Chris Sheets is both an extraordinary nurse and human being. He has shown up as a true leader on 5MB during arguably some of the most trying times our unit has experienced lately. Since accepting the Assistant Nurse Manager role, Chris has essentially served as our go-to person, consistently rising above and beyond the requirements of the role. As management has gone through countless transitions over the last 12 months, Chris has remained our constant, inspiring hope and resiliency in our team.
Chris has the rare ability to remain totally present and empathic for every patient despite their level of behavioral dysregulation. He works every day to decrease the pervasive stigma of mental illness by treating every patient with dignity and respect. His approach is rooted in trauma-informed care, and patients in acute distress are often calmed just by his presence. No matter the level of chaos on the unit, Chris manages to make time for every patient or staff member no matter what.
In addition, Chris is an innovative nurse leader, consistently translating best evidence into practice change. He recently introduced the Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression (DASA) tool into our charting system, in order to better identify patients at risk of having violent behavior and therapeutically intervening earlier. Chris has helped our unit have lower rates of seclusion and restraint, and consistently educates staff on the risk of implicit bias in care. During a time in which we had a spike of developmentally delayed patients requiring seclusion for assaultive behaviors, Chris independently reached out to Seattle Children's psychiatric unit to help educate us on best practices with this population. Because of these educational tools, we have been able to provide improved care to this population and have dramatically reduced incidences of seclusion. One developmentally delayed patient, who had spent long periods in seclusion due to his many assaults, has now been free on our unit for many months without incident.
Chris is one of the most effective and tenacious patient advocates I've ever met. It is not an exaggeration to call him an unsung hero. I am so proud to have Chris as my supervisor and my friend.
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Chris is a compassionate nurse who works closely with the hospital's mission population (the mentally ill, homeless, etc.) in the psychiatric ICU. He is a strong patient advocate. He personally takes the time to chat with and develop relationships with all the unit's patients, including those he is not assigned to. He is kind and welcoming to even hostile patients. He is immensely kind and patient with difficult and escalating patients. I believe to see the profoundly positive effect he has on the staff and patients in our unit, you should come see him in action. He gives his all every day he comes to work and makes our environment more positive and encouraging. I strive to be more like Chris each day I come into work.
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He is a hard worker. He has multiple responsibilities in our unit but never complains. All the patients like Chris; he always has a positive thought for patients and coworkers, and always willing to help others.