Jennifer is always adapting and being flexible to the ever-changing policies and equipment being introduced to the hospital. When policies change, such as more frequent vital signs with blood transfusions or implementing changing green caps daily with CHG wiping around the central lines, Jennifer always makes sure that everyone is aware of the changes. She would provide clear reasons why these changes are occurring, such as for patient safety or evidence-based practice to prevent CLABSIs. Even further, Jennifer would make sure that the nurses and staff would be comfortable with these changes and continue to be available to provide support or answer questions.  

Jennifer always has the best attitude while embracing these changes as she knows that changes are happening for the overall better outcome of the patients. Her positive energy influences the staff to carry on the same attitude towards change as well. When 4East had a groundbreaking number of days being CLABSI free, Jennifer would remind us how many days we've been CLABSI free while encouraging us to keep up with what we were doing. She is always open to hearing ideas and suggestions from the staff too, making changes easier for us all.  

She can modify teaching methods to meet a diverse range of needs by understanding that every individual learns differently. She is a critical resource for new grads, new hires, and nurses who've been at City of Hope for many years, so she can modify what works best for each nurse in order to educate them best on the subject. She frequently shows us policies, sends emails with visual flyers or written instructions and even links to interactive videos, such as the crash cart. She makes sure that everyone's learning needs are met in what works best for the individual. 

Jennifer's love for learning and commitment to lifelong learning and professional development is evident through her actions and contributions she has made throughout City of Hope. She regularly participates in conferences, provides guidance for the nurses on unit projects, provides resources to help study for certification exams, routinely educates nurses on new policies/procedures or new equipment, played a huge role in Skills Day, just to name a few contributions she provides to promote lifelong learning and professional development.   

Jennifer's enthusiasm for learning extends beyond her own professional development to the mentorship and support she provides to others. She is always willing to share her knowledge and expertise, offering guidance and encouragement to nurses at all stages of their careers. Whether she is helping a new graduate navigate their first year of as a nurse or assisting an experienced nurse in pursuing a new specialty, Jennifer's commitment to supporting the growth and development of others is unwavering.   

When 4East was first introduced to doing autologous transplants, Jennifer was there for us every step of the way. She would make herself available to assist and guide everyone through each step and ensure the nurses and patients felt comfortable throughout the transplant day. Her guidance and teaching established our nurses to feel confident in their abilities to do an autotransplant. This helped the nurses develop another set of important skills to further their professional careers in providing the best care for our patients.   

Jennifer is an important asset to our new grad and new hire nurses as well. She is committed to their development as nurses integrating into the hematology/oncology field. Always making sure they feel comfortable throughout the transition and learning period by being a reliable resource for them. She makes sure they get exposure to as many skill sets, policies, and learning experiences to ensure competency and comfortability.   

There is no doubt that Jennifer has a love for learning and strong commitment to lifelong learning and professional development. 

Jennifer always establishes open communication channels. She consistently seeks input and involvement from the nurses and staff, ensuring that their voices are heard, and their perspectives are valued. Jennifer goes above and beyond to create a platform for sharing ideas, concerns, and feedback, fostering a culture of collaboration and trust within her team. 

Jennifer also excels in encouraging teamwork and interprofessional collaboration. She recognizes the importance of working together to provide quality patient care and goes out of her way to promote a collaborative approach among the staff. Through her help, she has instilled a sense of teamwork and collaboration that has greatly benefited patient outcomes and the overall work environment. She is a strong asset and resource to every unit at City of Hope. Whenever there is something, we do not know, the first person we turn to is Jennifer.  

Furthermore, Jennifer's ability to recognize and celebrate success builds collaborative working relationships. She understands the importance of acknowledging the hard work and dedication of the staff and regularly takes the time to publicly recognize their achievements through her kind words and presence. Her efforts in this area have not only boosted team morale but have also motivated the staff to continue working together towards common goals. Whenever the unit is short staffed and/or have high acuity patients, Jennifer makes it a point to come check on the unit and see if we need help, whether that be with hanging medications, assisting charge nurses to break lunch, helping PCAs clean patients, or hanging chemo, she is always there to help, providing support for the staff. In turn, this facilitates strong teamwork and collaboration among the staff. 

