Transformational Leadership

ChristianaCare nurses lead with vision, influence, clinical knowledge and strong expertise in professional nursing practice. Working with a leadership team that holds a vision for the future of health care delivery and provides the environment necessary to achieve this vision, our nurses are creative, innovative, inquisitive knowledge-seekers who contribute to the health system’s values, behaviors and models of care.

StructuralEmpowermentTeam E xempl ar y P r of e s s i o na l Prac tice Team NewKnowled ge ,I nnova t i o n s & Imp rovementsTeam Practice Councils P ract i c e C o u n c i lsP ract i c e C o u nc i ls Nursing Assembly Nursing Assembly Nursing Value Council Education Development & Advancement CouncilProfessional Nurse Council Off-Shift Council Advanced Practice Registered Nurses Council Quality and Safety Council NursingProfessional GovernanceStructure Technology & Innovation Council Research and Evidence-Based Practice Council Nursing Executive Council Administrative Council Workforce Connection Council

Practice CouncilsTransformational LeadershipTeam

Council highlights

Administrative Council

Chair: Lynda Huselton, MSN, MSM, RN-BC, NE-BC • Prepared for a successful Magnet site visit. • Provided ongoing support of the Nursing bundle. • Collaborated with patient experience to transition to NRC Health from Press Ganey and on the service recovery launch. • Helped reduce HAPI and drive the initiative for zero harm. • Worked in conjunction with the Workforce Connection Council on the nurse staffing collaboration that focuses on retaining, onboarding and recruiting nurses, including new-to-practice nurses. • Supported the Teach-back initiative. • Supported the reinvigoration of the discharge lounge. • Created and implemented the Nursing Practice Accountability toolkit in the

Workforce Connection Council

Chair: Lisa Markiewicz, MSN, MSM, RN IV, CCRN • Executed strategies to advance practice environments that result in increased caregiver retention.

• Implemented alternatives for nurses eligible to retire.

• Applied a comprehensive workplace violence mitigation program. • Identified barriers and designed solutions that will improve nurse-to-nurse collaboration and communication.

• Identified and addressed gaps in Capacity Management Plan. • Created and disseminated education resources for the new capacity plan to managers and charge nurses through the charge nurse workshop.

Quality and Safety Council

Chair: Tania Dossantos, BSN, RN III, RN-BC • Partnered with key stakeholders to provide feedback and encourage decision-making to improve nursing practice and patient outcomes quality and safety initiatives. • Established a sub-committee for the Event-Based Nursing Peer Review. • Increased access to Patient Care Monitoring for clinical nurses to include ambulatory settings, revised perfect care monitors as needed to better identify opportunities in perfect care, and encouraged units to review dashboard data to identify and address any areas of opportunity.

Education Development and Advancement Council

Chair: Marykate McGurk, BSN, RN, TCRN • Interviewed and promoted 52 system nurses to RN III and RN IV on the Clinical Ladder. • Promoted certification by hosting the annual Certified Nurses Day Bulletin Board Contest in March 2020 and developed a “Certification Spotlight” in Nursing’s newsletter to highlight nurses committed to excellence in their specialties.

• Developed and disseminated the annual Department of Nursing Continuing Education Assessment. Council members worked directly with practice areas to deliver the results and assist with identifying educational needs unique to the nurses in their areas. • Developed the RN III and RN IV Maintenance Checklists, to assist nurses in their professional goals as advanced clinical nurses and collect information about their ongoing project work and professional accomplishments. • Recognized exceptional nurses as Rising Stars for working diligently in their areas with great potential for promotion up the Clinical Ladder.

• Presented 14th Annual Dot Fowler Award, given annually to an exemplary RN III or RN IV who demonstrates commitment to excellence in their practice area. • Awarded the Preceptor Excellence Award, given annually to nurses providing a supportive environment for new employees to learn and transition to their new roles, to five system nurses.

