The nursing professional development and education team was recognized this year with Sibley Memorial Hospital’s 2021 DAISY Team Award. The award honors nurse-led collaborations that identify and meet patient needs by going above and beyond the traditional role of nursing.

Though their work often goes on behind the scenes, the nursing professional development and education team is critical to onboarding and orienting nurses as they join the hospital or transition between roles. 

When the public health emergency began, all nine nursing professional development specialists from across the hospital came together to find a way for nursing orientation to take place virtually so that incoming staff could continue to start work safely. They also worked together to meet ongoing critical needs for COVID-19 education and training, a job made even more challenging as standards and guidance surrounding the virus continued to evolve. 

Training and learning modules for new knowledge are developed as needs arise, especially in areas focused on keeping nurses as safe as possible when caring for patients with COVID-19. They led instruction about proper donning and doffing of personal protective equipment and safely using PAPRs (powered air-purifying respirators), which many nurses had not used before. They also were instrumental in establishing the COVID-19 unit safety officer program by coaching and instructing the safety officers, many of whom were clinical nurses from other units, in how best to keep their fellow team members safe as they entered and exited the COVID-19 unit. 

Through it all, they’ve maintained a spirit of positivity and teamwork that has helped keep the entire nursing team going. “So much of what this team does is behind the scenes,” says Allison Steinberg, M.S.N., M.P.H., O.C.N., director of excellence in nursing practice and education. “It was the highlight of my year to see them recognized for all the work they do and the way they do it together as a team.