Roxanne Kuroski is a great mentor, colleague, and leader. What I would like to highlight first about Roxanne is her commitment to authenticity and transparency. Roxanne uses authenticity and transparency in her communication strategy. Recognizing many conflicts can be proactively avoided with simple, authentic, and transparent communication, she keeps staff informed while keeping an open mind for discussion.

I have personally witnessed Roxanne responding with empathy in stressful interactions. I am constantly improving and sharpening my communication skills by observing Roxanne in diverse situations. She encourages all staff to work at their highest professional and personal level. There was a recent situation in which, all the nurses in our department picked up extra work to help cover for a teammate. When this was resolved, Roxanne thanked us, not only verbally, but actually took the time to handwrite thank you cards. This made such an impact on the unit staff and made them feel valued and appreciated.

Roxanne is a great mentor. She fervently pours into Teams: Tips for self-reflection, emotional intelligence, and conflict resolution strategies. Additionally, she balances constructive feedback and positive affirmations to help encourage and support growth. Roxanne has without a doubt had a positive impact on my leadership future. She updates teams on new courses or offerings that encourage leadership development. The truly amazing part of this is, that Roxanne does not limit her reach to just one person or department. She is an open leader to all staff and to those who are willing to reach out and push themselves to the next level.

At last, but most certainly not the only attribute, Roxanne is a servant leader and leads by example. She will not ask staff to do something she is not willing to learn and do herself. When teams are struggling, without hesitation or complaint she rolls up her sleeves and gets into the “nitty gritty” of the outpatient nurses world. A department was struggling to keep up with in-basket messages, putting the needs of the patient first, she signed in and helped address messages and tasks. Roxanne is always willing to learn more about the responsibilities of the nurses who report to her to better understand the process so she can be a strong advocate and leader.