Rebeka is the Director of the Acute Care Unit at St. John’s Hospital Camarillo.  She stepped into her role as a nurse leader just before the 2020 COVID pandemic. Due to the unforeseen changes the pandemic placed on healthcare workers, Rebeka had to quickly adapt her leadership to support her staff of over 100 bedside caregivers during a time when everything was uncertain.  The constant that held it together was Rebeka.  She remained calm, focused, and even positive despite the minute-to-minute changes that loomed over her team.  She ensured clear communication, with transparent honesty that built trust between herself and her staff.  She advocated for supplies and resources that were scarce countywide. She made the most of what was available to her and her team, unwavering in her outlook that despite the challenges, her team would rise above them…and they did.
    
After what felt like an eternity, and COVID lay at bay, Rebeka moved from leading by emergency necessity to ensuring emotional recovery for a team that had to crawl out of the healthcare trenches.  It was never lost on her what this time on the floor meant for her department.  She emphasized the importance of healing and self-care for worn-down workers.  Did you know that healthcare workers often need to be given permission to care for themselves?  Well, Rebeka did.  So she continued to bring positivity into the workplace, checking in on her staff individually, encouraging them to do things that brought them joy and rejuvenated them during their days off.  To her, this was just as important as the care they provided at the bedside. 
    
Rebeka also continued to make sure that her staff had what they needed while they were at work.  By running a well-organized department, with dependable leadership, her team continued to thrive.  Any bedside staff will tell you, having supplies at your fingertips and working in an environment with dependable resources, making your workflow as efficient as possible, yields the best results.  Most important of those resources was a leader that was, and still is, always available to them. She welcomes her staff's input and ideas, their feedback, and problem-solving.  She supports her team to implement change and leads the charge.  A team that had worked together, long before Rebeka was their leader, suddenly became more than co-workers.  They became a family.  They even coined themselves, “The ACU Family.”
    
Now, Rebeka would never take credit for this.  Her leadership style is also very humble.  She shines the spotlight on others whenever she can.  Everything she does is genuinely from her heart, and not for any glory. Her kindness is so authentic, you can’t help but to be touched by it.  Walk through the halls of the hospital with Rebeka.  She knows everyone by name!  And if she doesn’t, she’ll stop them and get to know them! Ask Rebeka to do something and she will do it.  There is no request too big or too small; she’s happy to help. These are yet many other ways Rebeka builds leaders all around her.  She models the ideal behavior of an incredible leader each and every day.  It truly is contagious!              
    
Rebeka has created a safe haven for her staff and the patients they care for.  Despite the high pressure and stress that accompany working in healthcare, despite the fears and worries patients and their families face with illness and the unknown, there is a sense of peace and calm under her leadership.  There is a desire to do our best, care for one another, and do what is right. What comes so naturally to her, and seems so simple, is life-changing for so many.