Tiffany has been the best nurse leader that I have ever worked for. Hands-down she is an inspiring and creative leader who is going places. Her beauty started in her nursing and has flourished in her manager role. She is beautiful both inside and out. She is one of the best nurses I have ever known. She has that "X-factor" of nursing in which she is that person you think of when you hear the term "excellent nurse." It is an honor and a privilege to get to work for and with her each and every day; she is one of the reasons that I love my job so much. The attributes and characteristics that she emulates are exactly what I would want if she were caring for me or a loved one: good communication, problem-solving skills, empathy, tenacity, independence, diplomacy, and happiness. Those same skills have served her very well formerly as a charge nurse on the Nurse Advice Line, and now as the Nurse Manager on the Nurse Advice Line.
In October 2018, Tiffany stepped into the role of Nurse Manager, and now I directly report to her. I feel that this transition from charge nurse to Nurse Manager has been challenging for Tiffany yet rewarding. I have watched her in some very difficult situations, and she has handled them with finesse. She met challenges head-on and did what she needed to do in order to ensure that safe, patient-centered care continued on the Nurse Advice Line. And she did all this while working on her Master's in Nurse Leadership!
Tiffany has worked on many projects and attained a variety of goals while working as a Nurse Advice Line nurse manager. She developed, along with IT, the first electronic huddle board for CMH (this was done prior to COVID-19) which has been the inspiration for other electronic boards throughout the hospital, she headed up the new telephone triage program development team for "Mercy Call Care" and has ensured that the program not only continues to run but make significant user improvements. She made a case to IT about having CM-issued computers for staff to use at home; in December 2019, Nurse Advice Line nurses were all issued home computers. She has gone to Labor Review Board several times to ensure that the Nurse Advice Line team stays well-staffed. She also made a case to upper leadership for extra shift pay for the Nurse Advice Line nurses. Positions and extra shift pay were approved. She worked with Infectious disease on a COVID-19 triage process that the NAL nurses used for several months. She worked with Ambulatory Float Pool and recruited some excellent nurses to float to the Nurse Advice Line; this was the first time that the Nurse Advice Line had used floats.
These are just a few of her significant accomplishments, and only part of the reason she is the best manager I have ever worked for. Yes, she gets things done. But she gets them done with a smile on her face and unmatched kindness. She truly is an inspiration. The unparalleled positivity that Tiffany brings to, not only our unit, but to other individuals or teams is why she is a DAISY Nurse Leader. She serves and leads the Nurse Advice Line team with grace, empathy, and open inclusion of all of our unique nurses. She makes you want to be a better nurse, better leader, better team player, better learner...she just makes you want to be a better person. And that is who you want to continue to lead and inspire others in nursing here at Children's Mercy. That nurse who makes all those around her even better!
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Over the past year the Nurse Advice Line has undergone tremendous change. Tiffany has been instrumental in developing new triage software for staff, which has included working closely with the development team and with staff to guide and train for the telephone triage of calls from a wide variety of callers. Our unit absorbed 9 new staff members who were warmly welcomed. This past year Tiffany advocated for the acquisition of CMH issued Horizon computers to support a "work-at-home" environment and improve technical support for our area. Tiffany was instrumental in helping develop a "Nurse Dashboard Feature" within our software which enables nurses to easily see their own metrics to drive optimal performance. She helped support the development of an online Huddle board which is shared digitally among team members to communicate daily announcements and other pertinent information.
Tiffany has consistently focused on developing our team and encouraged them through changing times. To top it off- this past year, Tiffany gracefully led us through a pandemic, and the Nurse Advice Line has literally been in the "eye of the storm!" Our phone number was shared far and wide - on the home page of the Scope, in the news, and even in the newspaper, for parents to call with concerns regarding their children in the midst of the Coronavirus outbreak. As each department we support struggled to develop protocols related to the COVID-19 crisis, Tiffany led our group faithfully, tirelessly, and without complaining. She spent countless hours communicating with other departments and upper management to develop our unit's response to this health crisis. And things changed every day!! She continued without a breath, focusing on staff engagement, morale and support. She acknowledged the shared struggle we faced as we adapted to the ever-changing world of Coronavirus. On top of this, our entire staff has been forced to work virtually as many departments have - but she has continued to develop the kind of camaraderie that has made the hardships of being the "Coronavirus Hotline" easier. She began collecting caller "after call" comments and shared them via our huddle board so that our staff could see the difference we were making in our patients' lives.
We may be a digital department, but we are often the front line and first place parents may turn when seeking excellent advice and care for their children, who may or may not be children's Mercy Patients. We are fortunate to have a leader who has not only driven so many changes to support our work but inspired us to continue when it was hard. We are better nurses for having Tiffany at Children's Mercy and at the Nurse Advice line!