Lee Health 2021 Nursing Report

20 NURSING

2 1 ANNUAL REPORT

1

Table
of Contents

Strengthening and Elevating Nursing Leadership
& Professional Practice ......................................................................... 5

Caring for Others Begins with Caring for Ourselves ...............10

Supporting Our Patients, Their Families and Each
Other Through the Pandemic ............................................................12

Beyond Hospital Walls: Nurses Are Shaping Care
Delivery Across Lee Health ................................................................16

The Year of the ExceptionalLee Nurse ........................................... 11

Our Impact: Lee Health by the Numbers ..................................... 26

Recognizing the Contributions of Nurses
of The DAISY Awards ........................................................................... 32

Becoming Better Together ................................................................ 35

Dear Friends,

We are pleased and honored to share our 2021 Nursing Annual Report with you. As we all
know, the past year was challenging for many reasons, and it impacted every one of us in
ways that we could not have imagined just a little over a year ago. While we have faced
historic challenges, our Lee Health nurses never hesitated in their response. You acted
bravely, compassionately and professionally to meet the rapidly evolving needs of our
patients, their family members, your colleagues and our community.

Even as we faced unprecedented hardship, we made significant strides toward
strengthening nursing professional practice and shared governance across our health
system. Because of the genuine kindness, empathy and compassion of our nurses and many
others, Lee Health was able to respond quickly and decisively to the pandemic. This level
of response is not new—it’s simply who we are and what we do at Lee Health. This has not
changed in more than 100 years, and it will not change any time soon.

Nurses are at the heart of our organization and they are more critical than ever to our
ability to deliver the right care at the right time and place. By continuing to strengthen
and enhance our governance, we are ensuring the voices of our nurses are heard and
responded to in meaningful ways. It also ensures we are at our best and that we are
demonstrating leadership at every level.

We believe our focus on shared governance will also help us better live our ExceptionalLee
Promise. Our Promise has continued to challenge us to listen, communicate effectively
and to embrace empathy—even when things were at their most difficult. Practicing these
timeless principles has allowed us to better comfort and care for our patients throughout
the pandemic—as well as each other. As one of our nurses recently said, “A year ago, we
were a team. Now, we are a family.”

We are profoundly grateful to each and every one of you for all you have done and for being
part of the Lee Health family. We will continue to deliver exceptional care and experiences
to our patients, and we will continue working closely together to make Lee Health even
better, as we want to be known as the place where nurses come to grow and pursue their
calling alongside us.

Again, thank you for all you have done over the past year—whether seen or unseen. You are
truly what makes Lee Health so special, and we are confident our future is as bright as ever.

With gratitude and excitement for our future,

Jennifer Higgins, RN, MSN, NEA-BC Larry Antonucci, M.D., MBA
Chief Nursing Officer President & CEO

3

A Huge “Thank You” to
Our Advisory Council Members

Refreshing a PPM takes time and significant commitment from an
organization and from the nurses who volunteer to be part of the process.
We want to sincerely thank all of the members who participated and all of

our nurses who shared feedback and ideas throughout the process.

Strengthening and
Elevating Nursing
Leadership and
Professional Practice

Nurses have a long legacy of advocacy and service on
behalf of their patients, communities and fellow nurses—
and our shared experiences over the last year have only
strengthened this legacy.

In addition to responding to the most serious global
health crisis in more than 100 years in 2020 and 2021,
Lee Health nurses have paved the way to numerous
accomplishments. These accomplishments include
reinvigorating our governance structure and refreshing
our Nursing Professional Practice Model (PPM). These
accomplishments will ensure nurses are at the table when
decisions are made around nursing practice and patient
care—and that the decisions made reflect the values of
our nurses.

5

Elevating Our Clinical Practice Council (CPC) and Nursing Advisory Council are made up of nurses
Our Nurses’ from across Lee Health, and they are focused on improving the quality of care and
Voices by experience we deliver, in addition to ensuring nurses have a strong voice in the issues
Strengthening and decisions that impact them.
Listening
& Nursing The goals of the system-level CPC include:
Governance
Ensuring that the voice of the bedside nurse is heard by actively participating
with other councils and committees;

Motivating and inspiring our staff nurses; and

Supporting and helping facilitate staff nurse involvement in committee projects
at the system and campus levels.

In addition, we focused on living our ExceptionalLee Promise by increasing listening and
sharing opportunities for our nurses. We did this in several ways, including conducting
listening rounds and hosting nursing town halls.

