I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Dahlia Dahlia, BSN, RN-BC as a colleague and mentor throughout my time at UCLA Santa Monica. Throughout the years, I have admired her passion and dedication for this profession, devotion to her colleagues, and desire to make a positive difference. She has been a nurse for six years and she has numerous accomplishments that make her worthy of the DAISY Nurse Leader Award. 

During her time as a bedside nurse, she was a member of all Professional Governance (PG) Councils and held various leadership positions within these councils. Throughout her time in Professional Governance, she identified several opportunities to streamline workflows, standardize processes, and improve outcome measures. She uses that experience in her role as the Nursing Practice Outcomes and Magnet Program Coordinator. She advocated for the restructuring of PG and collaborated with executive leadership to plan the UCLA Health Strategic Planning Retreat. She prepared, coordinated, and executed the event and it was a great success. The event gave the Professional Governance council chairs, mentors, and nursing leadership the opportunity to transform and restructure PG. As a PG council chair, I felt motivated and empowered to lead my council. This event would not have been possible without Dahlia’s hard work and dedication. 

Dahlia also planned and executed the UCLA Santa Monica Strategic Plan, which gave SMH leaders the opportunity to discuss the organization’s priorities and goals. PG council chairs were included to elevate the voice of clinical nurses. One of the qualities I admire most about Dahlia is that she always puts the voices and perspectives of clinical nurses at the center. She makes us feel heard and includes us in opportunities that shape our work. She collaborated with our CNO to host Dinner with David and provide a unique opportunity for clinical nurses to have one on one time with our CNO to share feedback, ideas, and questions. 

She is a strong mentor for so many nurses across the health system and continues to be a nurse resident mentor. Dahlia always goes the extra mile for the nurse residents she mentors. For example, she makes blue gift boxes for her nurse residents to make them feel welcomed. These boxes include items she would have wanted to have during her shift when she first started. When she talks about her nurse residents, she always knows what projects they’re working on and all the great things they are doing. She celebrates everyone’s accomplishments, big or small. She is the first person to help and offer resources because she cares about others reaching their goals. 

In addition to mentoring nurse residents, she has guided numerous individuals in their CNIII promotions at SMH. She mentored me and my colleagues in earning our CNIII. She devotes so much of her personal time to explaining the process and breaking everything down to make it easier to understand. She edits applications, often on short notice, and even during holidays to ensure the success of the CNIII applicants. She cares about supporting nurses throughout their professional development journey. For example, she helps nurses who want to go back to school or apply to a new specialty by reviewing and editing their resume, connecting them with someone in that department, preparing them for the interview, and writing a letter of recommendation. 

She not only motivates those around her to pursue their goals, but also helps them get there. She believes in helping nurses find the best fit to help their work life balance. She encourages nurses to seek opportunities, go back to school, earn certifications, and volunteer in organizations. She herself serves on the board of Sigma Theta Tau and is a member of ACNL.

Outside of SMH, she serves as a mentor through the American Nurses Association, American Organization for Nursing Leadership, and at her alma mater, Mount Saint Mary. When I ask her why she spends so much time mentoring, her answer is simple. She believes in giving back to her community and nurturing future generations of nurses. 

She is an advocate at the local, state, and national level. She is currently a fellow for ANA California’s Advocacy Fellowship. This fellowship is offered to only 6 nurses in the state. It is an amazing achievement to have one of our own nurses representing us at the state level. The campaign she is leading is to make it easier for clinical nurses to advocate by equipping them with tools to become involved in influencing change. Her plan is to create a toolkit and resources to make advocacy easier for all nurses throughout California. She is working on creating partnerships throughout the state with hospitals to bring advocacy training to nurses. She is currently leading sessions in the UID council to teach members about advocacy and get them involved in local health policy. Dahlia visits colleges to speak to nursing students about the importance of advocating once they enter the profession. She also travels to our capital to advocate for issues pertaining to nursing. She often funds these trips on her own and spends time writing letters to congress about important issues that impact bedside nurses like workplace violence and staffing. She has met with the Office of the Surgeon General, spoken to local leaders, and met with members of congress to get the voices of nurses out there. 

If someone has an idea, she is always willing to lend a hand. She spends time teaching about resources for projects and ways to become a better leader. She collaborates with our nurses on EBP and QI projects. This year alone, her projects have been accepted to three international conferences, one in Korea, ALSN, and will present at next year’s AONL conference. She is a role model for disseminating nurse-led projects. She guides bedside nurses in submitting abstracts, finds opportunities for them to share their work, and edits abstracts. She is working with the Magnet team on a research project and still finds ways to assist other nurses in making their projects successful. She cares deeply about highlighting and celebrating nursing excellence. 

Dahlia is the first to help and volunteer for events. She helped throughout the UPC summit, SMH certification tabling events, SMH fairs, and unit events. She is happy to lend supplies, help set up, make flyers, or round to share information. She puts in extra effort to visit night shift with coffee cart rounds. She supports the Magnet champions and the PG council chairs and has a workstation for them in her office. She makes numerous newsletters and flyers to help promote nursing and PG events and does all she can to make clinical nurses’ ideas and plans successful. Throughout nurses’ week, she helped with all the SMH events, from Relax and Reset to breakfast to STAR rounds. 

Dahlia is a devoted, hardworking, selfless, and compassionate leader. My colleagues and I know we can trust her, and she truly listens. She does so much for SMH, UCLA, and the other organizations she serves. She does all of this and cares for her family, community, and colleagues. UCLA Santa Monica is lucky to have her as our Magnet Program Coordinator. She continues to elevate the role and create meaningful changes to support nursing excellence. She motivates us to achieve better outcomes, improves our practice environment, and leaves an impact on everyone she meets along the way.

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