Kayla has demonstrated much resiliency over the last several years in this role. During the "dark days", as we call them when COVID had made traveling so lucrative and our census exploded to over 200% of our licensed beds she was called on to manage her role and be in staffing 100% of the time. She also worked many nights and weekends to help get the unit through these days. She assisted with creative staffing and scheduling to ensure our patients were cared for.

One of her responsibilities is to coordinate onboarding in our unit. This is no small task when we currently have twenty-two new employees in orientation including twelve residents. She is invested in these new hires and strives to make personal connections with them through frequent check-ins even during her time off. She also attends interviews on her days off so that she can begin this connection even before they are a team member. She has developed a Microsoft Teams page as well as a Team Lead notebook so that unit leaders will know where these new hires are in their orientation process and what they need assignment-wise.

Equally important to welcoming new hires is ensuring the preceptors feel supported. In addition to her daily check-in with those precepting she has monthly preceptor/team lead meetings to discuss challenges and any changes that need to be made. She has preceptor meetings at her house and has revamped the unit-based checklist to ensure we are exposing new employees to all types of babies.

There is nothing Kayla can't do from being on the transport team and inserting PCLs, to caring for the sickest baby in the unit, she is an expert. The parents love her. She has a way of making them feel welcome and supported. Although she doesn't take primary patients now, she still attends birthday parties and has play dates with some of our patients she has connected with long after they are discharged serving as a support for these families. She is comfortable and excellent at diffusing tense situations and service recovery. She is always looking for a way for the parents and the team to feel supported.

From planning Easter Egg hunts at her house for our team with children to assisting with other unit outings as well as in-unit team building, Kayla is a relationship builder. She understands the importance inclusion plays in retention and she goes out of her way to champion this.

She is a fierce advocate for patient safety as well as staff wellbeing. She asks difficult questions and is always willing to be a part of the solution. When she sees something that needs to be done, she is always up for the challenge. She is highly respected in our unit by her peers as well as the medical staff. They know if they need something, she can and will get it done. There is no one more deserving or representative of a DAISY Leader than Kayla!