Michelle Phillips has been a change agent for Valley Hospital, specifically SICU. Michelle was a bedside nurse for over 15 years and helped change the culture at Valley. When she graduated as an NP, she challenged herself and took up the position as the CVT Nurse Practitioner. As the unit NP, she helped change the culture for the SICU heart nurses.
She promoted having the west side as the side for surgical cardiovascular patients. When the pandemic hit, it became apparent that having one side for the surgical clean patients was efficient and effective. Michelle also is in many committees for the hospital. She leads the CABG meeting once a month and works with the Fellows and SICU heart nurses regarding the surgical patients which promotes good outcomes. She recently included the STS scoring in her practice, which helps determine the patients' mortality after surgery.
Michelle has worked well with the charge nurse in training heart nurses and re-iterating clinical pathways. She and the SICU manager created a pathway for nurses to follow for heart patients, which leads to no fallouts. She educates the nurses, works with the charge nurses to implement better ways to take care of patients. She is a patient advocate and stands up for the nurses. She is well recognized and establishes good rapport in the ICU. Thanks for all you do, Michelle.