Shannon Chalk is an Assistant Nurse Manager in the Surgical ICU. Each and every day that she comes to work, no matter what she is here for, a charge nurse day, office time, or a meeting, Shannon always seems to uncover an opportunity for improvement!

I have many examples of how she exemplifies compassionate, innovative nursing and leads by example. Let me start off with a PACT card we received from a SICU charge nurse showing just one example of her heroic nursing & leadership skills:

"We were extremely understaffed on the morning of 3/17.1 immediately let our management know our staffing situation just so that they were aware. Shannon, our Assistant Nurse Manager, quickly recognized she was needed, and without question, she dropped her entire day, as well as her two children, to come in on her day off and assist us! She is currently our only assistant nurse manager during the day, and has taken on the responsibilities equivalent to 2-3 people. She had already worked every day during the week. She could have easily stayed at home and provided moral support; however, she didn't hesitate at any point. Thank you so much for putting us first. Your dedication does not go unnoticed. We are extremely proud to call you ours!"

Shannon exemplifies nurse excellence by providing the most thorough and detailed, genuine patient care, but more importantly, leads by example in efforts as charge nurse, preceptor, mentor, and manager. Whether she is calming down an anxious patient, comforting a worried family member, or educating the SICU staff on the most up-to-date EBP, Shannon is always setting the bar so high and leads as an exemplary role model.

She not only has her CCRN, but she also took her clinical expertise one step further by obtaining and maintaining a very high-level, skilled critical care cardiac medicine certification as well: Shannon Chalk, BSN, RN, CCRN-CMC. She uses her ongoing and growing knowledge base and skill set to empower new nurses, physicians, and anyone who is in our unit. Her motives are genuine, with her focus always striving to create an environment that is safe for all patients, nurses, and staff to practice our callings.

Her constant dedication to achieving this goal is impressive and humbling. You will often find Shannon taking education seminars on her days off to bring back knowledge and new information on the most recent EBP to our unit. Or you will find her serving a patient or family following complaints or concerns. She then takes these situations into full-speed process improvement.

The situations don't end with the issues being resolved or recovered; this is usually the first step for Shannon to embark on an exciting process improvement initiative. Her nickname on the unit is Shannon 'Lippincott' because she is so knowledgeable and helpful to all, and is always finding ways to streamline processes for safety and efficient workflow.

She takes her passion so far that she loves to be a part of the nursing informatics committee. She channels her intelligence and brings front-line staff feedback, including workflow challenges, or even improvements or additions that should be made to our EMR.

Another example of her commendable attributes is that she is our dedicated and excellent clinical ladder rep and sits on the clinical ladder reviewer board. If someone presents a concern, issue, gap, or knowledge deficit, Shannon is constantly guiding and coaching staff to channel these opportunities into clinical ladder projects and process improvement initiatives!

And last but not least, Shannon is not afraid to speak up for patient safety. And what goes hand in hand with patient safety is staff safety and staff satisfaction. Shannon ties all these elements together as a solid member of our SICU leadership team and is definitely a strong force that helps hold our unit together, strong and successful!

A positive, happy staff equals positive, happy care and positive, happy outcomes and quality.