Tonya Evangelista
May 2023
Tonya
Evangelista
,
MSN, RN, CPHON, CPN
Unit 9B, Oncology
UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
,
PA
United States
She recognizes the caring and compassion they provide to the patients/families each day and has acknowledged the emotional roller coaster they experience. She has organized “Care for the Care Provider” sessions twice a year to help eliminate nurse burnout and help nurses identify how exhibiting caring and compassion can lead to fatigue.
I would like to take this opportunity to nominate Tonya Evangelista for the DAISY Nurse Leader Award. Her nomination is not about one event, but it is to recognize the strong, fair, and consistent leader she is to the staff of 9B. She embodies the values of dignity & respect, responsibility & integrity, caring & listening, excellence & innovation, and quality & safety. Tonya has been the unit director of 9B for the last eight years. During this time, she has led the unit in obtaining many accomplishments, overcame many hurdles, and built many relationships in developing a successful unit.
Her commitment and dedication to the nurses she leads, and the patients and families she cares for is evident. She is passionate about the Heme/Onc/BMT patient population and the nurses who provide care to them each day.
Tonya leads by example. She does not ask any staff member to do something she would not do herself. The staff respect her for her transparency and empowerment during decision-making processes. Tonya values her staff’s opinion and respects the barriers they face each day caring for a very difficult population. She recognizes the caring and compassion they provide to the patients/families each day and has acknowledged the emotional roller coaster they experience. She has organized “Care for the Care Provider” sessions twice a year to help eliminate nurse burnout and help nurses identify how exhibiting caring and compassion can lead to fatigue. Her work with this initiative led her to present it at the national APHON conference in 2019. In addition to the work on compassion fatigue, she also did work and collected data pertaining to an integrative wellness program involving the pediatric cancer population. Her work with this initiative was published in Pediatric Nursing Journal in January 2022. The professional development achievements led her to be a role model for professional growth and career advancement with her staff.
Her vast knowledge in the field of pediatric oncology leads her to be at the forefront of practice changes and improvements. Tonya is extremely involved in the reduction of CLABSIs and presently sits on the CLABSIs taskforce and the Vascular Access committee. She was instrumental in the development of central line care kits, which proved to be a benefit in the reduction of CLABSIs here at CHP. Her involvement did not stop there as she continues to work with the committees to ultimately eliminate CLABSIs at CHP.
I can honestly go on and on regarding Tonya and her contributions to this hospital, 9B as a unit, and the staff she leads. There is no doubt of her dedication and commitment to CHP, its patients/families, and staff. I thought it would be best said with the numerous staff members who volunteered to share their thoughts on Tonya and her tremendous leadership on 9B.
"Tonya's leadership has been a crucial component to the success that 9B has had over the years. As a nurse who works very closely with Tonya daily, I can attest that she is one of the main reasons our unit runs so smoothly. Tonya ensures that all her staff feel heard; her door is always open, and she listens to all concerns and issues and helps each staff member reach a resolution. Tonya supports her staff physically, emotionally, and mentally. Knowing the stressful and, at times, depressing field that we work in, Tonya coordinates and attends retreats for staff members to help them deal with the difficulty of working in oncology. She goes above and beyond for the nurses of 9B as well as the patients and their families. She is a vital component to the success of 9B and, we, as a unit, are extremely blessed to have her."
"Tonya is an exemplary nurse leader - she exhibits compassion, trust, and respect to her nursing staff each and every day. She recognizes staff members not only for obvious reasons but also for the little things that we do that could go unnoticed. I've received notes in the mail from Tonya, thanking me for something that I did or mentioning a "great catch" at work. This small act shows staff that Tonya notices us as individuals and that she cares about the work that we do. And she motivates us to do our best, helping us to find opportunities for career development, encouraging us to broaden our horizons when it comes to education, projects, committees, certifications, and conferences. And she celebrates our personal accomplishments as well - engagements, weddings, babies. She could have several nurses completing a masters at the same time or off on maternity leave in the span of a few short months, but she always puts us first, celebrating us and sharing in the joy of our life moments rather than showing a worried face about what that could mean for staffing on the unit or making us feel guilty. This demonstrates that Tonya is a unit director who leads from and with her heart - and it's that leadership from the heart that makes the 9B staff a compassionate, cohesive team and family."
Her commitment and dedication to the nurses she leads, and the patients and families she cares for is evident. She is passionate about the Heme/Onc/BMT patient population and the nurses who provide care to them each day.
Tonya leads by example. She does not ask any staff member to do something she would not do herself. The staff respect her for her transparency and empowerment during decision-making processes. Tonya values her staff’s opinion and respects the barriers they face each day caring for a very difficult population. She recognizes the caring and compassion they provide to the patients/families each day and has acknowledged the emotional roller coaster they experience. She has organized “Care for the Care Provider” sessions twice a year to help eliminate nurse burnout and help nurses identify how exhibiting caring and compassion can lead to fatigue. Her work with this initiative led her to present it at the national APHON conference in 2019. In addition to the work on compassion fatigue, she also did work and collected data pertaining to an integrative wellness program involving the pediatric cancer population. Her work with this initiative was published in Pediatric Nursing Journal in January 2022. The professional development achievements led her to be a role model for professional growth and career advancement with her staff.
Her vast knowledge in the field of pediatric oncology leads her to be at the forefront of practice changes and improvements. Tonya is extremely involved in the reduction of CLABSIs and presently sits on the CLABSIs taskforce and the Vascular Access committee. She was instrumental in the development of central line care kits, which proved to be a benefit in the reduction of CLABSIs here at CHP. Her involvement did not stop there as she continues to work with the committees to ultimately eliminate CLABSIs at CHP.
I can honestly go on and on regarding Tonya and her contributions to this hospital, 9B as a unit, and the staff she leads. There is no doubt of her dedication and commitment to CHP, its patients/families, and staff. I thought it would be best said with the numerous staff members who volunteered to share their thoughts on Tonya and her tremendous leadership on 9B.
"Tonya's leadership has been a crucial component to the success that 9B has had over the years. As a nurse who works very closely with Tonya daily, I can attest that she is one of the main reasons our unit runs so smoothly. Tonya ensures that all her staff feel heard; her door is always open, and she listens to all concerns and issues and helps each staff member reach a resolution. Tonya supports her staff physically, emotionally, and mentally. Knowing the stressful and, at times, depressing field that we work in, Tonya coordinates and attends retreats for staff members to help them deal with the difficulty of working in oncology. She goes above and beyond for the nurses of 9B as well as the patients and their families. She is a vital component to the success of 9B and, we, as a unit, are extremely blessed to have her."
"Tonya is an exemplary nurse leader - she exhibits compassion, trust, and respect to her nursing staff each and every day. She recognizes staff members not only for obvious reasons but also for the little things that we do that could go unnoticed. I've received notes in the mail from Tonya, thanking me for something that I did or mentioning a "great catch" at work. This small act shows staff that Tonya notices us as individuals and that she cares about the work that we do. And she motivates us to do our best, helping us to find opportunities for career development, encouraging us to broaden our horizons when it comes to education, projects, committees, certifications, and conferences. And she celebrates our personal accomplishments as well - engagements, weddings, babies. She could have several nurses completing a masters at the same time or off on maternity leave in the span of a few short months, but she always puts us first, celebrating us and sharing in the joy of our life moments rather than showing a worried face about what that could mean for staffing on the unit or making us feel guilty. This demonstrates that Tonya is a unit director who leads from and with her heart - and it's that leadership from the heart that makes the 9B staff a compassionate, cohesive team and family."