I am excited to nominate the 1 North Team, which experienced excessive turnover in the last year. This has led to the necessity of many nurse residents acting as preceptors to help onboard staff who are new to the organization. These new preceptors have put in a tremendous amount of effort to continually train new staff, to the point that I'm surprised to see these individuals without an orientee on a given shift. I have received excellent feedback from each of the contracted staff who have onboarded on 1 North related to the team's culture and support for them.

The 1 North team has also taken on many high-acuity patients, often with an extended length of stay (ELOS), who are often demented, delirious, or encephalopathic. At times, these diagnoses lead to clinical violence, falls, and burnout. The 1 North demographic has presented many challenging situations as not only does 1 North accept many ELOS patients but also end-of-life patients. Many times, when rounding on 1 North, I have noted the presence of dementia patients sitting at the nurse's station, coloring with a very patient HUC or the charge nurse (who also takes patient assignments at times in addition to charging).

I have personally witnessed a consistent pattern of resilience, compassion, positivity, and teamwork present in both core and contracted staff working on 1 North, regardless of the demographic (or staffing) challenges of the day. The dedication this team has shown to their patients, visitors, and teammates is exemplary of our organization's values and culture. The work that the team on 1 North has done serves as a testament to safety, compassion, and engagement at Kootenai Health. Every CNA, floor nurse, preceptor, and charge nurse has demonstrated the Kootenai Health Way in their commitment to creating one connected team in the face of many challenges.