Uta is an example for all nursing. She is proficient compassionate, methodical, careful, efficient, and knowledgeable. She is everything you'd want a nurse to be. Not only is she a consistent confident advocate for our patients and families she is an advocate for staff. In our kind of work, self-care is incredibly important and Uta came up with the idea of a scheduled lunch breaks so that staff would be taking care of themselves during the day. She serves on our Great Place to Work and Practice Committee where she is an important voice for continuing to make CarePartners a great place for staff.
She frequently has ideas on how we can improve patient safety and patient care. After a med error, she led the charge looking for a root cause for the error and then developed the new checklist for our pain pumps to ensure our protocols are entirely safe. In addition, she helped update our assessment process for patients so that we are more thorough. She has the ability to look at the bigger picture to make sure a process is comprehensive, and then she knows how to drill down to the details to ensure the process is efficient and safe.
Beyond her extensive skill and care, she is the ultimate calming presence in a room. She can sometimes calm a patient more than medication. I don't always know how she does it. I know that for me and for most of the staff she is an anchor in stormy weather. Honestly, if the building were on fire she would be the first to know what to do and she would be the calm one helping each patient, family, and staff out of the building. In times when change is constant, Uta helps us all to stay steady and provide the best care possible.
She always communicates with compassion and empathy. Her job is incredibly demanding, and yet she is always able to reach out and connect with someone. In the most difficult circumstances, she is a steady listener.
I don't know where we would be without her.