Wayne Neal
July 2023
Wayne
Neal
,
MAT, BSN, RN, NPD-BC
Nursing Education Professional Development
Children's National Hospital
Washington
,
DC
United States
She is not just an encourager or person wanting to do good and see to it that everyone is taken care of, she's willing to stick with you until it happens.
*This nomination was written by several persons on behalf of Wayne Neal.
1. Wayne Neal has been an exceptional leader here at Children's National Hospital over the years. She has worked in many areas here at Children's: Unit staff for 5 years, coordinator of the Special Immunology Clinic, Research Nurse, Emergency Medical for Children's Program, and Nurse Educator. Her current role is the Patient/Family Education Manager, supporting all disciplines in teaching strategies, blended learning approach, health literacy, and plain language. She has been a nurse here at Children's for 40 years in multiple areas of nursing and continues to be a change agent, advocate for all families, team player, and an influential mentor. Wayne has collaborated with physicians' teams in publications, creating cornerstone modules to meet accreditation standards and other research projects. She also represents Children's well outside of the organization by sharing her expertise and presenting at national conferences as well as membership in several national organizations. Wayne has a role that does not always stand out, but she is a grass roots leader and takes focused time developing and encouraging PCTs and nurses. Several PCTs and nurses have completed their nursing degree or started a master's program due to Wayne's encouraging words and leadership. She has organized health literacy unit rounding and Health Literacy Grand Rounds over the past 4 years. Spearheaded by working with the nursing and IT staff, Wayne manages the content on the GetWellNetwork TV interactive system and the Road to Home Programs in Cerner to help standardized the discharge teaching processes. Wayne created a patient-teaching simulation for the Nurse Residents utilizing "real parents". When the Covid pandemic emerged, she and one of the parents worked with the Nursing Education Staff to alter this simulation to continue the valued experience on zoom. Prior to Covid Wayne received a Board of Visitor Grant to purchase 30 Bilingual CPR Anytime Kits to further enhance the CPR safety teaching for families discharged to home. This was welcomed by the nursing staff during the past 3 years as each family was able to have its own doll and video to take home after CPR Instruction and nurses were able to follow standard precautions at a critical time in healthcare. She also serves on many committees and ad hoc meetings. To name a few she is still an active member of the Patient and Family Advocacy Council (PFAC), which she was instrumental in forming in 2006; spearheads the Health Literacy workgroup with other professionals; leads the Patient/Family Education and Advocacy unit team nurses (PEAS); and a continued member on the Professional Development Council (PDC). Over the past 10 years Wayne's expertise in health literacy has provided support in working closely with language services to review all incoming documents, messaging, web content, and more before Spanish translation occurs. She has been able to discover copyright concerns, medication confusion in discharge instructions, and more while revising resources to be plainer and better understood by the patient/family. Talking about "good catches", see below what her mentee, parent partners and language services colleagues have expressed about their support for Wayne to receive this award. There are so many other roles she serves and supports at the unit and system level throughout the organization. This Daisy Leader Award nomination is a collaborative approach from two PFAC representatives, language services staff, and language services and guest services director, and myself.
2. Wayne Neal is an extraordinary nurse, colleague, mentor, and employee at Children's National Hospital. Her years of service is centered around the core values: compassion, commitment, and connection. Wayne is compassionate about her work with patient and family education and health literacy. She is a strong advocate for our patients and families through ensuring that all are treated fairly and equally. She has collaborated with the Pediatric Nurse Residency program where she presents during Central Nursing Orientation, Welcome Day, and classes that focus solely on educating our patient and families at their specific level of literacy. She is committed to ensuring that the staff feel supported by her work in which she reaches out to extend her service if she is made aware of any new work or revised work being implemented. Wayne has a way of connecting with the staff and new graduate nurses! She has an "open door" policy and continues to connect with the staff on an ongoing basis. Wayne and I connected in 2016 when I was a new graduate nurse on the unit. She took me in as an informal mentee where we developed a mentorship relationship. She constantly reminded me that I should present myself as if I'm interviewing for my next position each day I stepped foot into the hospital. She pushed me to a new level each time we met and provided me with the resources I needed. As a new graduate nurse, she made me feel supported, connected, confident, and challenged by my next move. In 2020, she became my practicum mentor where she supported me in successfully implementing the Emoji Check-in that was offered to the staff within the hospital. She co-led the "What is your Emoji" webinar that focused on eliciting self-reflecting opportunities for nurses and promoting nurse empowerment in the healthcare environment. Wayne is a great asset to the organization and her years of service is appreciated and recognized through more ways.
