Katie consistently and enthusiastically supports our entire team, from HUC to PCA to RN to Pharmacy to RT to MD, so on and so forth. First off, she is extremely approachable and gladly accepts calls from our staff 24/7; she truly never takes a break. She encourages feedback from our staff of constructive criticism, suggestions of improvement, alternative ideas, questions, recognizing teammates, and more importantly, she acts on the input she receives.
The most notable example of why Katie Harris is so deserving of this award is the 100% commitment she shows every day to our patients. Not only does she ensure our unit operates smoothly behind the scenes, she is doing every job on the floor as well.
Our unit has a natural ebb and flow rhythm of business. During these periods of high acuity, Katie is always jumping in any place we need her. One day she may be our charge nurse without any notice, pushing aside her other responsibilities of timesheets, meetings, and Midas reports and the like until later hours in the night so she is able to provide patient care for +12 hours in a day. Other days she works tirelessly on the floor as our PCT, running patients around the hospital, emptying Foley catheters, helping patients off the commode, while also jumping in to help administer medications for a coding patient. There is no job too small or large, too long or short, too menial or difficult, Katie will take it all and without a single complaint.
She encourages us, inspires us, supports us, and is by far the best role model of a nurse leader I can imagine. Thank you for the opportunity to recognize her efforts, I appreciate it.
***
Katie Harris has been an exceptional supervisor for the last three years that I have worked in ICU. Katie has an open-door policy with staff, is always approachable, and provides a listening ear. Prior to Katie's role as supervisor, she was a staff RN in ICU. I believe this experience added significant value to her administrative success. Katie is always willing to staff in the ICU when census and/or acuity is high. Katie has stayed late and come in on weekends to help with staffing which I feel speaks volumes to her dedication to the ICU team and to patient care.
I have also had interactions with Katie when she and I haven't seen eye to eye. Although those situations are few and far between I have to say I have been most impressed with her ability to confront situations head on, while maintaining respect and professionalism. Katie has a unique way of offering another point of view or scenario without being demeaning. Rather she offers the opportunity for open minded thinking.
Finally, I think Katie is a great support to the staff of the ICU. Katie "goes to bat" for the ICU when needed and is our biggest advocate in seeing we are taking care of ourselves as much as we are providing care for others.
***
The ICU/CCU has been extremely busy for the past month. Katie has gone above and beyond the call of her "job" description. Katie has come in early to work; stayed late for work and worked on her days off in order to help staff, and patient care. Katie has been so flexible in helping the unit, and still maintaining her office position. She has put the work in the unit ahead of her office work. It is obvious Katie is passionate about nursing, helping our staff and providing excellent patient care. Katie has been an excellence reference when going to her for questions about equipment needed for procedures, or problems related to the EMR or Cerner. Katie always displays a positive attitude and encourages everyone to learn from her. Katie has also been reliable when we are understaffed, helping the nurses, staffing as a nurse, staffing as a charge nurse or helping patient care techs and answering pumps or call lights. I cannot express enough how much we all appreciate all that Katie has done for the unit. Thank you, Katie, for your hard work, dedication and devotion to our ICU/CCU.
***
Katie most definitely deserves this recognition because she has years of experience as a staff nurse which supports her ability to be an effective leader. Even though she is our supervisor she never gives the impression that she is above us. She often puts aside her busy schedule to come out to the floor and help out when we are busy or provide teaching if there are questions. She provides us with information that keeps us current on practice changes and encourages us to provide quality care; offering statistics of where we could improve our performance. She has a smiling face and a listening ear and is always approachable. She is a joy to have around. I am grateful to have Katie as my nurse leader in the ICU. Thank you for all you do.
***
Katie Harris, ICU, Supervisor is an amazing supervisor. She always puts the needs of our unit, staff, patients and families first. Katie does an excellent job on providing us nursing staff with continued education opportunities. She leads along with our director at council meetings and unit meetings. She carries forward to the institution ICU's concerns and ideas. Katie always responds to staff concerns in a timely manner and follows up. Katie is always available to come and help staff the unit if we are short staffed or high acuity. When I work charge RN, I know I can call Katie at any time of the day. I remember a weekend we were extremely busy with very sick patients, I was charge on nights and called Katie at 3:30 a.m., and she answered her phone and showed up at 5:30 in the morning to help us out. Katie often comes in early or stays late to help us staff our patients. Katie always encourages our nurses to bring forward ideas to help improve our critical care practice. Katie exemplifies professionalism and a true passion for nursing and nursing leadership. Katie Harris definitely deserves to receive the nursing leadership DAISY Award. I am honored to work for and with her.
