I have worked with Mercedes since she joined our MedSurg/Telemetry team back in August 2017, a year after the hospital opened. I have watched her grow from a staff/Charge nurse to one of our dayshift Clinical Coordinators and to her current role as our Clinical Manager. I am so proud of her and honored to work alongside her. Mercedes has adapted to her role very well. She helps with any patient relation issues and collaborates with the interdisciplinary team to ensure that we have the resources we need to be successful. She has come up with great icebreakers during our staff and charge nurse meetings to get the team involved and always adds kudos to the staff who have been recognized in charge nurse reports for the awesome work they do. She is also involved in our MedSurg Unit Practice Council for Magnet, where, in addition to discussing clinical topics, we plan our unit bonding activities, which Mercedes does her best to attend. She does not hesitate to have one-on-one conversations with us because she knows the importance of being seen and heard. About a year ago, Mercedes helped me go through some personal challenges I was facing as a Clinical Coordinator. It actually got to a point where I was thinking of leaving the team, but Mercedes was there. She listened to my concerns as I ugly cried in her office, and she appropriately escalated the situation to our other leaders. It truly helped me overcome the challenges I was facing. I will be forever grateful for the words of wisdom and encouragement that were spoken to me. That's the difference a true leader makes. Mercedes is definitely one of the reasons why our MedSurg team is awesome and why our teamwork is amazing. She is well-deserving of the DAISY Nurse Leader Award!