Refreshing and Reinvigorating Mariam (Mimi) Wisnewski,
Our Nursing Professional Practice MSN, RN-BC
Model (PPM)
Lead Professional Practice Specialist,
In 2021, Lee Health doubled down on its efforts to better Clinical Learning
support and develop our nurses by focusing on and
advancing nursing professional practice. As part of this “Because I’m not at the bedside
work, our new 50+ member Nursing Advisory Council anymore, being part of this process is
undertook the task of reviewing and refreshing Lee Health’s connecting me with the bedside nurses.
Nursing Professional Practice Model (PPM). Lee Health’s last This is not just a leadership effort. It’s
update to the PPM was completed in 2014. part of everything we do—things we are
already doing. It’s making our efforts
The overarching goal of the PPM is to improve the into a concrete representation to see as
quality of patient care, ensure accountability and monitor a visual. This [PPM] isn’t one more thing
performance. to abide by. This is an amalgamation of
all elements of nursing practice to make
Our PPM reflects our multi-component system and fosters nursing better at Lee Health.”
alignment of our nursing practice with our organizational
priorities and values. It describes how registered Shelby Guthrie, RN, BSN, CEN
nurses practice, collaborate, communicate and develop
professionally to ensure they are providing the highest Nurse Manager,
quality care for those served by the organization. Lee Gulf Coast Medical Center
Health nurses are 100% responsible for the gathering of Emergency Department
content and evidence to develop and “own” our PPM.
“It’s re-inspiring, especially after the
Our process included: year we’ve had. We’re pulling back the
foundation of what we do and why we
» Review of numerous PPMs from other organizations do it. Having top leadership involved,
» Nearly 50 survey results and six feedback sessions all the way down to nurses who care for
» Selection of 10 domains on which nursing is focused patients, allows all voices to be heard
» 2 58 hours of work, specifically on all 10 domains throughout the organization.”

important to nursing 7

Nursing Professional Practice Model
(PPM)

Our refreshed PPM complements and encompasses
Lee Health’s mission, vision and values and brings our
ExceptionalLee culture to life. It also outlines the three
theories used to provide a solid base for professional
nursing practice at Lee Health:
» Interdisciplinary Care
» Relationship-based Care
» Evidence-based Care

Lee Health’s 10 Nursing Professional
Practice Model Domains

Nurses from a variety of professional backgrounds
participated in subgroups for each domain to define its
importance to our nurses and provide the evidence to
support it. Our domains include:

Compassion
Patient Care
Quality
Safety
Respect
Cultural Competence
Patient Family Centered Care
Leadership
Teamwork
10 Commitment to Excellence

Leveraging Shared Governance to
Advance Our PPM

As we continue to bring our nursing PPM to life, we
encourage nurses to be active participants in our shared
governance to ensure their voices are heard. Shared
governance shifts the focus from a top-down management
style to a collaborative approach, so that nurses influence
the decisions that impact them.

Our Beliefs

Professional nursing is both an art and a science.
It is a dynamic process based upon a combination
of the following concepts: knowledge, skills,
provision of care, respect, honesty, compassion,
teamwork, integrity, initiative, creativity,
intellectual curiosity, resource responsibility and a
commitment to excellence.

Nursing and interdisciplinary research, as well as
outcome-based quality improvement, form the
basis for professional nursing practice. We strive
to improve the quality of patient outcomes, refine
the delivery of patient care and implement our
model for evidence-based nursing practice.

By creating a model climate for nursing practice
and patient care, we care for all colleagues who
are charged with the responsibility of patient care.
An ethical, supportive and nurturing environment
is essential to nursing practice and the delivery of
patient and family-centered care. We respect and
value the ethnic, cultural and religious beliefs of
our diverse health care team.

Safety is a core value in the interdisciplinary
model of caring. It promotes care that will keep
our patients free from injury as well as ensuring
the interdisciplinary team members are safe.

We view the ICARE framework as a gold standard
for Lee Health nurses. It models the right kind of
leadership that can transform our practice into a
true example of relationship-based care.

9

Caring for
Others Begins
with Caring for
Ourselves

Fostering Resilience and Perseverance

Lee Health nurses have always faced challenges head-on to deliver on our mission: to be a
trusted partner, empowering healthier lives through care and compassion. Unlike any other
year, the COVID-19 pandemic challenged our nurses to work as a team more than ever by
pushing our team members to verbalize their personal, emotional and physical capacities.
Our nurses leaned on one another to inspire hope and to continue to lead patients to
healing. Through newly formed initiatives, our team members were able to remain resilient.

