Each year, we look forward to honoring our Nurse Excellence Award recipients. These awards are extra special because the nominations come from fellow UW Health employees who are so impressed by their colleagues, they want the rest of the world to know just how amazing they are, and how much they contribute to remarkable health care.

Congratulations to our 2023 honorees and nominees.

Meet our 2023 Nursing Excellence Award recipients

Molly Gard, BSN, RN Pediatric Specialties Deming Way Clinic Award: Specialty Care	Nancy Graham, RN Pediatrics Union Corners Clinic Award: Primary Care	Amy Kamps, MSN, RN Operating Room University Hospital Award: Surgical and Procedural Services
Kate Kriva, BSN, RN Cardiovascular/Cardiothoracic ICU University Hospital Award: Intensive Care Units	Maureen Lucey, BSN, RN Employee Health Supervisor Employee Health Services Award: Leadership and Advanced Practice	Christine Peot, BSN, RN Progressive Care Unit University Hospital Award: General Medicine and IMC
Jennifer Quinn, BSN, RN Med Flight University Hospital Award: Preceptor/Mentor	Brian Roszak, BSN, RN Medical/Surgical Unit American Family Children’s Hospital Award: Pediatrics	Heather Schoenfeld, CCLS Child Life American Family Children’s Hospital Award: Support Staff: Clinical
Liz Sklenar, BSN, RN Medical/Surgical Floor East Madison Hospital Award: Rising Star	Alicia Marie Sokol Administrative Operations Assistant Employee Health Services Award: Support Staff, Non-clinical	Jennifer Stephenson, BSN, RN Emergency Medicine University Hospital Award: Emergency Services
Dawn Weyh, MSN, RN Transitional Care University Hospital and East Madison Hospital Award: Patient and Care Coordination

Nurse Excellence Award nominees

UW Health recognizes all nominees for their valued contributions to patient care:

Diane Aide Julie Andrews Jennifer Ayers Whitney Beaton Annie Berousek Passang Bhuti Karl Bietz Renee Bobb Kelly Braatz Jessica Branson MaryKay Brekke Leah Bren Andrea Briese Joseph Brown Brooke Camp Foday Ceesay Robin Christianson Kamilee Conaway Anna Cotiangco Shay Daniels-Coleman Courtney Davis Jessica Dellemann Lindsey Derksen Emmanuel Digon-Apuhin Dakota Dohlman Tenzin Dolma Mitch Dunlap Dan Edgette Janice Ferguson Brandon Florence Rhonda Fochs Kayla Foster Robert Foster Holly Francis Molly Gard Halee Gates Robert Gerrietts Christi Goettsche Marie Goke Maureen Wild Gordon Nancy Graham Megan Grassl Sara Graverson Alexa Grefe Andrea Groher Tanner Gruber Naomi Massey Haas Katrina Hall Shannon Hattenhauer Jamie Hayden Nicole Heiden Caitlin Hellenbrand Kassandra Hermanson Jennifer Hildner Jenny Hobson Noreen Hogan Jessica Holguin Meghan Holum Amanda Howard Trevor Johnson Tiffany Jones Gloria Justo Amy Kamps Jody Kessenich Choua Khuy Sadie King Stephanie Kleinschmidt Karlie Klossner Megan Knepfel Cassandra Koczan Amanda Kopp Kate Kriva Jessica Lawler

