We would like to take the opportunity to send long over-due recognition regarding Pam Steinkraus, RN- Pre-op Anesthesia Clinic. She consistently goes above and beyond for the patients, providers (anesthesia and surgeons alike), and fellow clinic staff to ensure the patients get excellent timely care and a seamless clinic flow. She personifies the iCARE philosophy that we have at our medical center. Some may think Ms. Steinkraus is exacting in her expectations, but to us, her concerns have only ever been a sign of her integrity. She has strong ethical and moral principles that she follows even when it is the harder unpopular path or when her efforts go unseen. She is consistent, professional, and collegial. She works hard every day (often picking up the extra workload). She is calm and compassionate.

On one recent occasion, a Veteran showed up for a pre­ anesthesia appointment and was told by the clerk that his surgery would be cancelled because he did not qualify for VA care. The Veteran was clearly distressed. In overhearing the conversation, Pam came out of her office, sat with the Veteran, and listened as he expressed his frustration. She then reviewed the Veteran's chart and contacted his social worker and other providers. Because of the extra time she took with this Veteran he left calmly with the understanding and reassurance of what needed to be done to ensure he could return.

Pam's calm and friendly demeanor is an asset in an otherwise busy clinic setting where patients are commonly feeling anxious about an upcoming surgery or going through difficult times. She is a team player and always willing to work with the Preop providers to better clinic flow and enhance educational conversations/materials to meet the changing needs of patients and anesthesia/surgical service.

Not only is she responsive to helping me with process changes to solve issues like patients with transport issues and calling late to cancel surgeries for illness (helping us improve our late cancellation rate) but also pays attention to potential issues within her specific role i.e. recognizing the inaccuracies in standard education forms for NPO status, working with surgeons to create bowel prep education sheets, and updating outdated anesthesia sheets.

After hearing patients complain about duplicate questions, she revamped the nursing intake form to remove questions that were already asked by the anesthesia providers. She instituted preop phone calls for cataract cases that can be done in less busy times of a clinic day in order to improve clinic availability and ensure timely care for more complicated clinic patients. She worked closely with me to formulate a plan for preop anesthesia telehealth during Covid restrictions that will continue with smaller cases into the future. She works with the CBOCs providers regarding their surgery patients and coordinates preoperative Covid testing to save patients extra travel.

She consistently treats even the most difficult patients with kindness and respect. Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect, and Excellence. Her acts warrant recognition for going above and beyond to serve her colleagues, our Veterans, and their families.