Rejuvenation in REST Clinical Circle

Resilience Education Support Team Clinical Circle is an internal, monthly
(REST) is a multidisciplinary team publication by frontline staff created for
established to identify significant staff all Lee Health team members that tackles
stressors and provide helpful, meaningful difficult topics such as fear, discrimination
and collaborative solutions to help and suicide. This initiative showcases
mitigate the short- and long-term effects issues transparently, empowers open
of these identified stressors. So far, REST dialogue and aims to improve the well-
has established: being of our staff.

» Lists of vetted, supportive internal and Within Clinical Circle, we provide the
external resources available to our opportunity to give anonymous feedback
staff through surveys and encourage our
readers to support their peers through
» M ental Health Awareness for Leaders solution-focused conversations. We
training, which increases awareness also encourage leaders to read the un-
and knowledge and provides censored survey results to get a pulse-
leaders the tools they need to check of how our team members are
notice and intervene when someone feeling at Lee Health. To ensure we are
is experiencing a mental health meeting the needs of all staff members,
challenge or crisis Erica Schivinski, RN, MSN, nurse resident
development specialist, served as a
» REST Deployment Teams, which consultant/content expert for the Clinical
are small groups of Lee Health Circle Committee and collaborated with
colleagues who are available to leadership development, spiritual services,
provide short-term support for teams guest relations, behavioral health and CPC
throughout our health system that are members. The goal of the publication is to
experiencing stressors affecting their provide useful information that showcases
coping, resiliency or productivity unhealthy patterns so team members can
intervene and support others through
tough times.

11

Supporting Our
Patients, Their Families
and Each Other
Through the Pandemic

20 There is no doubt that 2020 and 2021 have been
21 a blend of accomplishments and challenges, joy
and grief. While we have suffered losses, we have
demonstrated incredible compassion and care for
our patients, their families and each other.

Patient and Caring for Colleague in Critical Condition
Colleague
Story In the early days of the pandemic, Sanjay Bharath, RN, a nurse at Gulf Coast Medical Center,
answered a call light and provided routine care to a patient who later tested positive for
COVID-19. Within a few days, Sanjay began experiencing symptoms that got progressively
worse. His parents drove him to the Gulf Coast Medical Center Emergency Department,
where he was admitted and then intubated by some of the same people he works alongside.

“After eight days, I was extubated and then three days later, I was discharged,” Sanjay said.
“It was an amazing experience waking up and going through my phone and seeing all the
messages and posts on Facebook. I think my director even had to put a sign on my door
because too many people wanted to stop by and say ‘hi.’ I was glad that my co-workers
were caring for me. I knew I was in good hands.”

Of course, being a nurse, Sanjay knows what it means to care for a vented patient. “It was a
little awkward seeing the ICU nurses in passing, but everyone here is very professional,” he
said. “There are no issues, and the care I received was great.”

Sanjay believes that his experience with COVID-19 has made him a more compassionate
nurse. “I wanted to make connections with patients, so that is why I became a nurse,” he
said. “After my experience, I have even more drive to show my patients compassion and
empathy, especially patients going through respiratory issues like the ones I experienced
with COVID-19.”

…I was glad that my co-workers were
caring for me—I knew I was in good hands.

Sanjay Bharath, RN

13

Reflecting on Christina Bryan
the One-Year Registered Nurse, Critical-Care Outreach, Gulf Coast Medical Center
Anniversary of
COVID-19 FEAR
“We faced a lot of fear early on in the pandemic. Fear of the unknown and of the future. Of
In March 2021, we what would we face today or tomorrow and the impacts it would have on our lives. But we
held a COVID-19 were determined to beat it. We didn’t let the fear stop us from moving forward to try to save
remembrance event as many lives as possible. Now, one year later, we have all been changed by it. We’ve grown
to allow us time to and gained knowledge that is changing how we practice medicine and how we provide
pause and reflect patient care.”
on the year and to
honor our patients Samantha Gonzalez
and colleagues Registered Nurse, 4N Neuroscience, Cape Coral Hospital
who were lost to
COVID-19. As part of TTeEaAmMwWoOrkRK
the event, our nurses “The pandemic emphasized something health care workers already knew: You cannot do
shared testimonials this alone… My Lee Health family of 4N became my escape during a time of despair and
highlighting the loneliness. Together, we became resilient. We became #LeeHealthStrong.”
lessons they learned
about themselves Paul Anders
professionally as Registered Nurse, 2E Observation PCU, Cape Coral Hospital
nurses and in their
roles as parents, AAdDvVeErsRiStyITY
grandparents, “…Yes, it was a year of suffering, pain, hardship and emotional stress. We all have, in one way
neighbors and fellow or another, experienced loss. So many have risen to the occasion to bring healing in the midst
human beings. of confusion… my one takeaway from all that we have encountered is how I can take these
Here are just a few challenges of this past year and apply them to myself to make me a better nurse, a better
highlights from those clinician and a better person.”
testimonials:
Renee Hoffer
Registered Nurse-Critical Care, Emergency Services, Cape Coral Hospital