Professional Nurse Council

Chair: Nathalie Miller, MSN, RN III RNC-NIC • Created and implemented the ROSE Award—Raising Our Standard of Excellence—to recognize nursing partner caregivers who help deliver exceptional, compassionate care to patients and families. • Hosted first “We Serve Together Week” to honor nursing partners—clerks, technicians, medical assistants, behavioral health specialists and others—across the health system. • Created the Nursing Honor Guard to honor deceased nurses. • Presented the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award. • Nominated Annamarie Flick, MSN, RN-BC, NE-BC, for inaugural Health Impact DAISY Nurse Leader Award for Advancing Compassion Through Policy.

Research and Evidence-Based Practice Council

Chair: Lisa Wallace, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC

• Appointed APRN representative to the Medical Dental Staff Credentialing Committee.

• Adopted several means of improving communication between the council and all

APRNs in the system.

• Conducted Grand Rounds on:

 Optimizing our use of the Delaware Prescription Monitoring Program.  Update on SGLT2 inhibitors.  Virtual APC appreciation event, planned by the APC Leadership Committee.

 COVID-19 and its impact on mental health.

• Launched an APC Mentoring Program.

• Continued to publish a quarterly newsletter, now named “APRN Connection.”

Off-Shift Council

Chair: Alexandra Kaminski, BSN, RN

• Launched “Nocturnal News” digital newsletter to open a line of personal communication with off-shift staff, addressing areas such as night shift wellness, nurse-provider communication, cleanliness and quiet at night and systemwide communication.

• Offered ACLS and BLS classes off-shift for the second consecutive year.

• Implemented survey regarding off shift education needs.

Technology and Innovation Council

Chair: Thomas (TJ) Byrnes, BSN, RN, CCRN

• Implemented Camera Capture to document wound photos in patients’ medical records. • Added an “unchanged from previous assessment” option to iView to reduce the number of clicks nurses must make during a shift.

• Launched Connect Nursing, a mobile digital application used on smartphones to barcode scan medication during medication administration, and Bridge Medical to scan patients ID bracelets and transfusion products prior to hanging blood products.

• Implemented individualized plans of care for pain management, pressure injury prevention in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. • Launched an electronic patient handoff to reduce paper use.

• Implemented RoomLink to eliminate the need for paper signage on patient room doors.

• Developed and deployed Nursing Handoff, a new Cerner tool that aims to do away with all paper handoffs slips

Systemwide promotions to nurse leadership

Vikki Benson, RNC-OB, assistant nurse manager, ChristianaCare LDR/High Risk OB/ OB Triage

Paul Danao, BSN, RN, CDN, nurse manager, Wilmington Campus Hemodialysis Center Jillian Foster, MSN, RN, PCCN, assistant nurse manager, Christiana Surgery Center Joshua Gorman-Zolochik, BSN, RNC-NIC ANM, assistant nurse manager, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Timothy Heckman Jr., MSN, RN-BC, nurse manager of 3D TMU/3C Lindsey Hoosty, BSN, RN, assistant nurse manager, Medical Intensive Care Unit, Newark Campus Denise Lottero, MSN, MSM, RN, NE-BC, CNOR, nurse manager, patient care unit 4C, Surgery, Newark Campus Melissa MacMurray, BSN, RN, PCCN, BC, CHR PACU, P&H, CSA, assistant nurse manager, Post-Anesthesia Care Unit, Newark Campus

Jennifer Painter, DNP, APRN, CNS, NEA-BC, RN-BC, OCCN, AOCNS, LSSBB,

vice president, Nursing Professional Development and associate chief learning officer Ashley Pezzullo, MSN, RN, PCCN, CPAN, Phase II Wilmington Campus, Prep Hold/PostAnesthesia Care Unit

Joan Pirrung, MSN, APRN, ACNS-BC, vice president, Patient Care Services-Nursing for ChristianaCare, Cecil County Campus

George Potts, MSN, APRN, AGACNP-BC, nurse manager, Ortho/Trauma/Neuro unit on 2C, Newark Campus Allison Steuber, MSN, RN, CAPA, nurse manager, Cardiovascular Critical Care Complex at, Newark Campus Danielle Weber, MSN, MSM, RN-BC, NEA-BC, chief nursing officer, Wilmington Campus