First runner-up: Respect is the key

Pediatric intensive care unit, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles

When asked why she submitted the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles pediatric intensive care unit for the American Nurse TodayAll-Pro Nursing Team award, Hui-wen Sato, RN, MSN, MPH, CCRN said, “I wanted to share with a broader audience how nursing can be healthy and not full of negativity and bullying, even on the most chaotic and stressful of days.”

This team’s award submission highlights respect. In response to the question, “Describe your culture of professionalism,” Sato answered: “Our unit is known throughout our hospital for our exceptional managers and our strong teamwork. Our managers are supportive, empathetic, and go out of their way to show praise and both moral and practical support. We see our managers and core charge nurses treat one another and treat us with respect, and it absolutely spills over into how we treat one another at the bedside. We are a blame-free unit, so when mistakes are made, we focus on how to improve our patient care and resolve issues. We don’t focus on gossip or punishing people who make mistakes. This is simply a part of who we are.”

The team’s staffing and assignments also reflect respect. Patient assignments are made with the strengths, weaknesses, and skill level of each nurse in mind. “We also try to assign other nurses with appropriate skill sets in neighboring areas,” said Sato. “We want to ensure that every nurse has the support they need if they have a particularly challenging or very sick patient.”

This multidisciplinary group of healthcare professionals exemplifies teamwork at its best, working to care for their patients and support each other.