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Jennifer provides the nurses on the 5th floor with a very supportive environment by always keeping her door open and allowing us to call her whenever we need her for advice or to have her look over a treatment plan, trial, medication, procedure, etc. I have never felt like she was too busy to answer or help whenever I reached out to her. She is extremely responsive and even though I know she has a million things to attend to, she has never once made me feel like a burden to her day and it feels like she will drop what she is doing to answer or find a solution to the problem I am encountering. She has developed many deep connections with staff members who have truly made it feel like a safe place to land when you are overwhelmed. There have been times when I felt alone as a charge nurse, and Jennifer came into the charge office in the morning to see what the day had in store for me and how she could help. She is always checking what is going on that day with patients to see how she can assist staff with transplants, trial medications, and procedures. No matter how long you have been there, if you ask her for assistance, she will be there without making you feel less than for not knowing how to do something. I have called her to look at wounds, help with a procedure, hang stem cell products, check treatment plans, and assist me with reaching out to the appropriate team members when urgently needed. Her presence has made a huge impact on the floor by providing a compassionate, safe, and supportive environment for the staff. 

Jennifer serves as a huge role model and mentor to many of the nurses on the floor because she provides a presence that shows great leadership skills and makes you feel constantly supported. A great example of how she leads by example is the clinical trial patients that we see on the floor who require close monitoring and extreme detail to ensure that we are following the proper procedures and protocols of each individual trial, and she is always closely following those trials and assisting the nurses in each step. Whether we understand the trial or not, she is there to support us and go through the treatment plan with us to make sure we have all our questions answered. She assists us in making sure we are contacting the right people, and she stays with you during the infusion. These trials are very specific and high-risk, but Jennifer makes you feel supported and shows us that it is okay to ask questions and make sure we have the right information. Another example of her nurturing leadership skills is when our floor started to do allogenic transplants, it was a very big adjustment and she was right there with us going step by step, walking with us to pick up the product in the Amini building, and doing the double check when administering the product. The trust, safety, and support that she provides the staff members with is unmatched. I always knew that if she was working that I could always count on her to have my back, everyone needs a Jennifer Peterson on their floor to feel the security we feel when she is around. 

Jennifer is one of the most knowledgeable people I have ever met, and we are lucky to not only have someone with that level of knowledge, but also someone who is always willing to sit down and teach us and answer any questions we may have. She is the type of person who if she does not know something or has never seen/done it before, she goes out of her way to research it and find the right people to help teach her so she can come back and teach us. A great example of this was when I floated to another unit where I was asked to switch out a suprapubic catheter for a patient, which I have never seen/done and did not know if it was within our scope of practice. I called Jennifer right away and she had never switched one out either, so she got right to making sure it was within our scope, called around to find the individual who could assist, went to the clinic to learn from the staff how to do it, and came to the floor I was on to teach me how to do it step by step and assisted me with doing it. Not being on your own floor when things like this come up is very nerve-wracking, but knowing I can call her anytime from wherever I am in the hospital to help answer a question and learn from her is something I do not take for granted. As I stated earlier, she is a very knowledgeable individual, but it is amazing to see someone who is as smart as her be so humble and willing to learn when she does not know something. Her love for learning and teaching those around her is a gift and I am so grateful to have Jennifer to learn from. 

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Not only is Jennifer Peterson an amazing educational resource, but also an extremely compassionate and empathetic mentor. She fosters a safe and supportive learning environment that promotes curiosity and is free of judgement. I got to know her well as a new graduate nurse and in the nearly three years since then, I have always felt the same level of support from her. As a new graduate nurse, you attend seminars that include a segment titled "Tales at the Bedside," in which a safe space is created to share stories from recent clinical experiences. Jennifer led this segment and encouraged us to share any types of stories we wanted, whether it was something funny, something heartbreaking, or even a mistake we made (which she would turn into invaluable learning experiences). Having her do this for us greatly increased my confidence as a new nurse and has taught me many things I still carry with me. In this time together, Jennifer also encouraged us to foster relationships with each other as fellow new graduates, creating an expansive support system. In the clinical setting, whenever a question arises about a new type of therapy, for example, she is always more than willing to provide support however she can, whether over the phone or at bedside. Jennifer fosters these deep connections not only with the nurses on the floor but also with patients. In the several times she has assisted me at the bedside, I have noticed her unique and special ability to form meaningful connections with patients and family members in even such a short amount of time. I am confident that everyone who has been mentored by Jennifer will say that she is the embodiment of intellectual curiosity, compassion, empathy, and excellence of care. 