Veronica Lawrence Julie Lechelt Hayley Lindsey Lucy Lomeli Maureen Lucey Hannah Madej Lachanna Magli Sarah Mamerow Maria Martinez Joanna Mathews Susan Maveus Penney McGinnis Emily McGuigan Janelle McMannes Thomas McNeal Dulce Mellender Emily Menting Jessica Miller Amy Mliner Sahra Mohamud Nick Murphy Heidi O’Brien Grace Odegaard Mitch Oelke Kelly O’Malley Mara Pailing Melissa Paul Sarah Peck Amy Pedersen Rachael Pelkofer Christine Peot Michael Peperkorn Nastassja Petermann Megan Pharo Brittany Pittz Zorina Poast Jennifer Pogoy Emily Preuss Juliana Price Maria Pulver Jennifer Quinn Laura Ramirez LC Rice Dave Rodriguez Patricia Rohrer Brian Roszak Jo Ruegsegger Haley Runchey Kim Schaefer Heather Schoenfeld Christopher Schroeder Rebecca Schutte Katrina Shaughnessy Michael Sivam Liz Sklenar Alicia Marie Sokol Jennifer Stephenson Maria Strommen Katie Sullenbrand Dominica Swartz Kelsey Taylor Caroline Templeton Hannah Tishler Evelyn Tomaino Thupten Tsering Haley Vandehei Shelly VanDenbergh Ana Villagomez-Moreno Teresa Wagner Amanda Weber Meredith Weitz Sara Westra Dawn Weyh Henry Zheng

Celebrating the humanity of our nurses →

Celebrating the humanity of our nurses

National Nurses Week always serves as a special time to honor our remarkable RNs for the compassionate care and clinical expertise they provide to UW Health patients and families all year long.

This year, we’re celebrating our nurses in a unique way — highlighting what brings them joy outside of work — to see and appreciate them beyond their scrubs and masks.

A few of the nurses you’ll see in our tribute video include:

We hope you enjoy our tribute video that celebrates the humanity and inner awesomeness of our nurses.

2023 UW Health Nursing Excellence Awards →

During National Nurses Week May 6-12, UW Health honors our 2022 Nurse Excellence Award recipients for embodying all that it takes to provide remarkable healthcare. These awards are extra special because the nominations come from fellow UW Health employees who want the rest of the world to know the amazing colleagues they work alongside.

Congratulations to all honorees and nominees.

Meet Our 2022 Nursing Excellence Award Recipients

Jacinda Krueger, RN Award: Emergency Medicine University Hospital	Alyssa Weise, BSN, RN General and Intermediate Care University Hospital	Alexa Callahan, BSN, RN Award: Intensive Care Unit University Hospital
Lori Williams, DNP, RN Award: Leadership and Advanced Practice American Family Children’s Hospital	Tyler Houston, BSN, RN Award: Patient and Care Coordination Access Center	Luray Hovey, BSN, RN Award: Pediatrics American Family Children’s Hospital
Mark Ravis, RN Award: Preceptor/Mentor University Hospital	Kimberley Williamson, MSN, RN Award: Primary Care Clinics 1102 S Park St Clinic	Kalyn Sonday, BSN, RN Award: Rising Star East Madison Hospital
Stephanie Blazek Davis, BSN, RN Award: Specialty Clinics Transformations Clinic	Kristin McArdle, MSW, Social Worker Award: Support Staff Clinical American Family Children’s Hospital	Norberto Cruz, Senior Environmental Services Technician Award: Support Staff Non-Clinical University Hospital
Amber Luch, BSN, RN Award: Surgical Procedural Services University Hospital

Nurse Excellence Award Nominees

UW Health recognizes all nominees — more than 150 — for their valued contributions to patient care:

Darcy Acker Kjerstine Adler Susan Antonie Shannan Archibald Ann Arnold Katherine Bacians Lisa Bahr Whitney Beaton Jennifer Beiswenger Jenny Benson Meghan Biddick Angela Bindl Kristin Blackwood Stephanie Blazek Davis Brea Bonafield Dianna Bower Joseph Brown Alexa Callahan Ellen Campbell Abigail Castillo Paulette Christy Kamilee Conaway Norberto Cruz Mary Curwick Michael Dagenais Amber Dalziel Luis Diaz-Barajas Ashley Drake Buba Drammeh Elise Duff Anna Duncan Cruz Duplicate Keri Ferguson Janice Ferguson Jordan Foster Breanne Fourtner Elizabeth Gerndt-Spaith Andrea Geurin Heather Gilbert Rachel Guelker Sally Gulden Jennifer Hackenmiller Jennifer Hankwitz Hillary Hanna Rebecca Harrison Kayla Hazeltine Rebecca Hellenbrand Allison Henke Sheila Henry Erin Heredia Jenny Hobson Meghan Holum Elliotte Houghton Tyler Houston Luray Hovey Kassandra Huffman Mariah Jacobson Marie Jensen Bonnie Johnson Megan Keesey Michael Keller Tamara Kempken Mehring Brianne Kiefert McKenzie Klipp Jennifer Kortyna Jacinda Krueger Desiri Kruse Jenna Larsen Diane Larson Sheila Lehmann Hayley Lindsey Heidi Link Amber Luch Lachanna Magli Janean Marr Kristin McArdle Melanie McCauley Linda McKnight Kimberly McPhee

