Since I was covering for the unit manager while she was on leave, Laura was an invaluable resource. She emerged as a true example of many of the Caritas Processes with her leadership, innovation, and ability to mobilize the creativity and enthusiasm of her team members to improve our patient care processes and manifest into reality the ideas generated by the Behavioral Health Shared Governance Council and Unit Based Councils.
Last year, the AP3 behavioral health unit saw a need for substance abuse education for our patients with dual diagnoses: over 58% of our admitted patients have not only a psychiatric disorder but substance abuse disorder as well, and Laura took the lead in designing an educational program for the RNs in behavioral health. She designed educational modules based on evidence-based substance abuse education and will be rolling out the RN education in March. These modules are designed to allow nurses to learn how to run effective substance abuse psychoeducational groups. I've been so impressed by her innovation and sensitivity to the nurses' busy work schedule so that education will be provided in short, quick sessions.
Laura was also instrumental in developing behavioral health fall prevention education learning aids for the behavioral health nurses. Her teammates fall prevention processes are a model for the rest of the behavioral health department. Her efforts have made communication regarding patients who are risks to falls a priority in our hand-off communication and daily safety huddles.
Laura is a Magnet ambassador, and an unofficial champion of evidence-based practice, as evidenced by her enthusiasm in actualizing and operationalizing the ideas tossed around by the Shared Governance Council. Her positive, professional, and personable attitude towards her patients, their families, and her co-workers reflect her authentic presence, her creation of a healing environment, engagement in transpersonal teaching and learning, and developing sustaining loving, trusting relationships. She truly is a role model and lives her passion for the work that she does every day. She truly creatively uses her - self and all ways of knowing as part of the caring process, and her actions and ideas engage in the artistry of the caring-healing practices. She receives multiple I Made a Difference acknowledgments on a regular basis. I am proud to be her colleague. I learn from Laura's interpersonal relationships with her peers and her patients, and I know that her colleagues benefit from her professionalism, her humor, and her enthusiasm.