• These steps are for nursing graduate students interested in conducting a student project at UW Health for academic credit with a sponsor. Go here to determine the process for additional tracks for nursing student projects or rotations.
• All nursing graduate students (regardless of UW Health employment status) who would like to complete a student project with a UW Health sponsor for academic credit must follow the steps listed below.
• The steps outlined here are requirements for UW Health. There may be additional requirements from the student’s academic institution. It is the student’s responsibility to find out about additional requirements from their academic institution.
• It is recommended that the following steps be complete at least 8 weeks before the planned start of the student project.

All the steps must be completed before the nursing student can begin their project, with their sponsor. These steps ensure the student is onboarded and has completed required competencies.

Step 1.    Student notifies their academic institution’s Clinical Placement Coordinator

• The nursing student needs to start this process by notifying their academic institution’s Clinical Placement Coordinator to let them know of their desire to complete the student project at UW Health.
• The academic institution’s Clinical Placement Coordinator will ensure that an Affiliation Agreement is in place between the student’s academic institution and UW Health. If an Affiliation Agreement is not in place, it is the responsibility of the academic institution’s Clinical Placement Coordinator to complete this process. For additional guidance with this process, the school’s Clinical Placement Coordinator should reach out to NursingStudentsProjectsRotations@uwhealth.org.
  • Affiliation Agreements may take up to 6 months to be completed. It is strongly recommended that the student inquire about this detail early in the process.
  • Signing a new Affiliation Agreement is at the discretion of UW Health.

Step 2.    Student identifies UW Health sponsor and nursing project

• Once the nursing student receives verification that there is an Affiliation Agreement between the academic institution and UW Health, the student should then find a sponsor and nursing project.
• The nursing student must identify a UW Health employee as their sponsor for their project.
  • If no sponsor is identified, the student should discuss sponsor identification with their academic institution’s Clinical Placement Coordinator or the student should email NursingStudentsProjectsRotations@uwhealth.org for help with finding a sponsor.
  • If no project is identified, the student should email NursingStudentsProjectsRotations@uwhealth.org for help with finding a project.

• The student and sponsor should discuss the role of the sponsor and the students project to ensure expectations will be met from both parties.
  • Students should provide a copy of their syllabus and/or project toolkit from their university to their sponsor.
  • An initial meeting between the student, their sponsor, and the students’ academic project chair is recommended. It is the student’s responsibility to contact their academic project chair and set up this meeting. The meeting can provide:
    1. Fully understand the project requirements.
    2. Negotiate adjustments to the project to ensure alignment with UW Health’s structures, resources, and goals.
    3. Make sure everyone has a shared understanding and agrees with the project plan.
    4. Review project timeline. 
    5. Understand required deliverables. 

Carefully read the following

Requirements of a Sponsor

Sponsors oversee student projects while students are in the walls of UW Health.  Although requirements of all academic institutions may vary, a sponsor at UW Health must meet the following minimum requirements:

• A bachelor’s degree in nursing
• Must be in a title that requires being a nurse

Restrictions for Students who are UW Health Employees

• The UW Health sponsor cannot be the employee’s paid supervisor or manager.
• The employees’ nursing project cannot take place at the same location where they are a paid employee.
• The employees cannot work on their project during work hours; the employees student work must be completed on unpaid time.
• The employee must be onboarded as a student and use the student access for schoolwork (e.g., Health Link student access).

Step 3.    Sponsor signs Sponsor Form

• After the student and the sponsor agree on the project, the sponsor must review and sign the UW Health sponsor form.

Step 4.    Student and Sponsor Complete the Nursing Students Academic Project Submission Form

• Together, the student and sponsor complete and submit a Nursing Students Academic Project Submission Form.
• To complete the submission the signed UW Health sponsor form will need to be uploaded with the submission form.  
• Once the student submits this form it will be reviewed by departments with nursing oversight for approval.

Step 5.    Student notifies their academic institution’s Clinical Placement Coordinator

• Once Steps 1 thru 4 are complete, the student must notify their academic institution’s Clinical Placement Coordinator of completion. At this time the student should ask their academic institution’s Clinical Placement Coordinator to enter a rotation request in myClinicalExchange.

Step 6.    Student uploads documents on myClinicalExchange

• Once the student’s project has been entered and approved, the student will receive an email prompting them to pay and register for an account if they don’t already have one and complete the compliance requirements.
• Student will upload the required documentation to be compliant with the student requirements.
• Students will see a green thumbs up in the myClinicalExchange system when they are compliant.

Step 7.    Student obtains appropriate UW Health access

• UWH Clinical Placement Office 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.

Student questions should be directed to their academic institution’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.”

In late 2019, the World Health Organization deemed 2020 “The Year of the Nurse.” Although it may seem as though COVID-19 has overshadowed this theme, we think it has amplified why 2020 is The Year of the Nurse, more than ever.

During National Nurses Week, May 6-12, we thank and honor all UW Health nurses for banding together in the face of this worldwide pandemic, with grace and dedication. They are on the frontlines bravely facing whatever comes their way. They are heroes and we are forever grateful.

Nurses Week also gives us a distinct opportunity to pay special recognition to a few exceptional employees who exemplify compassion, skill and an outstanding commitment to patient care and the professional practice of nursing.

We are proud to announce our 2020 Nursing Excellence Award recipients and nominees.