Wanda Meeteer Alicia Meier Jayci Miles Katie Miller Karen Miller Kayla Mills Jennifer Moore Holly Mucci Margaret Murray Tiffany Nelsen Madeline Norman Heidi O’Brien Catherine O’Connell Cassandra Ortmann Maria Delores Pagas Isabella Penniston Brittany Pittz Amy Plaza-Baji Steven Polenska Paula Pope Jack Propson Janielle Raven Mark Ravis Caitlin Redeker Sheri Reichardt Rachel Ripley Peter Ripp Briane’ Roberts Ashley Robinson Valerie Rust Crystale Sanchez Jamie Schave Robert Scheel Jordyn Schemenauer Erin Schmidt Judy Schmude Brittany Schneeberg Amber Schreiner Alyssa Schroeder Molly Schuman Lyvia Schwantes Kelsie Schwoerer Caitlyn Scianna Sarah Shank Leah Shelerud Jenna Shinstine Erik Sikora Tori Sonday Kalyn Sonday Meagan Spreeman Anna Stawicki Whitney Sterling Maria Strommen Susan Tipple Brenda Trotta Anna Uselman Laura Van Fossen Abbie Vance Rebekah Vermillion Ana Villagomez-Moreno Chad Vinger Emily Wakefield Jami Waterworth Amanda Weber Alyssa Weise Zachary Wells Christa Westenberger Melissa Whitby Jolene Wieczorek Steven Wiese Emily Wilhelmson Lori Williams Kimberley Williamson Maikao Xiong Courtney Younkle Tatiana Zaidi Darnell Ziegler Nicole Zimmerman Kayla Zubke

• All nursing students who would like to complete an academic (student) project at UW Health for academic credit must follow the steps listed below.
• This process applies to all nursing students. These steps must be followed regardless of what school is attended or UW Health employment status.
• The steps outlined here are requirements for UW Health, there may be additional requirements from the academic institution.

What are the steps to complete before starting my school project?

Step 1.    Student notifies Clinical Placement Coordinator

• The nursing student needs to start this process by notifying their Clinical Placement Coordinator to let them know the desire to complete the student project at UW Health.
• Note: The Clinical Placement Coordinator must ensure that an Affiliation Agreement is in place between the academic institution and UW Health. If an Affiliation Agreement is not in place, it may take 3 to 6 months for that to be completed. Therefore, it is recommended that the student ask about this detail.

Step 2.    Student identifies UW Health sponsor

• The nursing student must establish support for their project by identifying a UW Health employee who will serve as a sponsor. 
• Review the sponsor role to be sure that you select someone who meets their needs
• If no sponsor is known, let your Clinical Placement Coordinator know, they will help with that process.

Note for UW Health employees about sponsor selection and project planning (per UW Health legal):

• The UW Health sponsor cannot be the employee’s paid supervisor or manager.
• The student work cannot take place at the same location where the student is a paid employee.
• The student cannot complete student field work during work hours; the student work must be completed on unpaid time.)

Step 3.    Student requests sponsor signature

• After the student and the sponsor discuss the student’s project and an agreement is made, the student must provide the sponsor the UW Health Sponsor Role and Agreement form to review in detail and sign.
• Important: This form must be signed before you move onto Step 4

Step 4.    Complete the Nursing Student’s Academic Project Submission Form

• Complete each section of the submission form.
• Attach the signed UW Health sponsor form to this submission form. Students will not be able to complete their submission without that uploaded.

