From the Chief Nursing Officer Cindy Sayre | Keri Nasenbeny
Dear UWMC Nursing Community,
Reflecting on 2021 and the impact the professional nurses of UW Medical Center had on the health of the public gives us enormous pride. We began 2021 with new vaccines for Covid-19, and our nursing teams rose to the challenge to get thousands of Puget Sound area residents, including our staff, vaccinated. You’ll see more detail on this unprecedented process in the response to Covid section of this report. The nurses who participated in the vaccination campaign reported feelings of hope and renewal. It was a special time! In addition, flexibility and dedication were the order of the day, as we faced the Delta surge, and navigated staffing, census and cultural challenges heretofore not experienced.
During this time of unprecedented challenges, we focused in key areas to provide as much support as possible to our staff, leaders and patients and families. Our Care4U program was instrumental in offering peer support, group support, Got Burnout? Sessions, classes in self-compassion, and much more. We also leaned into broadening our impact on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), and were thrilled to welcome a Director of EDI, Elaine Acacio. Our commitment to EDI was strengthened by the development of a Bias Reporting Tool, as well as expanded opportunities for staff education.
As you’ll see in the report, our dedication to nursing excellence never wavered. One reflection of this was the intentional work that was started in building Healthy Work Environments in many of our clinical areas. Even as we celebrate the accomplishments of 2021, we acknowledge that being a nurse during a pandemic, with multiple challenges happening locally and nationally, has taken a toll on everyone. As we consider the work we are doing in 2022, we will continue to bring as many resources to our teams as possible. Our vision is World Class Healthcare delivered by World Class Nurses. Together, working as a team, we will continue our legacy of nursing excellence!