Kerrie became a manager over at St. Joseph's in Kirkwood. Kerrie really cared for her team and as she has said many times, "I work for all of you, you don't work for me." As our leader, she leads us in just that way. If you needed off work, she would exhaust all avenues to help with that. That is why, no matter what she asked of us we went above and beyond. When we moved to St. Clare she helped us get through the transition of moving to a new hospital. Kerrie spent countless hours working to get our unit at Clare to be perfect for when we arrived. Our unit received many awards under her leadership. 

Kerrie was very supportive of all of our careers. She is and will forever be my mentor. She has taught me so much about how to deal with staff, employees, and family. She has helped me reach my goals as first a CSN on the cardiac unit which I did for 11 years. She seen a leader in me that I did not see. Even when Kerrie left St. Clare for a short time I could still reach out if I needed something. When she came back to St. Clare she was not directly my boss, but I would still stop in for her advice on how to handle situations. I then was encouraged by her and a few others to apply for the house sup job. Where I continue to learn and grow from her. 

Kerrie has set up flu clinic and even works with them to help the community and her fellow peers. I know she has done a lot for SSM as a whole. 

When Kerrie puts something together she always follows through. She takes constructive criticism and changes things to make the project better.  

Kerrie is the best leader I have ever had or ever will. If you ask anyone that has had the privilege of working for Kerrie they would say the same thing. She is an advocate for her staff when needs to be, but will also tell you when something is wrong. She will then mentor/coach you on how to do it better.  When she came back from Cardinal Glennon, she had staff from over there follow her back here. One of the biggest things is she kept her staff informed of changes, new things coming, etc.  There are a lot of managers that do not do that. She never talked down to people or micromanage. She wanted all of us to grow to be leaders in our own way. 

Kerrie started her career in nursing as a clinical partner while she finished her associate's degree. I was a brand new nurse at that time. Once Kerrie graduated she transitioned to an RN on the cardiac/step-down unit with me. We were 2 peas in a pod. Believe it or not, people used to mistake us for the same person.  Kerrie quickly rose as a leader on the floor. Everyone admired her and her hard work.  First she became, I think they called it "CTC" for the day shift, running the unit. Then, the position changed to a team lead.  Kerrie's kindness over the years has had many, many loyal employees. When we moved over from Kirkwood to Clare we had the most employees from Kirkwood for many years on our unit because of her.  If Kerrie had a complaint from a patient or family member, she would talk to the staff member about it to get their side of what happened, then call and talk with the patient or family. She could make the meanest patient or family member fall in love with her.  She would always say "They were just lovely."  We didn't always agree on that....lol. I wish she was not retiring because I'm selfish and wish she could stay, but I am so happy for her to start her new adventures. It is definitely SSM's loss to lose her. Thank you Kerrie for everything you have done for your teams, patients, families, SSM, and especially me. 

Note: This is Kerrie's 2nd DAISY Award!