Step 5.    Notify the Clinical Placement Coordinator that Steps 1 to 4 are completed

• Once Steps 1 thru 4 are complete, the student must notify the Clinical Placement Coordinator that they have been completed.
• When Steps 1-4 are complete, the student should also ask the Clinical Placement Coordinator to enter a rotation request be placed in My Clinical Exchange.

Step 6.    Upload documents on My Clinical Exchange

• Once your project rotation has been entered and approved, the student will receive an email prompting them to upload documents to My Clinical Exchange.
• Upload the required documentation to be compliant with the student requirements
• Remember that this step must be completed for all nursing students, regardless of what school is attended and whether or not they are employed by UW Health.
• Students will know they are compliant in My Clinical Exchange when they see the green thumbs up in the system.
• Steps 1- 6 must be complete at least 4 weeks before the planned start of the student project.

Step 7.    Obtain appropriate UW Health access

• UW Health will notify the student via email when approvals are in place.
  • Students should follow the directions received in the email to get a UW Health student ID badge.
  • If additional access has been requested (such as Health Link), follow the directions and verify appropriate access.
• When the student receives the email notification prompting the student ID and other appropriate access, this is the final step of this process and indicates that the student on-boarding process is complete.  With ongoing support for the project by the UW Health sponsor, the student may begin their project work.

How soon should I start this process?

• It is recommended to start the process at least 8 to 12 weeks before students are to begin their project.
• Steps 1 thru 6 will take up to 4 weeks to complete and must be completed 4 weeks before the first day of project work. For example, if the project is to start at the end of January, Steps 1-6 must be completed by the end of December; the student should start the process in October or November.
• Step 7 must be complete before the student can begin their project.

Are you a Nurse Practitioner (NP) student looking to do a clinical rotation at UW Health? Find more information on this webpage.

I have questions, who should I reach out to?

Questions should be directed to the student’s Clinical Placement Coordinator; they will reach out to UW Health key stakeholder as needed.  Student should remain in close communication with their school’s Clinical Placement Coordinator.

During National Nurses Week, May 6-12, 2021, we embrace this opportunity to pay special thanks and recognition to all UW Health nurses — not only for banding together throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with unwavering dedication and commitment — but for always putting patients and families first. They have been on the frontlines bravely facing whatever has come their way, and we continue to be grateful.

Nurses Week also gives us another distinct opportunity to celebrate a few exceptional nurses and support staff who exemplify compassion, skill and an outstanding commitment to patient care and the professional practice of nursing.

Watch below: Hear from our Nurse Excellence Award recipients

Support Staff, Clinical: Kelsey Anderson, Nursing Assistant, Inpatient Psychiatry	Support Staff, Non-Clinical: Cheryl Mattingly, Clinical Operations Assistant, Trauma and Life Support Center	Rising Star: Emily Bowie, BSN, RN, General Internal Medicine, University Hospital
Clinical Nurse, Primary Care Clinics: Bonnie Hann, BSN, RN, Oregon Clinic	Clinical Nurse, Specialty Clinics: Linda Carter, BSN, RN, Neurology Clinic, 20 S. Park	Clinical Nurse, Pediatrics: Nicole Wayman, BSN, RN, American Family Children’s Hospital
Clinical Nurse, General Care and IMC: Brandon Stiefel, BSN, RN, Inpatient Psychiatry	Clinical Nurse, ICU: Daniele Payne, BSN, RN, Trauma and Life Support Center	Clinical Nurse, Emergency Services: Raymond Kline, BSN, RN, University Hospital
Clinical Nurse, Surgical Procedural Services: Terrance Wilde, BSN, RN, Operating Room-Cardiothoracic	Preceptor/Mentor: Laura Kramer, BSN, RN, Progressive Care Unit, University Hospital	Clinical Nurse, CTL Lead RNs: Nicole Hansen, BSN, RN, Thoracic Surgery Unit
Leadership & Advanced Practice: Elizabeth Laessig-Stary, MSN, RN-Gyn, Urology, Plastics-University Hospital

Meet the UW Health 2021 Nurse Excellence Award Recipients

Nurses Week also gives us a distinct opportunity to celebrate a few exceptional nurses and support staff who exemplify compassion, skill and an outstanding commitment to patient care and the professional practice of nursing. Meet our Nurse Excellence Award recipients.