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I gave the first intraperitoneal CAR-T cell transplant in early 2023. This was only possible because of the clear guidance given to me by Jennifer Peterson. Jennifer was by my side throughout the first transplant, ensuring that the process would go smoothly and that I would have a clear understanding of what was to occur. She allows me to go through the orders and then clarify what I do not understand. She encourages me to be independent in my learning while knowing she is there for backup for further communication. She also is someone who you can bounce ideas off without fear of asking dumb questions and she will allow you to reason out loud with her so you may find the right answer. She continually actively listens to me as nurses describe the difficulties they may be having with their patients or the rounding team, but she does not solve your problem for you, rather she gives you the tools and the time to work it out on your own while hiding in the shadows ready to be an extra hand whenever needed. During skills classes for the nursing staff, she was able to put complex tasks and situations into simple words to allow nurses of all experience levels to understand. As a new grad, Jennifer would do weekly check ins and breakdown what was going on with a patient and allow the nurses to work together with her  to reason why certain lab values may be what they are or present patient cases to the group that would be a good learning experience. She always has the nurses’ best interest in mind and helps to foster growth through encouragement rather than doing the work for anyone.

Jennifer has worked at City of Hope for many years, years which included working during Covid and with nurses who were nursing students during Covid. It speaks to the level of education Jennifer can provide as she was able to onboard new nurses who had, or rather did not have, clinicals during Covid. It was apparent to most nurses that those who had their education during that time had some clinical gaps that needed to be filled. Jennifer was there with our new grads and adapted to their needs which differed from those in previous years. She can teach a range of nurses with no experience and those coming to us with years of experience and welcomes everyone with open arms and gives them whatever tools they may need to best learn. I saw within my own cohort and the different learning styles between the three of us how she could adapt each lesson to fit the needs of each nurse in the group. Some learn best by reading and she will direct them to supplemental text, others by watching videos which she has at the ready as well. She is also there for hands-on experience and will be your cheerleader as she assists you from the sideline. Whatever you need Jennifer to be, she will be that for you. She will also push you to work hard and learn things, not so you will not need/want her there, but because you want to do well as a reflection on her. Jennifer is a chameleon nurse and will adapt to her surroundings and needs to do the best work. 

Jennifer is someone that I would describe as a forever student. Whenever I speak to her, she tells me about a new conference she is attending, or maybe even presenting at. She continually seeks out information about new treatments and research that is occurring, both to stay up to date for her own profession as well as just her own personal interest. She involves the nursing staff in working with new treatments and research without forcing anyone into it. She acts as a learning guide to those that also want to learn but may not know where to start. Jennifer holds multiple certifications already and I know she has others she wants to work towards in the future as well. Jennifer is someone with whom you can ask questions, present new ideas, and "geek" out without judgment as she is committed to learning and helping others learn. Though I know it is her job, Jennifer always heads new innovations coming to hematology at City of Hope and presents them excitedly to staff because she is interested in the new opportunities, not just because she must. Jennifer exudes happiness and joy when learning new things or accomplishing new tasks and it is inspiring to be around. Her love of learning makes others want to accomplish more and continue learning as well, or at least it did for me. Jennifer's career and academic journey has been a model for me as I am the first RN in my family and did not know the many options nursing held; she has been a guiding light for me in nursing education as I realize the impact this position can have and has inspired me to want to do the same in the future. 

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I have always joked with Jennifer that she knows every single person who works at City of Hope, and sometimes I wonder if it's true! In her role as clinical nurse educator, Jennifer works collaboratively with staff from all over the hospital, from stem cell technicians to upper administration. Even though she herself has a wealth of knowledge, I have observed Jennifer time and time again seamlessly utilize her resources and connections throughout City of Hope to find an answer to a question. In addition to working well in an interdisciplinary sense, Jennifer also has fostered amazing relationships with nurses on the floor. Seeing her on the unit, she is always the first person to ask you about your day; not only in a professional sense, but in a personal sense as well. She cares deeply about her colleagues and remembers even the tiniest details about you. Building these connections is key to establishing effective and collaborative working relationships. I am proud not only to call Jennifer my clinical nurse educator and mentor, but also my friend. An example that comes to mind demonstrates this is a common occurrence, when Jennifer asks how my day is going. If she ever finds that I am overwhelmed, the first words out of her mouth are, "How can I help?" She will drop whatever she is working on and immediately jump in to help, whether that means starting an IV or even just helping a patient in the restroom. I believe I speak for all the sixth-floor nurses when I say that working collaboratively with Jennifer is an absolute joy. 

