May 2025
Christy
Cain
,
BSN, RN, CCRN
CICU
Seattle Children's Hospital
Seattle
,
WA
United States
Her quiet strength is felt every time she manages a code event, supports a peer through a challenging assignment, or celebrates someone's success. She meets us where we are and pushes us to grow.
Christy and I work together in the CICU. She is one of our Charge Nurses, an ECMO Specialist, and a member of our Wellness Team. Additionally, she leads our Healthy Work Environment at the CICU unit level and house-wide.
It is no exaggeration that our unit and Seattle Children's are a better place because of Christy. Christy is the nurse you want to care for your child because of her skill and experience, and she is who you want to work alongside as a peer on the best days and the very worst ones.
Christy leads our Healthy Work Environment (HWE) initiatives. She lets others work on their passion projects with earnest support. She follows up and always champions success in others. She shows up to support the work of her peers, making them feel seen and important, and does so even outside of work hours. Our CICU HWE group has grown and is a place where not only nurses come to make the unit a better place, but CNAs and providers have also joined. Christy is responsible for supporting and leading work that includes everything from Heart Week, celebrating staff work anniversaries, planning Nurses Week events, planning fun holiday events, to talking about why staff leave our unit, ensuring our mentor program is running well, and that our HEAL and Ethics liaisons have a voice at every meeting.
Christy has a heart for end-of-life and bereavement support work. It's not glamorous, and it is hard, difficult work, and some of our most important work in an environment like the CICU. She makes sure that her nurses have the resources and support they need to be with families during some of their most difficult days. She has supported our unit in starting a post-death huddle to honor the work of the team, the experience of a patient death, and to encourage caring for oneself after such an experience. She is working at every level to make the experience of losing a child at our hospital just a little lighter for both staff and families.
The CICU Wellness team has become an integral part of our unit. As a member, Christy comes in to round with our staff regularly. She doesn't just check in with nursing but also with our CNAs, RTs, and providers. Our Wellness Team has worked tirelessly to ensure that our team knows they have someone to turn to. Our turnover has been reduced dramatically - it was zero in the first 6 months of the program. There is a renewed sense of teamwork, camaraderie, and genuine care for peers in our unit.
Christy leads by example to make our unit a better place. In patient care, she pays astute attention to detail. She's the first to get you out of bed, braid your hair, play, hold a baby, and hold a parent. If your patient is decompensating, she is right there with you. She champions having nurses attend care conferences, knowing that their voice and perspective matter. Her quiet strength is felt every time she manages a code event, supports a peer through a challenging assignment, or celebrates someone's success. She meets us where we are and pushes us to grow.
We are all better because of Christy.
***
Christy is truly passionate about the work she does, and I deeply admire her dedication to the CICU. She is a clinical expert on our unit and constantly teaches/shares her knowledge. She demonstrates her leadership qualities as a charge nurse, always building up the team and bringing out the best in everyone. I’ll never forget a social event when she had the courage to speak positively about a coworker whom others were not giving the benefit of the doubt. I admire her communication skills and look to her as a role model when having difficult conversations.
Christy chairs committees and always follows through on the work. She has worked on the staffing acuity project for years and is just now seeing it come to fruition. Christy chairs the HWE committee, organizes nurse compliments for nursing week annually, plans our Christmas party, and stays up to date on the latest clinical research. She collaborates on projects at the unit and house-wide level with staff nurses and executive leadership.
Christy cares just as deeply for her co-workers as she does her patients, and her dedication to the “No One Cares Alone” project has had a profoundly positive impact on the unit. The innovative changes she has made possible in CICU are far-reaching and cannot be overstated. I admire her for all she does and who she is. She holds me accountable and inspires me. Christy Cain is a sturdy leader who set the bar for nursing excellence.
It is no exaggeration that our unit and Seattle Children's are a better place because of Christy. Christy is the nurse you want to care for your child because of her skill and experience, and she is who you want to work alongside as a peer on the best days and the very worst ones.
Christy leads our Healthy Work Environment (HWE) initiatives. She lets others work on their passion projects with earnest support. She follows up and always champions success in others. She shows up to support the work of her peers, making them feel seen and important, and does so even outside of work hours. Our CICU HWE group has grown and is a place where not only nurses come to make the unit a better place, but CNAs and providers have also joined. Christy is responsible for supporting and leading work that includes everything from Heart Week, celebrating staff work anniversaries, planning Nurses Week events, planning fun holiday events, to talking about why staff leave our unit, ensuring our mentor program is running well, and that our HEAL and Ethics liaisons have a voice at every meeting.
Christy has a heart for end-of-life and bereavement support work. It's not glamorous, and it is hard, difficult work, and some of our most important work in an environment like the CICU. She makes sure that her nurses have the resources and support they need to be with families during some of their most difficult days. She has supported our unit in starting a post-death huddle to honor the work of the team, the experience of a patient death, and to encourage caring for oneself after such an experience. She is working at every level to make the experience of losing a child at our hospital just a little lighter for both staff and families.
The CICU Wellness team has become an integral part of our unit. As a member, Christy comes in to round with our staff regularly. She doesn't just check in with nursing but also with our CNAs, RTs, and providers. Our Wellness Team has worked tirelessly to ensure that our team knows they have someone to turn to. Our turnover has been reduced dramatically - it was zero in the first 6 months of the program. There is a renewed sense of teamwork, camaraderie, and genuine care for peers in our unit.
Christy leads by example to make our unit a better place. In patient care, she pays astute attention to detail. She's the first to get you out of bed, braid your hair, play, hold a baby, and hold a parent. If your patient is decompensating, she is right there with you. She champions having nurses attend care conferences, knowing that their voice and perspective matter. Her quiet strength is felt every time she manages a code event, supports a peer through a challenging assignment, or celebrates someone's success. She meets us where we are and pushes us to grow.
We are all better because of Christy.
***
Christy is truly passionate about the work she does, and I deeply admire her dedication to the CICU. She is a clinical expert on our unit and constantly teaches/shares her knowledge. She demonstrates her leadership qualities as a charge nurse, always building up the team and bringing out the best in everyone. I’ll never forget a social event when she had the courage to speak positively about a coworker whom others were not giving the benefit of the doubt. I admire her communication skills and look to her as a role model when having difficult conversations.
Christy chairs committees and always follows through on the work. She has worked on the staffing acuity project for years and is just now seeing it come to fruition. Christy chairs the HWE committee, organizes nurse compliments for nursing week annually, plans our Christmas party, and stays up to date on the latest clinical research. She collaborates on projects at the unit and house-wide level with staff nurses and executive leadership.
Christy cares just as deeply for her co-workers as she does her patients, and her dedication to the “No One Cares Alone” project has had a profoundly positive impact on the unit. The innovative changes she has made possible in CICU are far-reaching and cannot be overstated. I admire her for all she does and who she is. She holds me accountable and inspires me. Christy Cain is a sturdy leader who set the bar for nursing excellence.