Briana is an amazing nurse. In her two years of working as a nurse, she has impacted so many lives. She is an unofficial leader on our unit and is truly extraordinary. Briana is always the first to insert herself into any situation that needs "saving." She helps fellow team members, patients, and their family members with anything and everything they might need. Briana performs service recovery seamlessly and truly cares about every single staff member and patient on our unit. If a patient needs any sort of assistance, Briana is the first to volunteer herself.

This past week, there was a patient on the unit who seemed to be having concerns about his stay here. The patient felt he wasn't being checked in on frequently enough, despite everyone's effort to listen to voiced concerns and sit at the bedside with the patient. Briana was not this patient's primary nurse, but when she heard about the issues, she went to the patient's bedside, without hesitation. Briana walked into this patient's room and sat right next to him. She tried to comfort him in a time of distress. Even though this was not her assigned patient, and she had a full section herself, her dedication to improving the patient experience is always persistent, and her passion for helping others always prevails. As she grabbed the patient's hand in comfort, this patient opened up about past difficulties in his life. You could clearly see that the patient felt seen and heard. Briana was in the patient's room for quite some time, and a connection was formed to where the patient was in a noticeably better state of mind and felt a world of a difference in comfort with his care team. Briana helped the patient wash up and continued to build their relationship.

I've watched Briana go above and beyond with connecting with her patients on a deeper level by being a role model for heart-head-heart communication and always leading conversations with her heart. She is a true leader when it comes to empathy and compassion. Briana's passionate commitment to providing over-the-top healthcare here at Mount Sinai South Nassau is always distinguishable. She is a role model for novice and senior nurses. Briana continues to exemplify the STAAR standards of Service, Respect, Attitude, Accountability, and Teamwork every day in every interaction. Briana also engages her fellow team members and inspires them to demonstrate the same behaviors that she does in every interaction she has. We are so lucky to have Briana on our team.