It is a real privilege working with Natassia Singh in the Intensive Care Unit. She is a valued leader who is deeply passionate about patient care and supports her staff daily. Natassia engages social workers often to discuss how they can support not only patients and their families but also the nursing staff. And when problems or issues arise, she is incredibly supportive and manages to advocate for her staff compassionately and thoughtfully. I think Natassia Singh is an exceptional nurse leader who demonstrates award-winning innovation, critical thinking, and creativity each day, and each of us in the ICU is lucky to work with her.

Natassia demonstrates compassionate leadership by displaying genuine concern and care for her employees. She goes above and beyond to check on us even on her days off if we are going through something with our health or our loved ones. During my mom's long chronic illness and eventual passing, Natassia was someone I could go to and lean on to talk and cry with. She truly cares about her employees and understands that life throws you curveballs. She does everything she can to support us at work so that we are physically and mentally able to deal with our personal challenges.

Natassia was promoted from Clinical Nurse IV to ICU Nurse Leader in recent years and demonstrated exceedingly advanced leadership skills during her time in this new role. Natassia has been quick to partner with Nursing Quality and create a safe space during our monthly collaborative meetings to raise the voice of her staff and physically bring them to the table to influence their practice and patient outcomes. During my time working with Natassia, the ICU has trialed two new central line dressings in addition to the AirTap to prevent pressure injuries. Natassia’s relationship-building skills helped bring ICU APP and Fellow leadership to our collaborative meetings to tackle nursing-sensitive indicators from the interdisciplinary level. This has resulted in multiple initiatives to decrease CLABSI ultimately resulting in the ICU currently being 175 days CLABSI free. The ICU was also one of two units to trial the indwelling catheter exchange algorithm before drawing urine cultures and has been working to remove all indwelling catheters possible before discharge from the ICU. Natassia’s leadership plays a vital role in the success of the unit’s culture of safety and overall achievements.

Natassia has the characteristics of a great leader; she is compassionate, caring, and someone you can always turn to when you have questions or need guidance. I remember being on orientation and an emergency happening in a patient’s room that required prompt intervention. She rolled up her sleeves and immediately came to help. For me, this was amazing seeing someone in a leadership position be there for her employee’s bedside when the time came. As the situation progressed, she remained there, filling in roles as they were needed and keeping everyone cool, calm, and collected. Her energy gave the room the confidence that we needed, and this extends beyond this situation and to all aspects of interacting with her. She is a wonderful person and we’re lucky to have her as our nurse leader.

Natassia regularly engages staff members to get their ideas and perspectives. She truly values diverse ideas and opinions. By doing this she makes us feel appreciated and valued members of the team, but this also demonstrates exceptional leadership. Ultimately, better things develop when all the stakeholders are at the table. She is constantly seeking all sides to the story so that she has a full picture of what the problem is and how to approach fixing it. Some examples of this are as follows:

1. She engaged the Quality and Safety Council reps to evaluate our rising CLABSI rates and develop staff re-education.

2. She works closely with nurses who have expressed a passion for teaching and with them has developed and maintained "ICU 101" - a 5-day course for new ICU RN hires.

3. She engages the CNIVs and other unit leaders in a monthly pow-wow called "Lean Team" where we share ideas and develop concrete plans to address all the complexities of the ICU.

4. She is working closely with a multidisciplinary group to develop a "Warm Handoff" which will be a way to communicate about complex patients.

Before becoming the Nurse Leader in the ICU, Natassia excelled as a bedside RN, charge RN, RRT RN, resource RN, and orientation program coordinator. She wore many hats and always wore them well. She has a core understanding of the demands and challenges the staff encounter on a shift-to-shift basis. Natassia harnesses this understanding and empowers the staff to provide the highest caliber of patient care. She is also renowned for being a fierce advocate for equitable responsibilities and expectations, while always considering the needs of all stakeholders.

As a member of the ICU team for the past nine years, I have witnessed the excellent culture of teamwork in our unit. It is unparalleled. Natassia provides the support needed for this to continue to be true. Everyone is treated as an equal, people do not consider themselves as superior to another or above performing any task. If someone is having a rough shift, we offer help, encouragement, and relief to each other. These are characteristics that all members of the team display, and Natassia is no exception. She will answer call bells, assist patients or family members, offer to cover a nurse's lunch break, respond to an RRT, neutralize challenging confrontations, and problem-solve a clinical question. Being a nurse is still the more evident term in the title of Nurse Leader for Natassia.