We nominate Shelly Carncross for the Extraordinary Nurse Educator DAISY Award for her exceptional skills as a nurse educator. Shelly started her career at CTU 2&8 as an experienced RN. She quickly became a charge nurse and, two years ago, was promoted to the Clinical Nurse Educator role. Throughout the time Shelly has been an educator, she has grown tremendously in her clinical knowledge and skills. Shelly continuously looks at internal processes and makes improvements to nursing practice.

For example, there were several cases of patients on CTU 2&8 with high doses of IV nitroglycerin requiring frequent increasing titration for symptom management. Direct care nurses and Shelly identified that having patients on this high-risk medication requiring frequent dose changes made it difficult for the bedside nurses to manage due to the need for a higher level of care and increased patient monitoring. Shelly saw this as a nursing practice problem, created meetings to discuss the issue with different departments, and developed an algorithm in PolicyStat for CTU 2&8 nurses to follow when patients are placed on IV nitroglycerin requiring titration. This algorithm made the nursing workflow safer and has made a positive difference in the unit as bedside nurses felt their safety concern was taken seriously.

This is only one example of Shelly’s exemplary skills as a nurse educator. She recently completed her master’s degree in nursing with a focus on Nursing Education. This achievement has allowed her to expand her knowledge of nursing education to make improvements in the educational department on CTU 2&8 and throughout the system. One way she does this is to continuously assess the needs of the unit to determine what improvements can be made to nursing and patient care technician workflows. Shelly also creates fun and exciting educational activities that engage staff to improve their clinical skills. For example, for the annual unit education symposium, Shelly created an escape room to review required skills in a unique and fun way.

Staff feel another way Shelly is exemplary in her role is her ability to actively listen to their concerns and address issues in a timely manner. Her compassion and empathy for others allows Shelly to connect deeper with the staff and they know they can trust her when bringing up concerns. Her ability to make meaningful connections with the staff allows her to determine and develop educational necessities of the unit based on staff feedback while also providing constructive feedback when necessary.

Shelly is one of the Lead Instructors for the System EKG Class. Shelly has been recognized by many class participants for her ability to create a safe and supportive learning environment for EKG training. As previously noted, Shelly recently completed her MSN. This is a clear example of her commitment to lifelong learning and professional development. Shelly is also known to be very adaptable and flexible. She is one of the first to volunteer in the System Nursing Professional Development and Advancement Department for new projects and is continuously adapting her class content to meet the needs of the learner.

The System Nursing Professional Development and Advancement Department is very lucky to have someone with Shelly’s nursing knowledge and passion on our team!
All in all, Shelly embodies what it means to be an excellent Clinical Nurse Educator, and Endeavor Health is lucky to have her in this important role.