3. As the parent of two children who are patients at Children's National Hospital, it is a pleasure to nominate Wayne Neal for the DAISY Nurse Leader Award. I have known Wayne since the inception of our hospital PFAC, over fifteen Years ago. We serve together as co-chairs of the PFAC membership committee. Wayne continuously demonstrates compassion and sensitivity towards patients and families and is an outstanding mentor and teacher to her fellow nurses. She is passionate about families' ability to understand and are included in their child's medical care in the hospital and upon discharge. When developing patient and family literature, Wayne consistently reaches out to me and fellow parents on our PFAC to review the literature for its readability and usefulness of the content. Wayne's leadership skills shine with her nurse simulation training where nurses demonstrate their own skills as Wayne and their peers observe. Her constructive feedback that follows, guides, encourages, and helps them to grow as leaders. Wayne is an excellent leader who cares about all patients and families and inspires others to do the same. She does so in a professional, calm, and compassionate manner. Wayne is truly deserving of the Daisy Nurse Leadership Award.
4. Between 2004 and 2005, I had the great pleasure of meeting Wayne Neal, that timeframe is a blur for me; but what I quickly learned would rub off on me. She had such a fire burning in her to make sure that the nurses knew their value, but to also let the nurses be fully informed about the families on the other side of the doors they would be entering. I remember the first time she and another person asked me to speak at the "Reigniting The Spirit of the Nurses". I had not done much speaking at that point in front of an organized crowd; I had to be able to attend the events they had that day. Wayne saw me in the parking lot the day of the event and stuck by my side encouraging me that I could do it. She encouraged me to not be afraid because no matter what, I would be making a difference in the lives of the nurses by just showing up as well as helping to motivate the teamwork that goes into taking care of the families. I guess it all worked out because, they had me return a couple of times. That encounter also gave me the courage in later years as my life was getting a little better, to reach out to Wayne about donations to the hospital. I remember because of her helping me to not be afraid to connect, we were able to donate several thousand dollars worth of toys, clothing, learning games and so much more to the hospital for the children. So, when PFAC was a thought process, I remember both Wayne and another person contacting me to talk about this grand idea. Well, here I am, and as Wayne did with reigniting the spirit for the nurses, she has never left my side. She is not just an encourager or person wanting to do good and see to it that everyone is taken care of, she's willing to stick with you until it happens. Thank you, Wayne. I thank God for you and that you never give up on people and wanting the best for them and helping them to get there.
5. I have had the pleasure to partner with Wayne since I started my role leading Language Services at Children's National more than 7 years ago. Wayne has been a great advocate to Limited English Proficient patients and families ensuring documents are reviewed, taking into consideration not only readability but a culturally inclusive approach. This, as a result, has enhanced the way we serve our diverse patient population. Together we developed a review and translation process which has, year by year, increased the number of materials available to patients in other languages. Wayne is a great educator who is patient and thoughtful when providing feedback. She is able to adjust her communication style to reach a variety of audiences and has a gift to put people at ease around her. This has contributed to a very positive working relationship with our teams. Wayne's work ethic is admirable; she is reliable and makes herself available regardless of the time or day. I am very happy to nominate Wayne for the DAISY Leader Award as an example of excellence in nursing and as a healthcare leader.
6. As a translator for the language and Guest Services Department at Children's. I have had the pleasure of working with Wayne for the past seven years. Wayne has been a noteworthy team player that has done a wonderful job in collaborating with me and other team members in ensuring the readability and health literacy standards of document translation requests for non-English speaking patients and families. As a nurse, her attention to detail, communication skills, empathy, and sense of humor make her a great asset to Children's National and most importantly for patients and their families. Wayne is very reliable and responsive even when she is off from work. She is such a kind and down to earth person. Wayne is also a very good listener. In turn, she has communicated effectively and clearly with me about the specifics of the types of documents that she needs to review. Thanks to her, I've learned so much about the importance of health literacy! I have witnessed the detail and care she puts into assessing patient and family understanding of written materials. She is very thorough with the feedback she gives to hospital teams when making sure that materials contain simple words that are clear as possible and minimize the risk of misunderstanding. Wayne's professionalism and extraordinary behavior make her a great nominee to receive The DAISY Leader Award.