***
Katie is for one, extremely involved in the department and always supportive. Katie is always willing to lend a hand no matter what the task, from the smallest basic patient care up to the most critical involvement she remains a knowledgeable and compassionate mentor and resource for all of us working in the unit. Katie truly leads by example and she makes a great leader because staff emulate her behavior and actions; she never "tells" you what to do, she "shows" how to be the best person and nurse. She has come in to cover staffing needs more times than I could count, working as a "floor" nurse which I feel is uncommon for most people that hold similar positions in our organizations. For this reason specifically, I feel she should be a role model for not only our staff in the ICU but organization-wide.
***
I feel Katie Harris is very deserving of the DAISY Nurse Leader Award. She consistently exemplifies what it is to be a great leader and nurse in our ICU unit. She holds the role of ICU nurse Supervisor. She is especially integral in educating new staff and making sure all staff maintain competencies and stay apprised of important changes. Katie makes herself available and present in the unit; she often goes the extra mile in doing so. There isn't a day where she is not checking in with the unit charge and various staff members. She fields questions, offers updates, and gives support. Whether it is giving a lending ear, assisting with patient baths, answering call lights or phones, taking over charge to provide anextra set of hands; Katie has made a point to make herself available. With her responsibilities, she is often pulled in many directions but handles it all in stride with her calming attitude and smile.
When the unit is exceptionally busy, her presence enhances our unit's team effort in caring for our patients. It's obvious that with Katie patient care comes first.
***
Katie Harris is more than deserving of the DAISY Nurse Leader Award. She is always more than willing to help out the unit, especially when we are busy or when staffing gaps need to be filled. To me, this is an impressive and outstanding quality, because it helps foster a sense of teamwork and exemplifies support and respect for staff.
A day that stands out to me is when Katie helped care for a 2:1 patient with me. The patient was a CRRT, required titration of multiple gtts, had touchy BPs, required SWAN cath care/calculations, and needed to be transferred to IR for a procedure. I was so appreciative for her help and leadership. I don't know if I expressed my gratitude enough that day.
Overall, Katie possesses qualities that I strongly admire as a person and nursing supervisor. Her intelligence, sense of teamwork, and respect for her staff deserves to be recognized and awarded.
***
Katie is a faithful leader that is amicable and treats all staff members with respect and courtesy. Staff trusts her as she shares and effectively communicates the future vision and direction of this unit via competencies for new equipment or updates that staff needs to be aware of. She motivates to provide the best care that they can for not only their patient but for themselves as well.
She is a great role model for extraordinary behavior. When the unit is buzzing, as it has been, she is out of her office and on the floor either assisting PCT's with morning cares, answering call lights or any other alarm, RNs with passing medications, or even being Charge to avoid putting the ICU/CCU on diversion.
She is an individual that promotes and enhances the image of nursing with this organization and this amazing profession. She exceeds the roles of Relationship Based Care by improving safety for patient and staff, quality of care delivered while keeping in mind that patient and staff satisfaction impact the earlier. She has an open-door policy and encourages staff to come to her with any questions or concerns.
I am honored to work with such an incredible individual and do not want to see her hard work go unnoticed! Thank you for everything you do on the unit!
***
Katie is the direct supervisor of the ICU, and she consistently goes above and beyond. My appreciation for Katie is immeasurable. Katie is always finding different educational items for staff to go through to keep us up on our skills. In our unit, some of the specialty teams and supplies that we use we do so infrequently. She is wonderful at acknowledging this equipment and making sure that we are all continuing to familiarize ourselves with the equipment. Katie not only keeps is on our toes about education and equipment but she is consistently helping in the unit. Our unit has been especially busy in the last 4-5 weeks. With such an influx in census we are not staffed appropriately. Katie is always there to support us by either working side by side with us or being available for help. She has worked many tireless hours and continues to have a positive attitude and encourages us all that things will continue to work out. She has a great approach when dealing with patients and family and is an excellent nurse to the critical patients that we see. She not only supports RN staff but she is steadily continuing to help out PCT's with bathing, stocking supplies and re-stocking of used kits. She is always helping the HUC's by answering phones so that they can get their daily responsibilities taken care of. Katie always puts her staff ahead of herself and it is very apparent every day. I could not think of a supervisor more deserving of this award.
***

As the supervisor of ICU, Katie is an excellent role model for new and experienced staff. She is instrumental in much of the planning and organizing of the orientation process for new staff. She is very approachable and has an open door, phone, and email policy. She is timely with feedback and offers suggestions or possible solutions to problems that arise.
Katie is very visible on the unit. Some common roles that she often walks into are covering the unit for a nurse who takes a patient to MRI, a second set of eyes on a highly complex patient and helping nursing and PCT's with a.m. baths. She is able to fill the role of charge nurse, pager nurse, or bedside nurse in any situation. It is not uncommon to see Katie come in early, stay late, or work a weekend shift to ensure the needs of all our patients are met. Katie is very deserving of the DAISY Nurse Leader Award.