Nurse Excellence Award Nominees

UW Health recognizes all nominees for their valued contributions to patient care:

LeAnn Alf Jaclyn Allen Kelsey Anderson Lauren Batcher Natasha Beaver Melissa Beltran Allie Berger Emily Bowie Emily Brandl Jessica Branson Heidi Brown Alexa Callahan Ashley Campbell Linda Carter Kristi Coy Vanessa De La Rosa Marnie Destree Emmanuel Digon-Apuhin Emily Fell Sara Fink Samantha Fralish Andrea Geurin Samantha Griesser Bonnie Hann Nicole Hansen Jennifer Heinle Christina Held Hailey Hicks Susan Hopkins Katherine Hoverson Kari Hromatko Mandi Jackson Katherine Jelinek Rebecca Johnson Madison Kimes Betsy Kite Raymond Kline Stephanie Klock Connor Knellwolf Laura Kramer Marie Kurschner Tracy Kussmaul Elizabeth Laessig-Stary Anna Landry Mary Leisemann Wittnee Linscheid Mary Lowe Eric Mains Naomi Massey Haas Cheryl Mattingly

Courtney Maurer Natalie McCarragher Diana McGlynn Corrin McMannes Jenna Meier Payne Karen Miller Laurel Mitmoen Amanda Mlsna Margaret Murray Kelly O’Connor Josh Palmer Daniele Payne Brooke Peterson Margaret Phillips Reeve Russ Picard Sarah Quinn Shelly Reyzek Sherri Ruhland Sara Schoen Ryan Schultz Casey Shoptaw Windy Smith BethAnn Soliman-Abdalla Tori Sonday Lindsey Speier Megan Stehling Barbara Stevens Brandon Stiefel Rachel Taylor Tsering Tseten Heidi Turnquist Linda Untz Rabold Jessica Virnich Martha Vollrath-Mathiason Andrew Walbrun Karly Walker Joan Watson Nicole Wayman Megan Webber Amanda Weber Amy White Terrance Wilde Emily Wilhelmson Amanda Wilke Kirsten Worzala Dumke Kelly Yaeger Alexandra Zaugg Amelia Zepnick Kim Zinkel

Emergency Department (ED) care team leader Sue Wolfe, BSN, RN, was a little overwhelmed by the public displays of support for her team at University Hospital shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in March 2020.

“People from the community were bringing us food and holding up signs of encouragement,” says Sue. “It was all very humbling since we were just doing our jobs. Still, it was incredibly kind for the public to show so much support at a time when it felt like everyone’s world was being turned upside down.”

Seeing news coverage of growing lines at local food banks, Sue instinctively knew she had to do something to give back.

“We clearly had our share of stress in the ED with COVID-19, but so many people outside our doors were losing their jobs and having trouble feeding their families,” Sue says. “That’s a whole different level of stress.”

It didn’t take long before Sue sent an email to her ED colleagues seeking donations to support Dane County food banks. To make it easy, she set up PayPal and Venmo accounts so physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other ED staff could start contributing with just a few clicks on their phone.

She was hoping to raise $500 within two weeks, but by Day 5, $3,000 had come in.

“It was blowing up in a way I couldn’t imagine,” Sue says.

Social media helped spread the word even further. By the time two weeks elapsed, Sue had raised $10,400 for the Dane County Food Pantry Network.

“It was exciting to see so many of my co-workers get behind something during such a tough time,” Sue says. “People just needed to feel good about something.”

A UW Health nurse since 1984 and ED care team leader for 11 years, Sue is widely regarded as a someone who reflexively looks out for the best interests of the ED as a whole.

“In the best sense, Sue is like a ‘Department Mom’ to so many of us,” says ED nurse manager Melanie Hankes, BSN, RN. “She’s approachable, dependable and caring, and helps us weather any storm we face while always putting patients first.”

