I would like to nominate our department's Clinical Nurse Leader, Amy Ciraulo for The DAISY Nurse Leader Award. When reading through the criteria, I believe that she meets and exceeds each of the components designated through her dedication to all of the required components of her job. However, today I would like to specifically address the impact she has on creating and fostering a safe and beneficial learning environment for the staff on our unit; most notably, our recent batch of new to the specialty nurses.

Amy spends a significant amount of time and energy dedicated to planning and executing the quarterly simulation trainings on our unit. This entails surveying the staff, physicians, upper management, and more to assess the most vital learning needs of the unit. She then takes that feedback and transforms it into an interactive, engaging, and non-intimidating day of learning for the staff on our unit. Several nurses express for weeks to come following the simulation how much they learned, the impact it has on their practice, and the value of a safe learning environment. Our staff has simulated many emergencies that we see on a regular basis, such as shoulder dystocia, postpartum hemorrhage, maternal code blue, sepsis, eclampsia, and more. This not only has a huge impact on the competency and confidence of our staff but also on the outcomes of our patient population. Because of the learning environment created by Amy, our care team is able to recognize evolving clinical situations earlier and feel more confident intervening and treating our patients, which leads to improved maternal outcomes from our hospital. Our hospital was recently recognized as a "High-Performing hospital for maternity care" by U.S. News & World Report. I believe the outcomes measured to determine our eligibility for this award can be directly tied to the training that we prioritize, which is planned and executed by Amy.

Recently, our department hired 5 nurses who were new to the labor and delivery specialty. Two of these are new graduate nurses, and the other 3 have very little experience in the nursing field. In a department of our size, 5 "brand new to the specialty" nurses is a significant and concerning portion of our skill mix. Amy advocated that we develop a course called OB 101 which is a mix of didactic and hands-on training to better prepare these nurses to practice confidently and competently at the completion of their orientation. Our final class is tomorrow, and you can already see the improved confidence in each of these young nurses. The course has also created a sense of camaraderie amongst the cohort and a sense of loyalty to one another and to our organization. I have had the honor of assisting Amy with teaching this course the last few weeks, and it is honestly inspiring to see her instruct and build up our younger staff. Each week, she encourages them to ask questions, participate in activities, share their own stories, design interactive learning experiences that encourage critical thinking, and really create an environment that is fun and safe for learning. It is clear that Amy's design and execution of this course have made an impact on these young nurses that will improve the trajectory of their careers lifelong. 

Amy genuinely cares about the staff, physicians, and patients on our unit. She is consistently the person that interprofessional members of the team call on as the expert, assisting hand, and mentor in our field. She is the first to volunteer to come in and help when there is an emergency or staffing need, and whom everyone is relieved to know is present when there is an emergency going on.

Lastly, I would like to recognize the huge impact Amy has had on me as a leader, mentor, and friend. Amy trained me when I began working here as a novice nurse 9 years ago. She pushed me outside of my comfort zone, held me accountable to a high standard of nursing care, and inspired me to practice at my best every day when I come to work. She has continued to mentor me in this way throughout my entire time working here. Over time, this mentorship has evolved from teaching me about hands-on patient care to teaching me how to effectively educate our staff and fostering my professional growth through involving me in developing and executing our staff trainings. Amy has encouraged me to pursue furthering my education and to continue to grow professionally. She also has taken care of me as a patient when I had my babies here. When I had my second son, I called Amy at 330 in the morning because I was nervous to come in to deliver at a time that I knew our unit was short-staffed. She hopped right out of bed and met me at the hospital, took stellar care of me, and helped me deliver a giant baby (which, if you are in our world is an intimidating feat due to the risks associated with macrosomic babies). All the while she encouraged me that I could do it, and I felt confident because I knew I could trust her to take the best care possible of me and my family.

I could honestly write a million more examples of ways that Amy has led and impacted our unit in significant ways, but I will leave it at this. When you read the criteria of what makes a leader "DAISY worthy," it is a description of Amy.