1. Wayne Neal has been an exceptional leader here at Children's National Hospital over the years. She has worked in many areas here at Children's: Unit staff for 5 years, coordinator of the Special Immunology Clinic, Research Nurse, Emergency Medical for Children's Program, and Nurse Educator. Her current role is the Patient/Family Education Manager, supporting all disciplines in teaching strategies, blended learning approach, health literacy, and plain language. She has been a nurse here at Children's for 40 years in multiple areas of nursing and continues to be a change agent, advocate for all families, team player, and an influential mentor. Wayne has collaborated with physicians' teams in publications, creating cornerstone modules to meet accreditation standards and other research projects. She also represents Children's well outside of the organization by sharing her expertise and presenting at national conferences as well as membership in several national organizations. Wayne has a role that does not always stand out, but she is a grass roots leader and takes focused time developing and encouraging PCTs and nurses. Several PCTs and nurses have completed their nursing degree or started a master's program due to Wayne's encouraging words and leadership. She has organized health literacy unit rounding and Health Literacy Grand Rounds over the past 4 years. Spearheaded by working with the nursing and IT staff, Wayne manages the content on the GetWellNetwork TV interactive system and the Road to Home Programs in Cerner to help standardized the discharge teaching processes. Wayne created a patient-teaching simulation for the Nurse Residents utilizing "real parents". When the Covid pandemic emerged, she and one of the parents worked with the Nursing Education Staff to alter this simulation to continue the valued experience on zoom. Prior to Covid Wayne received a Board of Visitor Grant to purchase 30 Bilingual CPR Anytime Kits to further enhance the CPR safety teaching for families discharged to home. This was welcomed by the nursing staff during the past 3 years as each family was able to have its own doll and video to take home after CPR Instruction and nurses were able to follow standard precautions at a critical time in healthcare. She also serves on many committees and ad hoc meetings. To name a few she is still an active member of the Patient and Family Advocacy Council (PFAC), which she was instrumental in forming in 2006; spearheads the Health Literacy workgroup with other professionals; leads the Patient/Family Education and Advocacy unit team nurses (PEAS); and a continued member on the Professional Development Council (PDC). Over the past 10 years Wayne's expertise in health literacy has provided support in working closely with language services to review all incoming documents, messaging, web content, and more before Spanish translation occurs. She has been able to discover copyright concerns, medication confusion in discharge instructions, and more while revising resources to be plainer and better understood by the patient/family. Talking about "good catches", see below what her mentee, parent partners and language services colleagues have expressed about their support for Wayne to receive this award. There are so many other roles she serves and supports at the unit and system level throughout the organization. This Daisy Leader Award nomination is a collaborative approach from two PFAC representatives, language services staff, and language services and guest services director, and myself.
2. Wayne Neal is an extraordinary nurse, colleague, mentor, and employee at Children's National Hospital. Her years of service is centered around the core values: compassion, commitment, and connection. Wayne is compassionate about her work with patient and family education and health literacy. She is a strong advocate for our patients and families through ensuring that all are treated fairly and equally. She has collaborated with the Pediatric Nurse Residency program where she presents during Central Nursing Orientation, Welcome Day, and classes that focus solely on educating our patient and families at their specific level of literacy. She is committed to ensuring that the staff feel supported by her work in which she reaches out to extend her service if she is made aware of any new work or revised work being implemented. Wayne has a way of connecting with the staff and new graduate nurses! She has an "open door" policy and continues to connect with the staff on an ongoing basis. Wayne and I connected in 2016 when I was a new graduate nurse on the unit. She took me in as an informal mentee where we developed a mentorship relationship. She constantly reminded me that I should present myself as if I'm interviewing for my next position each day I stepped foot into the hospital. She pushed me to a new level each time we met and provided me with the resources I needed. As a new graduate nurse, she made me feel supported, connected, confident, and challenged by my next move. In 2020, she became my practicum mentor where she supported me in successfully implementing the Emoji Check-in that was offered to the staff within the hospital. She co-led the "What is your Emoji" webinar that focused on eliciting self-reflecting opportunities for nurses and promoting nurse empowerment in the healthcare environment. Wayne is a great asset to the organization and her years of service is appreciated and recognized through more ways.