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Jennifer has always been so empathetic to the staff at City of Hope as an entity but specifically to 4 east. We are constantly faced with staffing challenges and lack of expertise in 4 East due to a significant number of staff that is made up by new grads and those who are new to the City of Hope entirely. In this struggle Jennifer has been able to navigate it with such compassion. Jennifer is constantly sending us emails with tips and information to pass on to the staff, increasing their knowledge base. We recently had a staff meeting which brought up some questions about chemo administration regarding consents not being signed and without even asking she forwarded me the exact part of the policy so that I could pass it on to the staff. She is understanding even when nurses call her with some seemingly silly or insignificant questions and is always happy to answer them. She makes the staff feel safe and supported even when we are faced with research study drugs we have never seen and never given before. She is always willing to come down and walk us through each investigational drug or transplant to ensure we feel comfortable and confident while giving it, which not only benefits us but the patient as well. Jennifer has always provided our staff with great constructive criticism while helping each of us fine-tune our critical thinking skills. She pushes us to really break down any situation and truly understand it. Any question that arises and any problem we are faced with can be tackled due to the empathy and compassion that Jennifer has always shown and continues to show us. 

Jennifer possesses incredibly effective communication skills. She makes sure that information is relayed in a manner that every nurse can understand and relate to. She effectively utilizes every form of learning I can think of. She will not only send out an email to the staff when she needs to convey new practice or information, but she will also be around with the staff to ensure all questions have been addressed and answered. I really don't know how she makes all the hematology units feel so supported, not only is she present and available when we have questions, but she also makes sure to round on the units daily. She makes sure to engage when we have questions so that she gets the full picture of what is going on and is always making sure that she is providing us with the most up-to-date knowledge. She is constantly teaching us new or better practices and we appreciate that she will often provide us with reading documents to highlight what she has discussed with us. She is reachable and reliable via her Vocera and phone and if we can’t get a hold of her, she makes sure to follow up with us as soon as possible. We appreciate her diligence and eagerness to learn, which provides the nurses at City of Hope with an abundance of knowledge to lean on when needed. She is kind and approachable, which fosters an environment of open communication between her and the nurses at City of Hope. 

I remember starting out at City of Hope as a new grad and feeling so intimidated by her intelligence. What I didn't know as a new grad was that Jennifer is one of the most transparent and straight forward people I have ever met. She does a great job at laying out the entire new grad program and telling our new grads exactly what they can expect, similarly she does the same with our experienced new hires. She does not sugar coat things which only allows our new hires to trust her more. She will provide you with honest constructive criticism and provide you with the opportunity with ways you can better yourself. I have never seen Jennifer provide constructive criticism to someone without a plan of action to help the nurse move forward. Now, working with her as a manager, I can see just how critical her role is in the success of our new hires and, more specifically, our new grads. She is constantly providing me with feedback on nurses and how I can help support them to ensure their success here at City of Hope. She lays out all the challenges that she can foresee a nurse having straight from the start, and while we may not always share the same concerns, she is usually right, and her judgment is invaluable. I appreciate that she communicates the learning outcomes of each nurse with me so we can work collaboratively to support them. This allows our nurses to see on paper what their learning goals are and holds them accountable. 

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Jennifer is someone who I have seen exemplify the best possible way to create safe and supportive spaces. Every interaction I have had with Jennifer, which has been many as I keep her Vocera very busy, has been one of a true desire to help me not only find the answer to my questions but also make me feel supported and not an annoyance to her with my questions, even when rather simple. Throughout my time working with Jennifer, I have gained more and more trust as she continues to show that it is okay and encourages me to ask questions and seek out the best possible information. For example, I had a patient who had a Port that was accessed, and we were having difficulty with getting PIVs; not only did Jennifer help establish a PIV for the time being, but they also helped get to the bottom as to why the Port had been accessed and if it could be accessed. This included a deep chart review of the patient's history and a discussion with the nurses and team to come to a determination on this case. In addition, Jennifer is mostly our first call when we run into an issue of a policy question to be able to have full clarity into a situation as we try to provide the best possible care to the patient. I emailed Jennifer on the weekend with a question, and she still got back to me within the hour to give me clarity on my question. All these examples and so much more demonstrate deeply how Jennifer can create and foster relationships with the nurses on the units she helps to take care of. 

