The 2018 Partners in Excellence Awards honored individuals and teams for demonstrating exceptional leadership and innovation, teamwork and quality treatment and service. Nurses and other care team members had a strong presence at the Feb. 27 event, thanks to the outstanding contributions of staff to all areas of the hospital mission.

Here are just a few of the many examples of how Partners in Excellence recipients are making the Brigham an even better place for staff, patients and their families. (A complete list of honorees is available here.)

Elizabeth Donahue caring for a patient.

Elizabeth Donahue, MSN, RN, NP-C,
Professional Development Manager
Brigham and Women’s Primary Care Associates, Longwood
Category: Leadership and Innovation
Donahue was nominated for her leadership in planning the first Primary Care Nursing Orientation last summer. She provided education, guidance and clinical knowledge to participants while infusing Jean Watson’s Caring Theory in the newly constructed ambulatory orientation curriculum.
“Elizabeth began each day with an inspirational Watson Caritas Process, allowing us to remember why we became nurses in the first place,” said Nancy Matthews, MSN, RN, assistant nursing director for Faulkner Community Physicians at Hyde Park/West Roxbury, who nominated Donahue. “Feedback from attendees was positive and reflected our sincere appreciation for Elizabeth’s efforts to support us in the ambulatory setting. I can only imagine how many patients I will be better prepared to serve because of this solid ambulatory care orientation I received.”

Susan Gabriel caring for a patient.

Susan Gabriel, BSN, RN, CCRN
Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit
Category: Leadership and Innovation
Gabriel was nominated by a student in the accelerated bachelor of science in nursing program at the MGH IHP, where she serves as a clinical instructor. Nominator Julika Wocial says that Gabriel “did everything in her power” to make the experience positive for both students and patients.
That meant ensuring patients were comfortable with the participation of student nurses in their care prior to clinical rotations. “This made a huge difference in our learning because we knew the patients were expecting us and it took away from our anxiety,” Wocial said. “I know the patients also appreciated it because some of them said they felt like they were contributing to something good and valuable — our education — and they felt important by being included in the decision.”
Added Wocial, “Susan’s teaching style, and the kind of nurse and person she is, had an enormous, positive impact on my entry path to the nursing profession. I know it will have an even bigger impact on my future patients because my goal is to become the kind of nurse Susan is.”

Alba Garcia and Susan Schilling

Alba Iris Garcia, Medical Assistant
OB/GYN, Brookside Community Health Center
Category: Quality Treatment and Service 
Garcia was nominated for her dedication to her patients and colleagues. According to her nominator, Mary Susan Schilling, MD, of Obstetrics/Gynecology, “Alba is the most amazing medical assistant I have ever worked with in my seven years as a nurse and 30-plus years as a physician. She goes above and beyond every minute of every day; she has the best interests at heart of every patient she sees, makes extremely sound decisions and anticipates my needs before I ever walk in the room. She has a kind, compassionate way about her and will always do what is best for our patients and our department, even if it requires additional steps and more work. Currently, we are participating in a study of our patients’ access to infertility care. She is single-handedly making it happen.”

Paul Francullo, Surgical Technologist 
Operating Room
Category: Teamwork
Francullo has been a surgical technologist at the Brigham for 18 years, and working with him on the General Surgery team is “a privilege,” according to nominator Terrie Hanscom, RN, of the Operating Room. “Paul has been precepting new OR personnel, including nurses and surgical technologists, for at least 17 years. He shares his knowledge freely with his students. Paul is scrubbed in all of the most complicated cases of general surgery. If a difficult case is looking like it will go beyond the end of his shift, he will volunteer to stay to keep the continuity of the team intact.”

From left, Partners in Excellence Award recipients Chris Hughes and Carol Kale are joined by Ann Leary, PACU charge nurse, and Cyndi Slater.

Carol Kale, BSN, RN, Nurse Care Coordinator
Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU)
Category: Quality Treatment and Service
Kale was nominated for the vital role she plays in the Extended Recovery Unit, where she educates staff on admission criteria and works with Admitting staff on appropriate screening for patients and with nurses and patients on referrals. Beyond that, though, nominator Cynthia Slater, BSN, RN, of the PACU, says that Kale is “a wonderful person who truly cares about people.”
“Carol has managed to obtain transportation for patients who have no family or friends to help them,” said Slater. “When we had a homeless patient who needed to be discharged, Carol spent the day of surgery and the entire next day making a plan. She went to the pharmacy with her own money to obtain medications. A discharge out of the hospital did not mean out the door. Carol knew the patient needed to be placed somewhere or would be right back in the ED. She has both intuition and experience that are so valuable.”

From left, Kristen Robishaw, Lindsey Murphy and Nina Hanley.

NICU RN PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) Team
Category: Leadership and Innovation
Nurses Tricia Blaine, RN-C, Krista Kyle, BSN, RN, Nina Hanley, BSN, RN, Jessica Marchetti, MSN, RN, Lindsey Murphy, BSN, RN, and Kristen Robishaw, RN, were nominated by Newborn Medicine leaders for their deep commitment to outstanding clinical care and their exceptional technical skills in percutaneous central line placement.
According to their nominators, “The team’s contributions to patient care and education are outstanding, and they have had a significant impact in reducing our incidence of Central Line-Associated Blood Stream Infections (CLABSIs) in the NICU. In addition, they are a wonderful educational resource for neonatology fellows who are acquiring this important skill through educational workshops, simulations and hands-on training. Individuals on the PICC Team are extraordinarily dedicated and exceptionally skilled team members who consistently go above and beyond their responsibilities to ensure that our patient care is optimized, often working extended hours to do so.”