This leader is an extraordinary advocate for her staff’s growth, both personally and professionally. She encourages them to go back to school and further their education so that they are ready for the complex patients in her department and for the dynamic field of nursing. This leader demonstrates her promotion of autonomy and excellence in her staff, as evidenced by the fact that she has 7 staff members in her department who are in the upper tiers of the clinical ladder. She consistently models this behavior of professional development by attending Nursing leadership conferences and other learning opportunities. Recently, this leader was instrumental in the advancement of her department to a Progressive Care Unit. She had pursued this goal for several years before finally seeing it come to fruition. She helped arrange training for the staff, specialized equipment, services, supplies, and construction. She modeled trust and respect for her staff, knowing that they can care for these more acutely ill patients. During the pandemic, half of this leader’s department was converted to a COVID-only unit. She was present in the department during the entire time just to make sure the patients and staff were taken care of. She kept the staff informed of the frequently changing protocols of caring for COVID patients, as well as, advocated for meals for the staff that were taking care of these patients so that the staff felt supported and could solely focus on the intense pressure at hand. She fought for safe patient care ratios during this time, realizing the difficulty of having to don and doff every time you came in or out of a room. Staffing is an ongoing problem, especially after the department became a COVID unit. This leader works very hard to find staff to support the census and advocates for safe staffing and for the use of travelers – even before travelers were a common adjunct to staffing. She also is known for doing her own staff “recruiting” by keeping in touch with old employees or keeping her feelers out in every possible avenue. This leader supports her staffing further during the threat of bad weather. She remains at the hospital, along with her assistant director, as long as the bad weather persists - just to make sure the department has adequate staffing. She also advocates for her staff a safe place to stay when they need to stay overnight. Lastly, this nursing leader supports research, evidenced-based practice, and quality improvement initiatives by encouraging staff to participate in system-wide initiatives, as well as, in conducting multiple research projects in the department. Her unit is one of the first units to come to mind when someone is looking to pilot initiatives, as the department is frequently involved in the innovation of new processes or products. She wholeheartedly embraces the principles of Lean, educates staff on the process, and then puts it into action by using the process in the department. Her department has made many staff-led changes in the department, as well as, influenced system-wide change. This leader has an intense desire for a department that showcases excellence, both to the community and to the image of nursing. Therefore, it is for these reasons that Mary Anne Amos is a true DAISY Nurse Leader.