3. As the parent of two children who are patients at Children's National Hospital, it is a pleasure to nominate Wayne Neal for the DAISY Nurse Leader Award. I have known Wayne since the inception of our hospital PFAC, over fifteen Years ago. We serve together as co-chairs of the PFAC membership committee. Wayne continuously demonstrates compassion and sensitivity towards patients and families and is an outstanding mentor and teacher to her fellow nurses. She is passionate about families' ability to understand and are included in their child's medical care in the hospital and upon discharge. When developing patient and family literature, Wayne consistently reaches out to me and fellow parents on our PFAC to review the literature for its readability and usefulness of the content. Wayne's leadership skills shine with her nurse simulation training where nurses demonstrate their own skills as Wayne and their peers observe. Her constructive feedback that follows, guides, encourages, and helps them to grow as leaders. Wayne is an excellent leader who cares about all patients and families and inspires others to do the same. She does so in a professional, calm, and compassionate manner. Wayne is truly deserving of the Daisy Nurse Leadership Award.
4. Between 2004 and 2005, I had the great pleasure of meeting Wayne Neal, that timeframe is a blur for me; but what I quickly learned would rub off on me. She had such a fire burning in her to make sure that the nurses knew their value, but to also let the nurses be fully informed about the families on the other side of the doors they would be entering. I remember the first time she and another person asked me to speak at the "Reigniting The Spirit of the Nurses". I had not done much speaking at that point in front of an organized crowd; I had to be able to attend the events they had that day. Wayne saw me in the parking lot the day of the event and stuck by my side encouraging me that I could do it. She encouraged me to not be afraid because no matter what, I would be making a difference in the lives of the nurses by just showing up as well as helping to motivate the teamwork that goes into taking care of the families. I guess it all worked out because, they had me return a couple of times. That encounter also gave me the courage in later years as my life was getting a little better, to reach out to Wayne about donations to the hospital. I remember because of her helping me to not be afraid to connect, we were able to donate several thousand dollars worth of toys, clothing, learning games and so much more to the hospital for the children. So, when PFAC was a thought process, I remember both Wayne and another person contacting me to talk about this grand idea. Well, here I am, and as Wayne did with reigniting the spirit for the nurses, she has never left my side. She is not just an encourager or person wanting to do good and see to it that everyone is taken care of, she's willing to stick with you until it happens. Thank you, Wayne. I thank God for you and that you never give up on people and wanting the best for them and helping them to get there.
5. I have had the pleasure to partner with Wayne since I started my role leading Language Services at Children's National more than 7 years ago. Wayne has been a great advocate to Limited English Proficient patients and families ensuring documents are reviewed, taking into consideration not only readability but a culturally inclusive approach. This, as a result, has enhanced the way we serve our diverse patient population. Together we developed a review and translation process which has, year by year, increased the number of materials available to patients in other languages. Wayne is a great educator who is patient and thoughtful when providing feedback. She is able to adjust her communication style to reach a variety of audiences and has a gift to put people at ease around her. This has contributed to a very positive working relationship with our teams. Wayne's work ethic is admirable; she is reliable and makes herself available regardless of the time or day. I am very happy to nominate Wayne for the DAISY Leader Award as an example of excellence in nursing and as a healthcare leader.
6. As a translator for the language and Guest Services Department at Children's. I have had the pleasure of working with Wayne for the past seven years. Wayne has been a noteworthy team player that has done a wonderful job in collaborating with me and other team members in ensuring the readability and health literacy standards of document translation requests for non-English speaking patients and families. As a nurse, her attention to detail, communication skills, empathy, and sense of humor make her a great asset to Children's National and most importantly for patients and their families. Wayne is very reliable and responsive even when she is off from work. She is such a kind and down to earth person. Wayne is also a very good listener. In turn, she has communicated effectively and clearly with me about the specifics of the types of documents that she needs to review. Thanks to her, I've learned so much about the importance of health literacy! I have witnessed the detail and care she puts into assessing patient and family understanding of written materials. She is very thorough with the feedback she gives to hospital teams when making sure that materials contain simple words that are clear as possible and minimize the risk of misunderstanding. Wayne's professionalism and extraordinary behavior make her a great nominee to receive The DAISY Leader Award.