June 10, 2023

The 7 people today picked out as the recipients of the 2022 Kaiser Permanente Nationwide Nursing Excellence Awards exhibit the core values of Kaiser Permanente nursing. This group of leaders, clinicians, scientists, innovators, and researchers provides incredible, compassionate care for our members.

“Our award-profitable nurses are shining examples of how preserving a powerful determination to the tenets of our experienced follow of nursing lets us to sustain a culture of excellence, even via the adversities and challenges offered by the global pandemic,” said Phyllis Doulaveris, senior vice president and chief nursing executive for Kaiser Permanente. “Our nurse leaders ought to have exclusive praise for cultivating an natural environment of strength and compassion, integrity, belief, and open up conversation that have helped our teams do their greatest get the job done in hard situations.”

Remarkable Nurse Award

Catherina “Karen” Manalo, RN, Relief Nurse, Oncology Unit, Kaiser Permanente Anaheim Healthcare Heart

Karen Manalo’s particular way of bringing relaxed, empathetic, and incredible care to her individuals was important to improving upon nurse interaction at the Kaiser Permanente Anaheim Health care Heart. Affected individual fulfillment with nurse communications greater from a baseline of 60% to 84% in one 12 months just after Manalo and her team members centered on enhancing conversation.

The new techniques, which contain client conversations to aid uncover particular person preferences so folks can be addressed as folks, are now utilized through Kaiser Permanente in Southern California.

“Even if I’m chaotic, I will hear to my patients’ issues,” Manalo stated. “I’m also delicate to their nonverbal signals and make tips about how they could really feel improved. I imagine of techniques to assist them really feel far better even when their prescription drugs can’t.”

Excellence in High quality and Basic safety Award

Hai Ta, RN, Skilled Improvement Consultant, Kaiser Permanente in the Northwest

Turning details into actionable facts is a expertise that Hai Ta uses to improve affected person treatment and boost personnel security.

In the early days of the pandemic, Ta employed the developments she saw in worker COVID-19 infections to preserve her colleagues safe and sound. Later, she utilized comparable approaches to improve high quality and protection for sufferers in the Northwest Region. For illustration, she improved the management of medications by lowering excessive inventory and waste and reducing out-of-date remedies.

Rising Nurse Leader Award

Gigi Tejada, RN, Assistant Section Administrator, Full Care Administration, Kaiser Permanente San Diego Health-related Center

Developing an surroundings where individuals experience included and heard is a enthusiasm for Gigi Tejada.

“I inspired my staff to think like the gurus they are, so the team is actively engaged with giving the ideas about how the work must be carried out,” Tejada mentioned. “They now have the solutions. My purpose is to get rid of barriers and help our clinicians glow.”

Tejada also highly developed her section in the place of culturally competent treatment. She served one particular of her crew customers get accredited as a qualified bilingual speaker in Tagalog.

“Research exhibits that cultural competency drives the quality of care larger,” Tejada said. “As a patient, if I see that my wellness care supplier speaks the very same language and understands my lifestyle, it fosters a sense of trust.”

Excellence in Nursing Leadership Award

Mervin Francisco, RN, Medical Director, Grownup Inpatient Services, Kaiser Permanente Irvine Health care Centre

Top quality of care and affected individual protection have outperformed countrywide benchmarks underneath Mervin Francisco’s management. One particular of his hospital units is closing in on a 12 months with out a one client tumble. 4 of his units have experienced zero hospital-obtained tension accidents considering the fact that January 2022.

Francisco thinks the keys to his accomplishment are partnering with affected person-going through workers, sharing information transparently, and supplying authentic-time worker comments.

Excellence in Expert Progress Award

Jose J. Dy Bunpin III, RN, Experienced Advancement Director, Kaiser Permanente Antioch Clinical Middle

Jose Dy Bunpin is very pleased to be a nurse. He exhibits that satisfaction via ongoing learning and by encouraging other nurses to maintain escalating their information.

Dy Bunpin designed a sequence of seminars to teach nurses on foremost jobs made to improve client results. A single team of nurses who attended his seminar outlined a way to make sure the well timed completion of a distinct client evaluation that will have to be concluded prior to affected individual discharge.

The project crew initially set a goal of completing 50% of the necessary assessments inside of a person hour of acquiring the purchase. Even so, by the 90-working day check-in 75% of the expected assessments had been concluded inside a person hour.

Excellence in Study and Proof-Based Practice Award

Patricia Zrelak, RN, Scientific Apply Marketing consultant, Stroke, Kaiser Permanente in Northern California

By the finish of 2022, Patricia Zrelak will have provided 90 presentations to an intercontinental viewers and will have printed around 40 analysis papers in peer-reviewed journals, 3 medical pointers, and numerous guide chapters and white papers. She is most proud of the investigate in a single of her hottest papers, revealed in December 2021, which modified the way hospitals are expected to measure affected individual damage.

Zrelak has gained 3 nationwide awards from the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses for innovation, medical observe, and mentorship. She also a short while ago introduced a new journal for the Planet Federation of Critical Care Nurses. The International Journal of Vital Treatment is now the organization’s formal journal and will assist make investigate noticeable about the globe.

Close friend of Nursing Award

Avi Zaraya, Medical Center and Region Administrator, Help Companies, Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills Medical Center

At the Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills Medical Heart, Avi Zaraya potential customers the Assistance Expert services Division, which has proven itself to be a accurate good friend of nursing. Interdisciplinary councils of managers and client-experiencing workers collaborate to fix challenges. The councils troubleshoot problems and come up with methods.

Employees from both equally teams associate to pay a visit to patient rooms day-to-day. They offer you resolutions to patients’ problems, these as with food stuff providers. The collaboration has resulted in much more happy nurses with far more time to care for sufferers, and a superior knowledge for clients.