Michelle started working at Atrium Health Carolinas Rehabilitation 19 years ago. She started as an ANM on the stroke unit at CR Mercy and was promoted to Nurse Manager in June 2013. Michelle consistently creates an inclusive space where everyone feels they belong. One of her teammates stated, “Michelle has excellent communication and teamwork skills that make the workplace a positive environment. She greets us with a “good morning” and or “How are you doing?” She truly has the “open door policy” and strives to be seen and available for her teammates.

Another teammate said, "Michelle goes out of her way to show empathy for patients and teammates. My husband had a heart attack a few months ago. Michelle called and/or texted me every day to check on my husband and me, being sure to ask, “Do you need anything?” For that, I am grateful to have a Nurse Manager who truly cares.

Michelle fosters a sense of unity within the team and builds trust through their actions. We had a patient on the 2700 hall that was a challenging discharge for various reasons. His length of stay was greater than 60 days. Michelle took time to visit with the patient daily and rallied with the team to brainstorm ideas for a safe discharge plan.

She motivates her team never to give up. “Keep pushing, keep thinking, and keep going until we find a solution.” She champions innovation for the present and future and maintains a “can do” attitude. She implemented a new CHG initiative known as “One and Done” which helped to improve our overall CHG compliance for our unit and for Carolinas Rehab as a whole. She was selected to present the outcomes as a poster presenter at the 2022 ARN conference and the Advocate Health Midwest Nursing & Research Professional Conference on November 15th.

Michelle goes above and beyond to help those in needs. A couple of weeks ago, Michelle called me stating she had a dilemma. She said she had a patient who was scheduled to be discharged the following week but needed to see his nephrologist before being discharged as an outpatient. I said, “it doesn’t sound like a problem, let’s get him scheduled.” She said, “The appointment is in Virginia, about 2 hours away.” I said, “Oh, yes, we have a problem.” Determined as always, Michelle began to brainstorm ways to get this patient to and from his appointment so he could keep his discharge date as planned. She finally found a solid plan which involved asking a teammate to accompany the patient to and from his appointment. The teammate agreed, and the patient was able to get to and from his appointment without any issues. Michelle never gave up! Her persistence paid off!

Now, it was my turn to request a favor. I needed someone from my leadership team to travel to AH Navicent rehabilitation to provide support and mentoring to the leadership team there as the leader was faced with high staff turnover. Knowing Michelle experienced the same as a leader during her first couple of years, I asked if she would be willing to assist us in going down for a week. Without any hesitation, she said, “yes.” She scheduled time to meet with the nurse leader prior to arriving and came up with a plan to assist her while she was there. She also made plans for her own unit to be covered and thought this would be a great time to elevate one of her clinical supervisors to cover the managerial role while she was away to help develop her leadership skills. I appreciate Michelle’s willingness to help others and our department. Her dedication truly exemplifies our Atrium Health Cultural commitments.