Erika displays all of our ICARE principles in her daily work and is an exceptional Nursing Shared Governance Unit Chair. Erika identified that our Veterans looking to have orthopedic surgery would like to have pre-operative appointments scheduled on the same day as their education class in physical therapy. Erika advocated and coordinated with physical therapy to ensure that patients could receive their “Total Joint Boot Camp” class and pre-operative anesthesia clearance on the same day. This was a huge Veteran satisfier and helped identify solutions to scheduling pre-operative appointments for the orthopedic clinic. In addition, Erika organized the VA 2K Walk for Surgical Services division and collected cleaning items for the 309 Veterans who received housing this year! Erika also coordinated events for Nurses’ Week within the division and ensured all nurses had the opportunity to participate in planned activities that were both motivating and encouraging for staff engagement. Erika advocated for all staff to participate in monthly team-building activities for the remainder of the year to focus on improving communication, decreasing burnout, and increasing knowledge of self-care practices. Erika has had many professional achievements this year, including a poster board presentation at the Building Bridges Research conference. She continues to strive to increase nursing engagement and promote nursing excellence at ZVAMC.