***
Katie embodies what an ICU nurse should be. Katie leads by example in all she does. There are many times that our unit is busy, but the last few weeks seem to trump all. High in census and acuity, Katie has made herself available at all times. Most of the time she can be found in the unit taking on the charge nurse role, being a bedside RN or both. When she cannot physically be here, she is never more than a phone all or an email away. Katie keeps our spirits elevated and lets us know that we are appreciated. These are just a few reasons that our supervisor deserves the award.
***
Katie Harris is an excellent example of a true leader. She is truly selfless at work constantly putting the needs of our patients and other staff members first. She leads by example, is always approachable and consistently fair. She is the go-to person on our unit. She is a great educator and provides a wealth of knowledge to our staff. She demonstrates true professionalism every day that she is at work by setting high standards for herself and our unit. She is compassionate about her profession. The care that she gives our patients and their family members has always been beyond excellent and it is always apparent that she truly cares. She is an advocate for our patient and our staff. She has been a positive addition to our leadership staff. Over the past few weeks, our unit has been extraordinarily busy. She has come in early, stayed late, and come in on her days off, being very flexible and always with a smile on her face. I think that Katie deserves the DAISY Nurse Leader Award because she is a true role model that our staff looks up to and makes us all strive to be better.
***
Katie Harris leads by example and demonstrates the behaviors that all nurses should model. She is always available to her staff in person or by email and phone, and she is quick to respond or follow up as needed. She models great communication by seeking clarification as needed and following up after a conversation to ensure any loose ends are addressed. She is a strong advocate not only for our patients, truly upholding the "patient comes first" value, but also for her staff.
She has always been willing to help cover shifts that may be short staffed due to a busy unit or an ill call, but lately, she has gone above and beyond. The ICU has been incredibly busy the past couple of weeks and Katie has been coming in early, staying late, and coming in on the weekends to support staff and care for patients. She has done this with a positive attitude and a smile on her face. Katie is an amazing leader and truly deserving of the DAISY Nurse Leader Award.
***
Katie has been an integral member of ICU care team for 15 years as a bedside RN, and most recently our supervisor. As a bedside RN, she was part of the CRRT, IABP, Peds and charge nurse teams and also functioned as a preceptor and resource to all with our critically ill population.
Now as our supervisor she is our go-to person for computer, equipment, staffing, administrative in any question and clarification we need, Katie is the one we seek out for an answer. She is organized, capable of multi-tasking and compassionate too.
I was recently off for a medical FMLA, and returned to limited hours and more direct bedside are than in a previous role. Katie was understanding of my many questions regarding documentation, new practice changes during my leave and helped coordinate my work schedule and timekeeping chaos. She is available by text, phone to problem solve when not at the bedside and it invaluable to our critical care team as a patient and nursing advocate.
***
Katie is the perfect example of a nursing leader. She always puts the needs of the unit over her own agenda. She is always willing to come and help the unit if it is busy, either by helping the nursing techs or the nurses with moving patients of cleaning them up for the day. Katie is always approachable to ask any questions that come up in practice. In the last few weeks, the hospital, in general, has been very busy, and Katie has worked above and beyond her role with helping the floor. She has worked very long hours and weekends lately and has not complained once. It is one thing to hear that her coworkers respect, appreciate, and admire her work ethic, but it shows new depth when the nursing administration would take the time to honor such a hard-working employee.
***
As a supervisor of the ICU at MCHS Franciscan La Crosse during a period of high census and high patient acuity, Katie has worked at a superhuman level to keep patient care standards exceptional and staff satisfaction high. Katie gets in early, stays late, and can function as a critical care nurse and unit director at the same time effortlessly. She is an amazing asset to our unit, our institution, and our community.
***
When I think of Katie Harris, RN, several words come to mind; expert, excellent, dependable, and compassionate. I have worked with Katie since 2004. As a young new nurse to ICU, Katie was welcoming and very resourceful. She took the time to help me understand things until it was clear. Through the years I have watched Katie climb in leadership roles. It started in ICU's Practice Council to hospital-wide councils and spread to EMR Super User and one of our first expert RNs for inpatient dialysis. When Katie became the Supervisor for ICU, it seemed like a very natural fit and as an ICU RN at that time, I felt that we had a leader who could represent and support us. As these past few months have been busy, Katie continues to be that leader supporting her ICU staff. Her servant leadership has been displayed by her many hours working as an ICU nurse. Her skills, strong, clear communication and her compassion to our patients and staff are much appreciated. I am thankful to Katie for being such a great example to me of what a leader should be. Thank you for all that you do in this organization.