient to sit back on the bed.
Michele does not just talk the talk, she walks the walk; she does it all on top of her other management obligations to set an example of what quality nursing care and teamwork look like to our young unit. Before anything else, Michele remains an acute medicine nurse to the core. But more so, she has instilled her passion for nursing excellence in every 16 East nurse so early in their careers, and she has led and supported an entire unit of new grad nurses through their first year working at NYU and through a unit population change. Michele has done all this on top of pursuing her Master’s degree and still remains the most compassionate and dedicated nurse manager. We all have those nurses that we look up to as the quintessential brilliant, kind, empathetic nurse leaders that we strive to emulate in our own practice. For me, Michele is one of those nurses.