Like many of her colleagues, Melanie was not surprised by Sue’s food bank fundraising last spring.

“It’s part of Sue’s DNA to go beyond the call and help others,” Melanie says. “From volunteering at a Wisconsin summer camp to teaching emergency room nurses in Ethiopia, Sue just appreciates how wonderful life is and wants to keep paying it forward.”

View the full nursing annual report, 2020: The year of the resilient, remarkable nurse:

• For reading on your computer (pdf)
• For reading on smaller mobile device or printing (pdf)

UW Health nurses led the sea change that saw inpatient video telehealth visits go from zero in mid-March 2020 to about 80 a day by early April.

Kim Riese, BSN, MSHI, the RN Coordinator for telehealth, describes the growth as, “Like nothing I’ve ever experienced in 40 years in healthcare.”

“Telehealth has touched so many parts of UW,’’ she says. “Especially the nurses, they’ve just stepped up and done what they needed to do to care for their patients. It’s been a wild ride, but we’re still standing.”

Some of those nurses are visible to patients, holding an iPad for them and assisting in assessments during virtual inpatient rounds or taking a health history for a Vidyo-powered ambulatory visit.

Others, like Jason Laseman, BS, MA, RN-BC, and his colleagues at nursing informatics, are behind the scenes, providing the training, programming the iPads and creating the workflows.

Laseman recalled the wild week in March, when virtual rounds went from an idea to reality in four workdays. His group trained nurses on about 25 units at the three Madison hospitals. They started with having two iPads per unit but have since evolved so that all inpatient iPads have the capability, as well as a Webex app they can use to video chat with family and friends who can’t visit them in the hospital.

Laseman says the group is doing a patient satisfaction survey among parents of PICU patients at American Family Children’s Hospital, where complex cases could have 15 specialists joining by video.

“We want to know if they are effective and how comfortable patients’ families are with virtual rounds,’’ he says. “There isn’t a lot of data on this right now.”

UW Health Care Anywhere video visits with Urgent Care launched in late 2017, but really took off as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Last year, UW Health had approximately 2,800 video visits all year. The first six months of 2020, there were 6,800 visits.

“By the end of the year, I’m sure we will have more than tripled last year’s numbers of patients being cared for in this way,’’ says Riese, who spent the first weeks of the pandemic training more providers to deliver care via the Care Anywhere platform. UW Health increased both the numbers of APPs doing visits and the hours the calls were staffed by UW staff (rather than a service) from eight hours a day to 12 hours.

“Now everyone, across the planet, knows what telehealth is,’’ she says. “Patients really like it, although it does have some limitations for detailed patient diagnostics.”

In an inpatient setting, telehealth was used to preserve precious Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and to allow doctors to still be able to see patients even if they were quarantined at home.

“Nurses were the backbone of it, they were the ones in the room with the iPad, facilitating the meeting between patient and doctor,’’ Riese said.

The telehealth team provided educational materials to nurses and medical assistants on technology, so they could do “virtual rooming” with remote patients, going through all the questions they would normally ask in a clinic setting.

“The glue in all of that is the staff,’’ Riese says. “The nurses have to help patients with technology they may never have used before. Really those nurses were front line to make sure patients were able to have their visit with the doctor.”

Bill Yerges, MSN, RN, CPN, a coordinator with the pancreas/kidney transplant team, quickly became a Vidyo superuser, using video to educate patients post-surgery so they would be able to care for themselves at home. He says the transplant group continues to find new uses for video, from selection conferences to using video to interview potential organ recipients.

“It’s really served the transplant division well for moving patients forward to get transplants, and for making sure they get the necessary education so they can go home,” he says. “We follow patients for life.”

Another group that saw a big jump in use was UW Health’s eICU team, headed by nursing supervisor Lynn Jacobs, BSN, RN, CCRN and eICU medical director, Jeff Wells, MD.

Before COVID-19, the group was monitoring 93 ICU beds at University Hospital, The American Center, Swedish American Hospital and community hospitals in Freeport, Ill., Medford, Richland Center and Monroe. They’re now up to 126 beds, as mobile monitoring carts were innovatively added at several sites and a D6/5 wing was converted to a 10-bed COVID-19 ICU using spare eICU hardwired monitoring parts to create mobile carts.

