Jill consistently goes above and beyond in all that she does on the 5th floor. She is always willing to take on a higher workload to help reduce the stress levels of her staff and often puts the needs of her staff before her own. 
   
There have been countless occasions when Jill has exceeded expectations on the unit by acting in multiple roles. Unfortunately, there have been times in the past year when the unit was short-staffed, with Jill in Charge and only 2 techs on the floor. When this happens, even though she has her own tasks to accomplish, Jill immediately jumps in and helps obtain vitals and finger sticks on the unit. This takes a massive amount of stress off the techs by helping reduce their workload, while also helping promote more timely patient care. In addition, this allows nurses to streamline their medication pass without causing them to slow down to provide primary care and obtain vitals as well. In other situations, Jill monitors the unit and will often spend time with patients who need extra attention due to confusion or high acuity. In taking this upon herself, she allows the primary nurse time to care for their other patients. By acting as a team player in this manner, Jill greatly reduces the stress on the unit, and helps promote a sense of cohesiveness between herself and her staff. 

Although Jill advocates strongly for her staff, Jill’s dedication to our Veterans spans across units. She often volunteers to go and assist on other units when she knows their staffing is low. Her clinical experience within and outside the VA allows her to act as a valuable resource on almost all units within our hospital. Though it is not required of her, she gladly takes on several different assignments and roles on the various units during her shifts at the VA, sometimes on a single night. In situations when she is unable to personally assist on other units, she collaborates with the House Officer to find ways for her staff to help others. 

In addition to this, Jill often approaches the staff and requests their feedback when policies are in the process of changing. While doing this, she communicates the necessity of the changes that are occurring and explains the goals that she hopes to accomplish by them. By including staff in the big picture, she not only creates the opportunity for new ideas to form but also allows staff to feel involved in the process. She is always receptive to all feedback, positive or negative, and always shows respect by actively listening and taking notes of her staff’s concerns. Jill is also always extremely supportive of new ideas presented by staff and takes the initiative to make sure their ideas are passed down to the appropriate channels for change to begin.  By maintaining a positive, open, and approachable attitude, Jill helps promote a sense of integrity amongst her staff. She has helped create an environment on the 5th floor where staff feels comfortable approaching her with any and all questions and concerns they may have.

Jill is always kind and upbeat while she is at the VA, doing all she can to improve morale and promote happiness among the staff. She often searches for ways to make the staff smile and goes out of her way to bring various snacks and treats for her coworkers. She also takes the time to make sure her staff knows just how much she appreciates them and all they do for our Veterans.  

Jill Boden, ANM displays excellence in all that she does. As previously stated, she always goes above and beyond in all ways to promote a better environment for her staff as well as the Veterans we care for. The Lexington VAMC is incredibly fortunate to have an individual such as Jill on their staff and she should be recognized for all that she does, as it certainly does not go unnoticed.  

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We the employees on 5-tele can say that we are impressed with how Jill has grown into a listening ear to her employees, a good role model who would do what she preaches. She also tries to ensure a positive work environment, create an environment that fosters care and compassion, attributes trust, and motivates staff to share their vision. She also encourages critical thinking and emphasizes the promotion of nursing within the facility. She does not care to pitch in and get the work done. To cut it short, she meets all the criteria and therefore she is well deserved to be recognized.