Sierra has not had the easiest transition to the Nurse Manager role. In her 6 months on the unit she has had more thrown at her than most leaders have seen in their career. At each turn, Sierra has acted with grace and upheld our Service Standards in the highest regard. During her first week in the role, hurricane teams were activated, and she was here, working with her staff, ensuring that they were cared for as well as the patients. When a fire broke out on 3 South, Sierra was there front and center, ensuring the safety of both her team and her patients. Because of her swift actions there was minimal damage and no injury. She was there to support her team and gave them the time and freedom to recover from a terrifying event. When she stepped into her role as Nurse Manager, she did so with years of leadership experience in the ANM role. However, coming to a new unit with an entirely different patient population was a new experience for her. Sierra dove in headfirst. She was willing to get hands-on experience to learn all about caring for a neuro patient. She gained this experience by asking questions, listening to her staff, and being right there to work side by side with them. When the DNV stroke survey came around last year and opportunities were found, Sierra was still in her interim role and new to neuro. This did not stop Sierra from finding ways to Make It Easy for her staff and improve patient outcomes. She completely re-did the Stroke Workflow Sheet to prevent core measure fallouts on stroke patients. She listened to what her staff was saying and found a way to prevent fallouts, improve patient outcomes, and engage her staff. Sierra is never afraid to share what is working well for her team and share the opportunities they have. She actively seeks ways to improve outcomes for both her staff and her patients. To continue to engage her staff and improve their knowledge, she brought in a trivia wheel to use during huddles. Staff spins the wheel, answers a question, and receives a prize. I have witnessed her huddles, and her team loves being included and learning new things. Sierra is a great leader and has grown into the role of nurse manager seamlessly. I couldn't think of anyone more deserving of this award. 

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Sierra started on 3 South at the end of 2023 as a new manager after being on her home unit for many years. Sierra had a rough start, starting only a week or two before having a hurricane where teams were activated, having to lead an unfamiliar team during that process and staying overnight with Team A. Then shortly after that, she dealt with a fire from a patient room on the unit, leading to many stressful months of dealing with repairs and issues from that. All on top of adjusting to a new role with new challenges within itself. Any of these situations could be difficult to deal with for any leader regardless of time on the unit or experience, but Sierra was there for the team with open arms, solving problems, communicating with us, leading us appropriately and effectively, all with love and compassion, and always being available to anyone and their needs. 
 
Sierra has shown her team fantastic leadership skills in the short time she has been on the unit by always being involved in difficult situations and advocating for her team and patients. Sierra shows her care by always being willing to help in any way, such as being present for any rapid or escalation of care on the unit, rounding on patients that may be difficult and showing her extraordinary kindness, and even going above and beyond for example one shift she coordinated a patient seeing her newborn after having to come to our unit for complications and then staying with the patient while she visited the baby. 
 
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Sierra is an amazing leader to 3 South and is an exceptional nurse, 3 South is extremely lucky to have her on our team. 

Over the past few months, I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with Sierra and witness her incredible growth as a Nurse Manager. Her journey began when she left a unit that she had called home since starting her nursing career at Advent Health Tampa, which was not an easy decision. Despite the challenges, Sierra has managed to overcome them and continues to do so on the unit. 

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As an interim manager, Sierra demonstrated her exceptional leadership skills during a fire incident on 3 South in September. It was a scary situation for both the patient and the staff that day, but Sierra did an outstanding job in directing and keeping everyone safe as quickly as possible. She also took the time to debrief about the event and gave kudos to her team members where they were due. 
 
In the following months, Sierra faced several staff challenges such as retention, behaviors, diversion, patient care, and more. As a new manager, she had to deal with a lot, but I am proud of how she is learning to be a nurse manager and leading the team in the right direction. Sierra is very genuine with her team and motivates them to be the best they can be for our patients. She treats everyone with courtesy and respect and never keeps her doors closed. 
 
Sierra deserves this nomination because managing a high-acuity unit that always has something going on is not an easy task. 3 South has always been a challenging floor to manage, but Sierra is doing an incredible job while also learning how to be an effective manager. Her dedication and commitment to her team and patients are commendable, and I am confident that she will continue to excel in her role.