Meet Our 2020 Nursing Excellence Award Recipients

Support Staff, Clinical: Catherine Jones, Medical Assistant	Support Services, Non-Clinical: Patrick Van Eyck, Health Unit Coordinator	Rising Star: Fiona Bennett, BSN, RN, Pediatric ICU
Clinical Nurse, Clinics: Anna Bast, BSN, RN, Family Medicine	Clinical Nurse, Critical Care: Angela Kurth, BSN, RN, Cardiac ICU	Clinical Nurse, Home Health and Coordinated Care: Amber Brunner, MSN, RN, Coordinated Care
Clinical Nurse, Medical: Eden Larson, BSN, RN, Medical and Surgical	Clinical Nurse, Pediatrics: Katie Elmer, BSN, RN, Pediatric General Medicine/Surgical	Clinical Nurse, Surgical: Alyssa Holt, BSN, RN, Medical/Surgical and Short Stay
Clinical Nurse, Surgical and Procedural Services: Sally Temple, RN, Operating Room	Primary Nurse: Ann Shefchik, BSN, RN, Pediatric ICU	Leadership and Advanced Practice: Nicole Kalscheur, MSN, RN, Employee Health and Wellbeing

2020 Nursing Excellence Award Nominees

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

Amy Alexander Kimberly Ashford Parvin Bandarabad Cheryl Bass Anna Bast Ann Bellings Melissa Beltran Fiona Bennett Kristi Birkle Mary Blum Jessica Brockner Amber Brunner Whitney Buss Barbara Byrne Andreya Carman Tami Cecil Susan Chandre Anya Collard Jennie Corey-Heinrich Suzanne Daugherty Ann Dehn Ariel Demont Shiloh Dolphin-Mack Brittany Douglas Steven Drevlow Rachel Edwards Jennifer Ekezie Kathryn Elmer Aja Elvord David Erickson Cynthia Essex Rikki Flint Renee Floyd Angela Foster Sarah Frank Nicole Gardner Jennifer Goodwin Kelli Gross Jennifer Hackenmiller Alma Hajdari Pamela Hall Tyler Hardyman Kaitlynn Harkonen Mary Herman Emily Hertel Alyssa Holt Meghan Holum Carly Hood Susan Hopkins W. Steven Hughes Christy Hunter Heather Hustad Elizabeth Johnson Catherine Jones Jennifer Kakuske Nicole Kalscheur Catherine Kellihan Sarah Keyes Stephanie Klock Jennifer Kooiman Mohr Jacob Kopmeyer Angela Kurth Karen Lacy Erika Lang Sara Larsen Eden Larson Earlene Laudin

Nicole Laufenberg Caroline Ledbetter Carrie LeMahieu Janna Lewis Jeremy Lins Wittnee Linscheid Peter March Emily Maritato Janean Marr Karen Marvin Nicole Marx Courtney Maurer Linda McKenna Ro Mean Alicia Meier Marguerite Milanowski Eden Miller Dawn Mills Marcie Mitchell Lisa Moyer Janessa Muchow Ann Nelson Elizabeth Niblack-Sykes Andrea Noeske Mary Ellen O’Leary Arianna Opsahl Christopher Plampin Laura Potamousis Carrie Pulvermacher Joseph Ramia Rohenie Ramnarine Brooke Ramsey Shelly Reyzek James Russell Robert Scheel Megan Schroeder Melissa Schwab Ann Shefchik Jenna Shinstine Erik Sikora Sara Stewart Brittany Stombaugh Justin Strom Mary Sutter Sally Temple Kusumam Thayyil Nancy Tschoeke Patrick Van Eyck Danielle Varnell Michele Voss Teresa Wagner Kelsey Walsh Michele Warnke Joan Watson Megan Webber Jennifer Weber Heide Weiss Kathryn Wellenkotter Mary Faith Welling Sara Westra Jacqueline White Steven Wiese Terrance Wilde Emily Wilhelmson Samyej Xiong Hushee Xiong-Vang

Rudy Jackson, DNP, MHA RN, CENP Senior Vice President, Chief Nurse Executive Rudy Jackson came to UW Health in August 2020 and brought with him a fresh perspective on nursing leadership. This resulted in the expansion of UW Health’s executive nursing leadership structure to include a total of four Chief Nursing Officers to improve access and support to direct care RNs in all practice settings. In addition, Rudy fully embraces a transparent nursing shared governance structure to ensure that RNs are partnering with leaders in shared decision-making to help further shape and improve professional nursing practice and patient care at UW Health
Michele McClure, MSN, RN Vice President, Chief Nursing Officer-University Hospital	Anne Mork, MS, MHCDS, RN Vice President/Chief Nursing Officer, Ambulatory and Nursing Support Services
Luke Sticht, MSN, RN, CNML, CCRN-K Vice President/Chief Nursing Officer, American Family Children’s Hospital	Nicole Kalscheur, MSN, RN Chief Nursing Officer, East Madison Hospital

On Oct. 12, 2017, at the national Magnet conference held in Houston, Texas, UW Health nurse Susan Gold, BSN, RN, ACRN, was named “Magnet Nurse of the Year” for Exemplary Professional Practice, by the American Nurses Credentialing Center – one of the top honors a nurse can achieve.

Gold, who received the Nelson Mandela Fellowship earlier this year, was honored for more than 25 years of exceptional nursing practice and her educational efforts in Africa, to raise awareness among adolescents about HIV and AIDS.

Gold was joined at the Magnet conference with UW Health nursing leaders and colleagues.

“I felt so honored and reminded, again, why UW Health is the best place to be a nurse,” stated Gold. “This award is a reflection of all the support I’ve gotten from nursing co-workers, managers and nursing administration over the past 26 years.”

During her introduction of Gold at the Magnet conference, Beth Houlahan, DNP, RN, CENP, UW Health Senior Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive, said:

“At the intersection of the art and science of nursing, all roads lead to Susan Gold. While she came to the profession of nursing later in life she did not waste any time improving the health and well-being of the individuals and communities she served both locally in Wisconsin and across the globe in East Africa. Susan embodies all the tenets of a Magnet nurse.”