Dawn exemplifies the definition of a DAISY Nurse Leader. At the beginning of the COVID pandemic, the second floor became the cohort unit for all possible COVID cases and all enhanced contact droplet precaution patients. As you can imagine, stress levels of staff were heightened and during the beginning it seemed as though new changes to policies were being made daily. She handled this change with grace and humility, being transparent with all of us from the beginning.
Throughout every step and change, she was always providing staff with the most up to date information and continual support. Dawn always allowed staff to come to her with questions and concerns and frequently informed staff of new information as soon as she got it, so we were never in the dark. She hosted staff meetings that allowed for open communication, which helped alleviate the staffs' anxieties and concerns and her office door was always open.
Personally, I know that having her support and care for my well-being, physically and emotionally, made coming to work and caring for these patients less taxing and stressful. When some of our staff were sick, I heard countless stories on how she checked in on them daily to make sure they were well and getting better. Her compassion for her staff goes above and beyond and I can't think of anyone who could have lead us through to this new normal better or more smoothly.