December 2017
Patricia
Bunce
,
RN, BSN
Pediatric ED
UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and UH MacDonald Women’s Hospital
Cleveland
,
OH
United States

 

 

 

The Pediatric ED is grateful for the opportunity to recognize an outstanding member of our leadership team, Patti Bunce. Our manager, Patti, embodies all the great qualities a leader must have to be successful in a managerial role. Patti's strong work ethic, exemplary communication skills, organization, and vision have enabled our exceptional team to be nationally recognized.
This year, and in 2014, Patti took on the task of applying for The Lantern Award, an honor that is awarded to less than one percent of emergency departments across the country. Assembling the application materials is a herculean task that is hard to appreciate unless you have personally completed an application. Throughout this application process, Patti recognized the achievements of the staff, the excellence of the department, and enthusiastically organized the team she needed to complete the application. As a result of Patti's dedication, our team was honored with The Lantern Award for two consecutive cycles; consequently, our contagious sense of pride continues to motivate our team to strive for greatness.
In addition to applying for and receiving The Lantern award, Patti has twice spoken at the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) National conference. She sought out these speaking opportunities to nationally highlight our innovative and unique quality improvement projects. Her willingness and passion to publicly share nearly four decades of acquired nursing wisdom further prove her dedication to our profession. While Patti can gracefully navigate an audience of nearly four hundred, it is her down to earth approach that our team admires most!
Patti excels in communication. She encourages an open dialogue with staff, even if it means starting her days early or ending them late. When speaking to staff, Patti is never demeaning and always keeps an open mind to other perspectives. During challenging conversations, (the ones that managers often have) Patti has the ability to discuss difficult topics while simultaneously offering support and guidance. Patti holds staff accountable without ever showing favoritism. She has perfected the skill and art of patiently listing to staff's concerns while coaching and guiding people toward success. Ultimately, Patti's style of communication inspires the entire leadership team and department to speak with kindness and respect.
Even though Patti has spent half of her nursing career in management, her most admirable qualities can be seen when she is caring for patients at the bedside. When we have the occasion to witness Patti interacting with patients, her compassion and genuine care for the population we serve is truly evident. Patti has a skill, quite obviously a gift, of acknowledging frustrated families while ensuring their concerns have been heard. Patti's professional role modeling can be seen in her leadership style which, inevitably, transcends across multiple departments and to our staff.