Debra Colshan
Health care setting: Other - Nurse Educator Outpatient/Emergency
Nominee’s role: Educator -
1. Describe how your nominee has shown concern for humanity.
Deb graduated as an RN in 1986. She then joined the team at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa as an ICU nurse. She worked in the ICU for several years and her peers identifed her as a strong preceptor/mentor and very dedicated to patient care. As opportunities arised throughout her career, Deb was not afraid to venture out and experience differnt avenues in nursing. In addition to the ICU she has worked in the GI lab, Post Anesthesia Care Unit, Quality, and in May 2008 she accepted a position as a Nurse Educator in the ER and Outpatient areas. With such a diverse background in nursing, Deb brought great strengths to the Emergency Department.Deb is dedicated to the profession of nursing. She is constantly researching the most up-to-date information to enhance the quality of patient care.She leads the Med reconciliation, Sepsis, Code Blue, Rapid Response,Pneumonia Commitees at St. Luke's and also serves on several other committees.Deb's commitment and leadership in these projects and desire to povide the highest standard of care to every patient everytime,is reflected in our hospital's core measure statistics and better patient outcomes. She is truly compassionate about the care of each patient.
2. What do you consider your nominee’s most significant contribution to the nursing profession?
When I think of Deb her desire to lead to a culture of excellance is Superior. I have been so fortunate to learn from her experience and knowledge. She is evaluating everyingthing (process, patient care, forms, procedures,etc) to make them better. She has a deep awareness about the importance of quality in the best outcome for each patient everytime.She has invested so much time in researching and becoming educated about best practice. She then bring that knowledge back to others in the organization and this leads to a culture of excellance. She is an outstanding role model and leader.
3. Give an example of how your nominee has shown leadership through mentoring, or served as a role model for others.
Deb is recognized as a leader in our organization. She has brought great change to the ER. Her dedication to nursing as a profession shines through her ability to lead others to excellance. She takes all opportunities to mentor others and/or learn from others.Being on the Code Blue Committee and the Rapid Response Committee she identified several educational gaps and need for improvement.She was instrumental in setting up 25 mock code blues in a 2 week time frame on all shifts. This gave staff through out the hospital an opportunity to utilize their BCLS and ACLS skills. It also gave them the opportunity to understand their role in a code blue. Initially, there was push back from staff and now people are confident in there skills and thankful for the advanced training. In the ER when there is down time and Deb notices a free minute she goes and get the a the CPR baby and we do a mock pediatric code or a mock trauma. She values education and makes education a priority in her personal and professional life. She is currently enrolled at Allen College in the RN to MSN program.
4. Was there a specific event that prompted you to nominate this nurse? If so, please tell your story.
Deb has been monumental in the sucess of our ER. When she accepted her position the ER there was a change in leadership, high turn over rate and poor morale. As a part of the leadership team in the ER we began to recruit and hire nurses and the goal was to keep them.Deb being the new educator had to come up with a new orientation program in a short time and help develop a culture of excellance. Despite minimal exposure to ER medicine she accepted the challenges and did exactly that.She began by interviewing staff about orientation and education to identify challenges that were occuring. After identifying strengths and weaknesses, Deb developed an outstanding orientation program. She is dedicated to the sucess of each nurse and their preceptors. She meets with them frequently and each nurse has an individualized orientation program from 6 weeks to 18 weeks. We currently have no vacantcies, our staff satisfaction scores are the highest they have been in 4 years, our patient satisfaction scores are rising,our volumes are rising,and we now have a strong foundation. I believe that education plays a huge role in the recruitment and retention of nurses. It gives them confidence in their skill set and they feel valued as an employee.Deb has great aspirations for our ER as a department and each nurse as individuals. She doesn't give up on anyone, if something isn't working as planned she looks for gaps in the system/process. I have worked in the ER for 9 years and I have never been more excited about what our ER is going to look like in one year from now.