Dr. Nancy Blake truly defines servant leadership. Ever since she joined LA General, she has tirelessly worked to make it a great place to work. She has not stopped asking, listening, and providing what we need as nurses to better care for our patients.

In her short time, as a CNO, she has brought positive changes into the organization; shortening the HR hiring process, flexibility in leadership schedule, trainings and presentations to support leadership development, a revamp of the transition to practice program, and pushing and supporting the implementation of shared governance and the achievement of our first Magnet Designation. What we thought was a dream became a reality under her guidance and leadership.

I am deeply grateful to have her as a leader, a role model, and a mentor. Her unwavering support and encouragement inspire and motivate me to do my best, even if at times I doubt my own capabilities; she doesn’t. Her own passion for success and motivation for change is so contagious and influential that you can’t help but jump onto her bandwagon. She pushes me to do more and explore the limits of my own boundaries, for she believes I have so much more to give. Her leadership has helped me realize the type of leader I want to be, and I can only aspire to achieve as much as she has achieved someday.

For all the lives she has touched, the number of nurses she has inspired and mentored, the contributions she’s made to the nursing profession as a nurse scientist, and the transformation she’s brought to LA General, she is truly the embodiment of the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award. She has truly dedicated her life and career to serving others.