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Leadership

Remy Tolentino, RN, MSN, CNAA, BC
Chief Nursing Officer, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas

Listening is the key to Tolentino’s leadership, say her colleagues. By making herself accessible and visible to all of the 2,000 nurses she oversees at Baylor, the voice of the nurse is heard at the highest levels of management at the hospital. She promotes a participatory management style with her nurses, while also keeping a hands-on approach to day-to-day nursing operations that helps Baylor score well in surveys of nurse retention, recruitment, patient satisfaction, and quality of care — and this past year, achieve Magnet recognition. She also promotes professional growth and development for her staff. Addressing the nurses at the banquet, Tolentino said that “being in the position you’re in and continue to be in is what makes a nursing organization at a hospital click.”

Mentoring

Jackson Igbinoba, RN, BSN, BC
Clinical Manager, Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, Houston

Igbinoba has risen through the ranks quickly at Memorial Hermann Southwest. How so? His boss once had to teach the Nigerian-born nurse how to use the basics of Microsoft Office when he made his first strides toward management. “But today, she consults me for the computer,” he said to a lively, roaring table of Memorial Hermann nurses. Igbinoba has long worked under the credo of “do unto others,” and it shows. Owning the highest retention rate among clinical nurse managers at the hospital, Igbinoba frequently walks his unit to consult with nurses, assist where he can and encourage his staff to work hard. What he likes to promote is self-esteem and professional development; he even encourages housekeeping staff to pursue nursing. Igbinoba tells them how by showing them how: He pursued his bachelor’s degree after being hired at Memorial Hermann with a two-year degree. Thanks to the hospital’s tuition reimbursement program, he achieved his goal with “dignity and respect” while raising a family with four boys. “Treat others like you want to be treated,” Igbinoba said.

Patient Advocacy

David Correa, RN
Director, Patient Satisfaction/ Customer Service,
University Health System, San Antonio

To Correa, it doesn’t matter that a terminally ill nurse with ovarian cancer could not afford the wound care treatments that provided her relief and dignity in her final days. He marshaled together his fellow nurses to volunteer daily wound care treatment for their colleague. Patient and nurse advocacy is Correa’s calling, even beyond the walls of the hospital. He forms and trains community support groups for patients, organizes annual holiday galas for area charities, and vigorously pursues money for nursing scholarships — he once contacted regional nursing directors to personally sell fund-raiser tickets. His bilingual skills are crucial for serving the Hispanic population of San Antonio, for which he pursued advanced training in cultural awareness. Correa is a member of the hospital’s systemwide cultural and linguistic competency team. While accepting his award at the banquet, Correa thanked God for the opportunity to be nurse and a patient advocate, “which are all the nurses here and all across the world.”

Teaching

Debra Lanza, RN, BSN
Director, Nursing Staff Development, Memorial Medical Center,
New Orleans

In her nursing career of 31 years, Lanza said the nursing profession has been accused of “eating our young.” Burnout and stalled careers have wreaked havoc on thousands of nurses throughout the years, “and we still tend to do that. I’ll be so glad when that is finally changed.” With Lanza’s help, Memorial Medical Center is doing its best. Lanza is an active and vital part of the nurses’ educational and professional growth at Memorial. She created a preceptor program that has been a key component of the hospital’s low nurse turnover rate of 9% to 10%, and a low vacancy rate of 4%. She also holds annual workshops for nursing assistant and unit secretaries and created an orientation packet for contract labor staff to improve the roles they play for nurses. One of the best compliments to her impact on nurses, Ulrich said, is that former staff sometimes return to the hospital to attend her education sessions, “because of the personal attention she gives each and every person.”

Glen Fest, is a Managing Editor for NurseWeek.

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