Anne Marie is a great example of professionalism, dedication, and compassion in the clinical field of nursing. She has been working in the field of nursing for 12 years. Anne Marie began her nursing career as a Med-Surg nurse and continued to a Progressive Care Unit. She eventually became an Assistant Nurse Manager of a 20 bed Progressive Care Unit. Nursing is the 2nd career for her, and she also admits that she has always had an interest in wound care. This interest has led her to obtain a certification in acute and chronic wound care, ostomy management, and continence management.

Anne Marie's commitment to the Professional Practice Model is evident as she continuously strives to be an advocate for our patient population. For example, with the assistance of the nursing staff, she has consistently and persistently emphasized the effectiveness of turning and positioning patients and maintaining good hygienic measures.

In addition, Anne Marie has always introduced new and improved products such as creams, ointments, medical appliances, and medical devices to minimize the effects of skin breakdown. She also participates in various hospital committees. One such committee is Quality and Safety, in which she disseminates data obtained from hospital statistics on skin wounds and ulcers on a unit-by-unit basis. Along with the Skin Care Council, she provides monthly reports on HAPI (Hospital Acquired Pressure Injury), and Prevalence (Skin and Skin-Related Infections and Diseases). The data submitted to this committee by Anne Marie has led to skin-care prevention initiatives such as the Two RN Skin Protocol, which requires 2 RNs to assess newly admitted patients. This initiative reinforces accountability and efficiency. In addition, another initiative formed and influenced by her focused on turning and positioning Hospice patients routinely, therefore continuing to maintain the quality of care even towards the transition to the end-of-life cycle.

Anne Marie’s dedication to evidence-based practice is apparent as she organized a Proning Team at LMH. She always has had the best interest of our patient population in mind as manifested by the implementation of this Proning initiative. This initiative proposes to improve oxygenation in those patients affected with Covid-19. In addition, while embracing the spirit of collaboration, Anne Marie has implemented educational programs for wound ostomy and continence care for nursing staff and mid-level providers. She is also responsible for the consultation needs of multi-disciplinary personnel.

Anne Marie has never wavered in her efforts to engage nurses as well as patient care technicians in skin and wound care prevention. She has frequently held discussions and question and answer sessions to emphasize the importance of alleviating skin breakdown. She has introduced new products to the nursing staff to improve the quality of patient care. She has also encouraged nurses to be proactive regarding skin care prevention, and she has advised, supervised, and assisted the skin-care champions. Anne Marie has introduced new skin-care products and appliances in the institution for the sole purpose of advancing and improving the quality of care for our skin-compromised patients. She is well acquainted with the skin and wound care needs of our patient population and has researched and advocated for products that would benefit our patient population. She also monitors the effectiveness of such products through data documented on the nursing units. Recommendations, changes, and initiatives are made as a result of monitoring, collecting, and evaluating the data. Ultimately, Anne Marie’s contributions to clinical nursing have helped to affirm the importance of maintaining efficient, effective, and good quality care for our patient population.