“Usually we have six months of work before we go live with a new ICU, but D6/5 went live in three days,’’ she says. “Our nurses and nursing assistants have been through a massive amount of change very quickly in preparing to take care of patients with COVID-19 along with our typical intensive care patients and their professionalism over how they embraced this challenge during this pandemic should be applauded.”

In addition to extensive data collection and monitoring patients’ vital signs, best practice compliance, and preventing falls and extubations, the eICU staff mentors the new to ICU practice nurses at the remote locations, with check-ins at the beginning and end of every shift.  These novice nurses are encouraged to call the experienced eICU nurses during their shift with any questions as well.

“We provide a pretty detailed post-orientation mentoring,’’ Jacobs says. “It’s a scary time to be a new nurse in any ICU, but especially now during COVID-19. The eICU nurses are able to walk them through a wide variety of patient care issues and our sites think it’s important that we bring additional physician and nursing expertise in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The eICU monitoring equipment also tracks outcomes, and the vendor, Philips, is compiling COVID-19 outcome data from ICUs across the country, as well as locations in Japan and Great Britain. UW nurses and physicians will be co-authors on the study. The ability to track this data is made possible by the dedicated work of eICU nursing assistants.

View the full nursing annual report, 2020: The year of the resilient, remarkable nurse:

• For reading on your computer (pdf)
• For reading on smaller mobile device or printing (pdf)

UW Health’s Black/African American Employee Resource Group first met on a frosty morning in January 2020 at Wingra Clinic, shortly before the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and racial inequity swept the world.

The idea was to create a support network at UW Health, where the nursing workforce is about 96 percent white. The group is open to any employee who identifies as Black or African American.

“The isolation aspect is huge, the stress of being Black in predominantly white spaces, and coping with the ignorance about what the experience of being Black is like,” says group co-chair Jessi Kendall, BSN, RN, who works with cancer patients on B6/6. “Being able to come together and speak about the challenges in a safe space is so helpful.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the monthly meetings have gone online, but the need to support each other has become even stronger, says co-chair Adrian Jones, a program manager for community health improvement.

“We are very intentional in the meetings about how we can work to support each other in the era of COVID-19, and the racial inequity pandemic, and how that is all interconnected,” Jones said. “We want to make sure everyone has resources they need. The reality of what is going on deeply impacts everyone in our organization.”

Jones participates and serves as an additional resource in the Today Not Tomorrow Pregnancy and Infant Support group led by UW Health newborn hospitalist, Dr. Jasmine Zapata. Jones is also a board member at the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health and Foundation for Black Women’s Health, where Kendall is a health ambassador.

Kendall, a Madison native, went back to nursing school as an adult, and says she’s experienced the impact she has on Black patients.

“When I walk into the room, I see their shoulders relax, and they say, ‘I can actually tell you what I’m feeling.’ This is what quality of care looks like to the patients, it’s not an extra,” Kendall says.

Part of improving care, she said, also involves having “frank conversations” with co-workers to improve care for Black patients. Kendall has been a Diversity and Cultural Congruence Resource Nurse, and has spoken to the Cultural Diversity Resource Group, which Tracey Abitz, DNP, RN, CTN-B, NEA-BC, and director of nursing, helped start about eight years ago.

Abitz says the work grew out of a need to care for patients in a culturally congruent manner. She worked with nursing councils to choose and implement the Purnell Model, to guide nursing practice. In addition, cultural humility elements were woven into nursing orientation, competencies, education and documentation in Health Link. At the state level, she founded the Wisconsin Chapter for Transcultural Nursing in 2013. The global work for the organization has been accelerated by the hiring of Shiva Bidar-Sielaff as UW Health’s first chief diversity officer.

“We know that bias exists and that it affects health outcomes,” Abitz says. “We’ve made some movement forward, but there’s still work that needs to be done. It’s a journey, and we need to actively engage and commit to lifelong learning, self-reflection, and partnership in order to eliminate disparities in health outcomes.”