Jennifer has assisted me, and our unit 4 East, in so many ways and projects. She has demonstrated effective communication through her willingness to be on the floor and to make herself available in a variety of different settings, including staff meetings and UBC meetings, which allows our night shift to be able to discuss issues that they have had. For example, I recently had an issue with a specific lab that was not working correctly in EPIC and was not allowing us to be able to accurately track a specific value for our patients. I brought this to the attention of Jennifer, and immediately she came down and was able to listen to my issues and first attempt to troubleshoot it for me and then when that was not possible to fix, she helped to set up an inquiry with our EPIC IT team to get the solution to the issue ASAP. This required multiple follow-ups with not only me but with the IT team. This is the exact type of assistance that directly helps front line nurses with not only tackling an issue but being able to run the red tape behind the scenes to help take that off our plate as our days are variable and unknown. There is no one I would rather go to for a question than Jennifer as she makes me feel heard followed by being able to trust completely the information, she gives me is correct or she will find the answer as soon as possible and relay it back to me without fail. 

Throughout my 3 years at COH, I have seen great change when it comes to how the floors operate and the type of nurses that are on each floor. After COVID, the turnover rate for inpatient nurses, specifically on 4 East, was high and we were required to hire many New Grads to help supplement our needs. The training of so many new nurses was difficult throughout a staffing crisis, but I was able to know that these nurses were being equipped with the best and most up to date information by Jennifer as she helped lead them through their first few months as a nurse. The teaching style needed to be adapted as many of these nurses’ clinical rotations were affected by the pandemic and many had little to no clinical experience as a result. Jennifer was able to help mold and change the onboarding process to give these nurses even more hands-on opportunities and meet them where they were by allowing them to start off with our PCAs and UAs to give them a good base to start on. I know that each of these nurses would also speak to the instrumental role that Jennifer has played and will continue to play in their careers as they continue here at COH. In addition, over the last three years I have seen Jennifer's additional resources become less and less as she is asked to do more and more. When I first started, she had an additional Clinical Educator to help assist with the Heme education and training but after she left this position was never replaced. For myself, this would have been an extreme challenge and a frustrating endeavor, but even with ample opportunity, I have never heard Jennifer complain as she simply adapts to her new number of resources and continues giving the highest quality of education and support to the staffs that she works with. Her dedication to the organization, even in times like these shows her true character and how much she cares about the nurses on the floor and how she feels personally responsible for their care and upbringing in their career. 

As a preceptor for both floor nurses and charge nurses, I have worked closely with Jennifer to be able to come up with reasonable goals for the nurses to be at in each stage of their training. For example, at the end of each week with any new grad that I train we fill out a form describing what are wins for the weeks, areas of improvement, and where we want to be by the end of the following week. This gives the new grads specific goals that are attainable to be able to make sure the nurses know the direction that we are heading in and what they can continue to improve on to be as ready as they can be for their launch. With many cases as well additional time is required as the nurses are still adjusting to the immense world of hematology. This is never confronted with annoyance or frustration by Jennifer, but with grace and empathy in her ability to be able to meet the new nurses who are struggling where they are at. There is never a nurse who is too far behind or not finding the rhythm quick enough that she will not spend ample time assisting until they feel ready and confident. I have been able to witness firsthand as Jennifer makes a nurse who made a mistake and feels upset understand the opportunity for learning and makes sure that they feel comfortable and confident the next time they run into a similar situation. This allows the nurse to be comforted but also understand the situation better to allow them to provide better care to their patients going forward. In addition, I ask MANY questions of Jennifer daily, and I am never met with the presumption that I should know the answer but always with grace even when the answer should be obvious to me. This allows me to feel more comfortable asking questions, and I am sure it has led to fewer mistakes since she has made me feel so confident in being able to ask questions to be sure before I begin to act. 

I have seen Jennifer create so many different positive working relationships throughout her time here at COH. There are very few people I run into that do not have a relationship with Jennifer in which they feel comfortable going to her for advice or information. I know that for the staff of 4 East, she has our never-ending respect and appreciation as she helped us navigate trying times when we did not have a unit-specific manager for over a year. During this time, we trained at least 15 new grads including 6 at one time and we would not have been able to succeed or turn out great and reliable nurses without her assistance daily. In addition, I have been able to collaborate with her on several different issues that have come up throughout my time. Often, these require working with several different departments to find the root cause of the issues. No matter how small the issue is I know that we will be able to get to the bottom of it. Furthermore, I do not believe there are very many other people I would write an answer for every single one of these questions for than Jennifer. I have often found myself asking what we could do for Jennifer and see if there is something that we can nominate her for. And now, with the addition of this award, I have written and am still lacking words for the gratitude that the 4 East staff and I have for her. This award is not a worthy enough accolade for her service to the organization, to her staff, and most importantly to her patients. There is no one I believe more worthy or deserving of this award. This, my desire to write and nominate Jennifer, shows the relationships and collaboration that she has instilled in every interaction that I have had with her and witnessed her have with others.

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