Lori is an exceptional nurse who advances nursing practice through compassion and an unwavering commitment to the safe and ethical care of our patients, staff, and community. She has been a registered professional nurse for 40 years and has served in varied nursing leadership positions within our organization, including as Nursing Director of Critical Care for 10 years, and, for the past 5 years, as our organization’s Administrative Director of Family Medicine. Our nominee is passionate about ethics and holds a certificate in Bioethics and Medical Humanities from the Montefiore-Einstein Center for Bioethics.

She has been the co-chair for our organization’s ethics committee for over 15 years. She stays current in the many changes in health care, always striving for excellence by supporting quality, evidence-based practice. Our nurse guides the team in honest, ethical practice and collaborates with varied members of the health care team through many sensitive topics. She maintains a strong linkage with our Nursing Practice Council and encourages clinical nurses to bring their ethical or morally distressing concerns forward for discussion. She encourages nurses to join our organization’s ethics committee. The staff responded positively, with 15 registered nurses now actively participating as members of our ethics committee. Lori maintains accountability for the professional decisions she contributes to and fosters an environment of just culture within our organization.

Lori prioritizes ethical awareness and ethical decision-making to address inequities and uphold ethical norms and values. She considers the code of ethics not only in relation to patients and staff but also in the community and underserved populations. In her role as Administrative Director for our Family Medicine Clinic, she leads a setting that provides much-needed care for varied vulnerable patient populations. She is an advocate for addressing patient needs and providing access to charity care. She leads care plan team meetings to eliminate conflicts between a patient’s ability to pay and access to much-needed healthcare, medications, and transportation services. Our nurse protects human welfare and strives to reduce health disparities in the communities we serve. 

Lori is a leader in advancing ethical nursing practice through continuous education and professional growth. She serves as a content expert, reviewing the ANA Code of ethics, discussing bioethics, and reviewing case situations in our nurse residency program. She also ensures the inclusion of ongoing education in our quarterly ethics committee meetings, including legal aspects of care. 

Lori contributes to a healthy and ethical practice environment through positive interactions, compassionate action, and leadership. She has been a true mentor and role model to both nurse leaders and clinical nurses in her ability to always demonstrate consistent caring and compassion, while preserving human dignity. She embodies the principles of our professional practice model, Relationship-Centered Care. She is able to focus on relationships through careful listening to achieve understanding and empathizing with all people. She enables those she leads to always feel valued, respected, and cared for so they may reach their highest potential and do their best work.

We have witnessed our nurse’s leadership during the most difficult of times.  During Hurricane Sandy, her compassion toward her staff and patients who were displaced was evidenced by the personal donations she made to ensure others were clothed and safe. During the pandemic, our nominee led with grace and compassion.  Changing staff assignments and workplaces was a difficult road to travel.  However, her compassion was always evident.  Supporting staff who were uncomfortable stepping out of their normal roles, she helped smooth the way for team-like performance, which carried our organization forward.  Never too busy to listen to and validate staff concerns, she has a unique way of presenting alternatives that satisfy everyone’s need for support.  She was frequently seen actively participating in the Proning Team, relieving staff for breaks, and assisting staff who were plunged into a new practice environment.

Lori recognizes that nurses sometimes experience situations in the acute care practice setting that challenge their personal and professional ethics. She promotes a safe and non-judgmental environment in which nurses can express these concerns within an interdisciplinary team. In one example, a nurse in our inpatient dialysis unit was caring for a patient who was a Jehovah witness. The patient had a low hemoglobin and hematocrit and the nurse felt the patient would be endangered by conducting the ordered hemodialysis. The nurse reached out to Lori with her concerns. Lori consulted with a Nephrologist and the nursing supervisor, who talked through the patient’s treatment and care plan with the clinical nurse. The patient’s physician modified the treatment, addressing the identified concern.

Lori applies evidence to ethical issues to inform decisions and guide priorities. She is especially sensitive to the impact that organ donation cases have on both families and the nurses caring for these patients. Families are often not ready to receive the information and may feel pressured by the organ donor networks. Our nurse has set up many debriefs with hospital leadership and our donor network to discuss feedback that creates plans to improve family and staff comfort with these difficult decisions. She is also seen as a source of support for nurses who face a moral dilemma when families are struggling with letting go, and nurses perceive the patient is struggling and suffering.

Lori consistently demonstrates professional and ethical standards as defined in the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses, recognizing ethics as a cornerstone of the nursing profession. She assists nurses in interpreting the nursing code of ethics to consider patient needs from several vantage points, reminding us to treat all persons equitably and individually. She supports the role nurses play as they advocate for patient’s rights and well-being. She provides interdisciplinary leadership in key situations relating to patients’ healthcare decisions and nursing’s pivotal role in supporting and respecting our patient’s decisions.