View the full nursing annual report:

• For reading on your computer (pdf)
• For reading on smaller mobile device or printing (pdf)

Patients and family members often say how thankful they are for the care they received at UW Health.

Their gratitude is sometimes focused on a nurse who left a memorable imprint on their hearts forever. So much so that they regularly express their appreciation by writing “thank you” letters in the form of DAISY Award nominations.

Because their heartfelt words speak volumes about the special way nurses touched their lives, we asked several grateful patients and family members to read these notes of appreciation to their nurses, on camera, as a special surprise for their nurse. What the readers didn’t know is that they would be the ones being surprised.

Sue and Amy

Louise, Maribeth and Katie

Jamie Hartwig and Luray Ford

https://youtube.com/watch?v=02EOtmg_Xmw%3Frel%3D0

Nathan Fox and Brandon Bendall

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZnQn1HBWaLc%3Frel%3D0

Maria Christina Jackson and Amber Vozka

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y3GXAaNBS84%3Frel%3D0

Amber Noggle and Sam Griesser

https://youtube.com/watch?v=h4JW7YuHwqM%3Frel%3D0

Another way we recognize our remarkable nurses is to ask them to read “something” on camera, and they soon discover that it’s a “thank you” from a patient or family member.

Ann Arnold

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4GLSbIuAKq0%3Frel%3D0

Neelam Shrestha

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ny4ye2UuH6M%3Frel%3D0

Thank you to all UW Health nurses. You are remarkable.

Triage nurses on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic are charged with making complex decisions as patients call in with lists of symptoms and nurses work to ensure that patients receive timely and appropriate care, which may require being seen in person or monitored differently.

This balancing act is further influenced by the reality of working with a previously unknown virus, which results in often changing guidelines and resources to guide care, and the concern of overburdening hospitals and clinics – all the while recognizing the potential consequences related to the spread of the pandemic and individual patient outcomes.

Élise Arsenault Knudsen, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, is a co-investigator at UW Health for a multi-site study to better understand and model how nurses make triaging decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re interested in how nurses are making decisions and what resources are available to them in their work environment to guide their decision-making,’’ says Arsenault Knudsen.

She was invited to join the study by colleagues at the University of Iowa, including principal investigator Priyadarshini Pennathur, PhD, and co-investigators, Laura Cullen DNP, RN, FAAN, and Stephanie Edmonds, PhD, MPH, RN. The study team has received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through a rapid response research grant to explore what resources nurses use for decision-making, understand the cognitive work of triage nurses, and how nurses’ perception of risk influences their decisions during a pandemic.

After attaining Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, the researchers plan to use transcripts of phone calls during the peaks of the COVID-19 pandemic and analyze non-clinical data from those calls. They also hope to use screen capture technology to show which resources nurses use, and likely toggle between, to guide their decision making. They will then interview between 40 and 60 triage nurses at UW Health and the University of Iowa to understand their cognitive process and their perceptions of risk.

“Our goal is that once we understand how decisions are being made, we can design tools to help facilitate decision making and better support our triage nurses,’’ she says.

Arsenault Knudsen is the clinical nurse specialist for research and evidence-based practice at UW Health. Her job is to support nurses across the healthcare system to do research and to use research evidence in their practice. Her program of research explores ways to support nurses to change their practice, while accounting for the dynamic context in which nurses work, to optimize patient outcomes.

She says during the COVID-19 pandemic, she has seen research the timelines for research accelerated, including at UW Health.

“Traditionally research studies take months and even years to get off the ground, but NSF funded us in a matter of weeks and the approval processes, including the IRB, are moving at lightning speed,’’ she says.

UW Health is a site for multiple clinical trials involving COVID-19 treatment, which means nurses are not only caring for these patients, but they are also supporting research protocols that will help us to learn more about how to treat them.

“It’s been fascinating to see how quickly studies are getting up and running, patients are being enrolled, and the teams are coming together to accelerate knowledge and treatment for patients here, and all around the world,’’ she says. “These nurses are doing amazing things.”