Marilou Bharwani
May 2024
Marilou
Bharwani
,
BSN, RN
PTU/PACU
UCLA Health
Santa Monica
,
CA
United States
Marilou always approaches situations like this with kindness, understanding, and matter-of-fact. She always tries to resolve their issues as best as possible. Most of our charge nurses have adopted this approach. Marilou encourages teamwork through modeling and is a transformational leader.
Through the evolution of Santa Monica UCLA's Perioperative department, Marilou has held different positions/roles. She strived the most in the role of the AN1 in the PTU/PACU. She created a workflow that is now being used throughout the When I started the role of an AN2 2.5 years ago, Marilou welcomed me with open arms. I started my orientation in pre-op, where I had limited knowledge. Despite my multiple questions, she showed me respect and patience. Something I will never forget. She even rallied the Pre-Op team, whom she has worked with the most, to extend their support to me. This act of support and kindness enabled me to grasp the intricacies of the pre-op workflow in no time. Before the right-sizing initiative in the PTU/PACU, we assign nurses the maximum number of patients. Unfortunately, this leaves them with no resources; with the help of our AN1, Marilou will round on each nurse to check if they need anything, from IVs, reaching out to surgeons and anesthesia. During the height of COVID-19, when the now TRU was an ICU overflow. Pre-op moved to GI/MPU; together, we would round on the nurses, checking in on them to address any concerns or needs. She supported me in ensuring the nurses were safe and cared for.
Despite being a nurse in the system for 28 years, Marilou continuously looks for opportunities to better herself. Being a senior nurse, she still asks for feedback and is open to mentorship and coaching. With the unit's leadership initiative for succession planning, Marilou took on the challenge of training new charge nurses. In the past 2.5 years I worked with her, she trained eight new charge nurses who are now either excellent with what they do or have taken on higher roles. Even after finishing their orientation, Marilou takes the time to mentor them and extend her expertise when they get into difficult situations.
Marilou has a calm and collected demeanor, which is needed in the high-pressure/stressful PTU/PACU/TRU environment. On any given day, we can have a patient, anesthesiologist, or surgeon who will approach her upset or frustrated. She always approaches situations like this with kindness, understanding, and matter-of-fact. She always tries to resolve their issues as best as possible. Most of our charge nurses have adopted this approach. Marilou encourages teamwork through modeling and is a transformational leader.
Marilou has supported our unit initiatives and provides feedback if anything needs to be tweaked or adjusted to ensure success. In the past year, we opened the TRU with our staff. Due to the limitations on the staff initially approved, she also acted as the Charge Nurse for the TRU. This was challenging for her, but she took on the role very well. She understood that having a Charge Nurse in the TRU benefits our patients because such a figure is necessary for timely discharge. Over the past years, Marilou has worked with leadership to ensure that the first cases for the OR went on time (in the OR at 0730). She understood that delays with the first cases would lead to delays in delivering care for the succeeding cases.
Despite being a nurse in the system for 28 years, Marilou continuously looks for opportunities to better herself. Being a senior nurse, she still asks for feedback and is open to mentorship and coaching. With the unit's leadership initiative for succession planning, Marilou took on the challenge of training new charge nurses. In the past 2.5 years I worked with her, she trained eight new charge nurses who are now either excellent with what they do or have taken on higher roles. Even after finishing their orientation, Marilou takes the time to mentor them and extend her expertise when they get into difficult situations.
Marilou has a calm and collected demeanor, which is needed in the high-pressure/stressful PTU/PACU/TRU environment. On any given day, we can have a patient, anesthesiologist, or surgeon who will approach her upset or frustrated. She always approaches situations like this with kindness, understanding, and matter-of-fact. She always tries to resolve their issues as best as possible. Most of our charge nurses have adopted this approach. Marilou encourages teamwork through modeling and is a transformational leader.
Marilou has supported our unit initiatives and provides feedback if anything needs to be tweaked or adjusted to ensure success. In the past year, we opened the TRU with our staff. Due to the limitations on the staff initially approved, she also acted as the Charge Nurse for the TRU. This was challenging for her, but she took on the role very well. She understood that having a Charge Nurse in the TRU benefits our patients because such a figure is necessary for timely discharge. Over the past years, Marilou has worked with leadership to ensure that the first cases for the OR went on time (in the OR at 0730). She understood that delays with the first cases would lead to delays in delivering care for the succeeding cases.