A Resilient Leader

ALEXIS SPEED

Story By: SAMANTHA CHERY

At UF Health Shands Hospital, a highlytrained team of health professionals care for its smallest and most fragile patients.

The neonatal intensive care unit provides specialized medical attention for babies from birth to 28 days old. Registered nurses, physicians, nurse practitioners and respiratory therapists all collaborate as “everybody’s there for the babies,” said 36-yearold Alexis Speed, who is a clinical leader at the hospital’s NICU.

Alexis always wanted to be involved in healthcare and attended the medical magnet programs at William Dandy Middle School and Blanche Ely High School in Fort Lauderdale. She was particularly fascinated by the newness of life and the resilience of the babies, constant reminders of “how amazing life is and how amazing God is.”

This made neonatal care the perfect fit.

The occupation is also vital – the vigilant work of a NICU staff can be instrumental in affecting a baby’s lifetime health.

“Babies are dependent on the care that we’re giving them,” she said.

As a clinical leader, Alexis loves building rapport with the day and night shift workers and learning more about how the unit fits into the rest of the UF Health network.

However, her current job didn’t come easily. She initially applied and was rejected for the position in 2013.

From then, she took a break from UF Health to be a travel nurse, temporarily working contractually for hospitals in south Florida.

Resilient in the face of rejection, Speed rejoined UF Health in 2016 by taking on a different leadership job as a unit educator, where she educated the nursing staff on changes necessary to improve the workplace processes and practices.

“I was able to observe what happens in nursing leadership and see what the daily responsibilities were, most of which I was already doing,” she said.

When one of the two clinical leaders was promoted, she had many of the skills she needed to fill in as the interim clinical leader and subsequently into the role officially.

“I didn’t want someone else to come in and do what I know I’m able to do,” she said.

Now with the career she strived for, Speed tries to maintain a peaceful, enjoyable life.

“It’s definitely important for your job to make sure you’re doing your best and producing good results and being effective, but at the same time, you have to balance it with making sure you’re taking care of yourself outside of work,” she said.

She has to remind herself to not overwork and to reach out to her NICU staff for help when overloaded with tasks.

Outside of the workplace, her parents have also cheered her on throughout her career journey. Her father brought stability, consistency and taught her the importance of hard work, while her mother established her gogetter attitude and sense of persistence.

With the encouragement of her support system and staff, she has the fortitude to be there for resilient babies and their families.