Ann Powell
February 2019
Ann
Powell
,
BSN, RN, CQHQ
Organization Improvement
The University of Kansas Health System
Kansas City
,
KS
United States
Ann Powell is a nursing leader at The University of Kansas Health System who has demonstrated strong leadership skills and a commitment to achieving exceptional patient outcomes.
I have the privilege of working under Ann's leadership and feel she is a true DAISY Nurse Leader. Ann is skilled in fostering a working environment that is trusting, respectful and compassionate. As a newer member of her team, I appreciate the way Ann has helped me feel welcome and comfortable in my new position.
My daughter recently was baptized. When I returned to work that Monday, I had an e-mail from Ann in my inbox, telling me she was thinking of my family and me that weekend and hoped we had enjoyed my daughter's baptism.
While this was a small and simple gesture, I was touched that Ann had not only remembered my daughter's event but that she also took the time out of her weekend to reach out to me. This small interaction demonstrated to me that Ann genuinely cares for her team members and what is happening in their lives outside of work.
Ann's caring demeanor has helped create an environment of trust within our department, as it is much easier to trust someone when you feel they genuinely care about you as a person.
As the Quality Outcomes manager, Ann's position could simply be described as striving to achieve quality outcomes for patients at The University of Kansas Health System. Ann oversees a group of Quality Outcomes coordinators and manages various disease-specific quality registries as well as the CMS Core Measures.
She has been a key driver in creating and promoting a data-driven culture within our department and the organization. She emphasizes the importance of establishing action items at each of our quality committee meetings so we can remain committed to continuous improvement based on our analysis of the data.
Ann frequently attends the different quality committee meetings and offers ideas and suggestions for process improvement. She is not afraid to speak up during a meeting that may have lost focus and helps ensure quality improvement remains a central focus, so that we may continually strive for better outcomes for our patients.
Ann also promotes and enhances the image of nursing within our department and the organization. As the quality outcomes manager, Ann leads a group of nurses (quality outcomes coordinators) who have no direct interactions with patients in our daily work. However, Ann has proven to be dedicated to promoting our image as nurses by supporting ongoing education and encouraging staff to attend the many nursing symposiums available to them, such as the Five Star Symposium and the Cardiac Nursing Symposium.
Ann also advocated for our group to continue to maintain our Basic Life Support certifications. While this certification is not required for our position as we do not provide direct nursing care, Ann sought out our opinions and feelings on maintaining the certification. When it was evident that many in our group felt that it was our duty as nurses to maintain the certification, Ann moved forward with ensuring that we could continue to keep our certification through the health system.
Ann role models a commitment to professional development by attaining her certification as a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), celebrating staff members who have also achieved certification, and encouraging all staff to take advantage of certification preparation classes and work towards their own certification.
Additionally, Ann has participated in the Research Council's literature review. As a current participant in the NLAP program, I can attest that seeing my manager take part in professional development activities has been both motivating to me and shown that Ann truly leads by example.
I would like to conclude with some comments about Ann that my colleagues shared at one of the 2017 Nursing Annual Meetings. Although these comments are about a year old and I was not yet a member of Ann's team, I wholeheartedly believe they are still true and a testament to Ann's exceptional leadership.
My fellow team members described Ann as having "steady, level-headed leadership" and "she always leads our team with fairness and grace." Ann has "provided leadership that has improved how quality data is reported and is always available to support, encourage, lift up and help all her Quality Outcomes coordinators." I could not have said it better myself.
I have the privilege of working under Ann's leadership and feel she is a true DAISY Nurse Leader. Ann is skilled in fostering a working environment that is trusting, respectful and compassionate. As a newer member of her team, I appreciate the way Ann has helped me feel welcome and comfortable in my new position.
My daughter recently was baptized. When I returned to work that Monday, I had an e-mail from Ann in my inbox, telling me she was thinking of my family and me that weekend and hoped we had enjoyed my daughter's baptism.
While this was a small and simple gesture, I was touched that Ann had not only remembered my daughter's event but that she also took the time out of her weekend to reach out to me. This small interaction demonstrated to me that Ann genuinely cares for her team members and what is happening in their lives outside of work.
Ann's caring demeanor has helped create an environment of trust within our department, as it is much easier to trust someone when you feel they genuinely care about you as a person.
As the Quality Outcomes manager, Ann's position could simply be described as striving to achieve quality outcomes for patients at The University of Kansas Health System. Ann oversees a group of Quality Outcomes coordinators and manages various disease-specific quality registries as well as the CMS Core Measures.
She has been a key driver in creating and promoting a data-driven culture within our department and the organization. She emphasizes the importance of establishing action items at each of our quality committee meetings so we can remain committed to continuous improvement based on our analysis of the data.
Ann frequently attends the different quality committee meetings and offers ideas and suggestions for process improvement. She is not afraid to speak up during a meeting that may have lost focus and helps ensure quality improvement remains a central focus, so that we may continually strive for better outcomes for our patients.
Ann also promotes and enhances the image of nursing within our department and the organization. As the quality outcomes manager, Ann leads a group of nurses (quality outcomes coordinators) who have no direct interactions with patients in our daily work. However, Ann has proven to be dedicated to promoting our image as nurses by supporting ongoing education and encouraging staff to attend the many nursing symposiums available to them, such as the Five Star Symposium and the Cardiac Nursing Symposium.
Ann also advocated for our group to continue to maintain our Basic Life Support certifications. While this certification is not required for our position as we do not provide direct nursing care, Ann sought out our opinions and feelings on maintaining the certification. When it was evident that many in our group felt that it was our duty as nurses to maintain the certification, Ann moved forward with ensuring that we could continue to keep our certification through the health system.
Ann role models a commitment to professional development by attaining her certification as a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), celebrating staff members who have also achieved certification, and encouraging all staff to take advantage of certification preparation classes and work towards their own certification.
Additionally, Ann has participated in the Research Council's literature review. As a current participant in the NLAP program, I can attest that seeing my manager take part in professional development activities has been both motivating to me and shown that Ann truly leads by example.
I would like to conclude with some comments about Ann that my colleagues shared at one of the 2017 Nursing Annual Meetings. Although these comments are about a year old and I was not yet a member of Ann's team, I wholeheartedly believe they are still true and a testament to Ann's exceptional leadership.
My fellow team members described Ann as having "steady, level-headed leadership" and "she always leads our team with fairness and grace." Ann has "provided leadership that has improved how quality data is reported and is always available to support, encourage, lift up and help all her Quality Outcomes coordinators." I could not have said it better myself.