AAmMbBiIvVaAleLnEcNeCE
“…We soon became saddened by what we saw happening. Our patients were separated
from their families; we were separated from our families. We became that human connection
to those who were sick, and we leaned on our co-workers for support. Even before the
pandemic, the World Health Organization named 2020 The Year of Nurse and Midwife. Little
did anyone know how true this would be. However, in my eyes, it was the ‘Year of all Health
Care’ on the same team fighting the same fight. I am very proud of my profession.”

Lance Dominguez
Registered Nurse-Critical Care, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Golisano
Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida

PPriRoIrOitRieITsIES
“…I have found it is easier to focus on priorities… I’m still the same nurse providing great
care to my patients, but now I prioritize emotional well-being as equal to good health.
And I prioritize the emotional well-being of my co-workers and my family in a way that
is more profound than before the pandemic.”

Charles “Capie” Pankow
Registered Nurse, 6W Progressive Care Unit, HealthPark Medical Center

FFaAmMilIyLY
“A year ago, we were a team. Now, we are a family. Throughout this experience, we
faced challenges, fear and death, day after day. Every time we walked through the
hospital doors, we had no idea what new adversity we would face, but we continued to
walk through those doors anyway… We will always be there for our families, whether it
be our frontline family, our patient’s family and even our actual family. We didn’t stop
then, and we won’t stop now.”

Tara Woodring
Registered Nurse-Critical Care, Emergency Services, Lee Memorial Hospital

RReEsSilIieLInEcNeCE
“Regardless of the risks and with our backs against the wall, we have prevailed, day
in and day out; we get the job done. We have learned to work harder, faster and have
become more efficient. We have met incredible challenges head-on and through it, a
year later, we have only become stronger and more resilient. Though the future of the
coronavirus remains unknown, one thing is for sure, this family, the Lee Health family, is
stronger and more resilient than ever.”

Meloney Kinkade
Registered Nurse-Critical Care, MET Nurse, Gulf Coast Medical Center

HHoOpPeE
“The generosity and outpouring from our community of support, PPE donated, rum-
smelling hand sanitizer, the kind words of encouragement in chalk on the sidewalk
walking into the hospital every day gave us all hope. The collaboration from all
disciplines fighting for each patient gave me hope. Watching staff not let people die
alone gave me hope… I hope we continue to see this trend, continue to be vigilant and
continue to remember all those who have and continued to be affected by COVID.”

15



Beyond Hospital
Walls: Nurses
Are Shaping Care
Delivery Across
Lee Health

Just like health care delivery, the role of
a nurse has morphed and changed over
the decades. Still, one thing remains true:
nurses are vital when it comes to shaping
health care. Our nurses are involved in every
aspect of care in every department in every
setting. In our role, we make critical decisions
that improve patient outcomes and overall
operational efficiencies—from administrative
to human resources, from shared governance
to information technologies.

17

Saving Lives Courtney Kelliher, RN
Through Home
Health Visits On Jan. 2, 2021, Courtney Kelliher, RN, a case manager Courtney saved my life.
for Lee Health Home Health, was the first nurse to Thankfully, she sent me to
connect with a 74-year-old patient who was beginning the hospital. Had she not
her home health journey. During the first visit, Courtney been there, I would have
noted that the patient’s blood pressure was elevated. continued to sit in my chair
As in all nursing assessments, Courtney asked how the watching TV, and I would
patient was feeling and the patient stated that she was have never gotten the
“just not feeling well.” attention that I needed. I
would have died in my home
Our clinical staff works hard to prevent patients from all alone.
returning to the hospital unnecessarily, but it was clear
to Courtney that this particular patient needed to be Grateful Patient
hospitalized.

Courtney discussed this course of action with the patient, who was initially reluctant.
However, Courtney persisted, and the patient finally agreed. Upon arriving, emergency
department physicians determined the patient was suffering from an acute stroke.

After the patient was well enough, she returned to Lee Health Home Health. At a follow-
up visit by Courtney’s supervisor, the patient shared how grateful she was for Courtney’s
excellent care and persistence.

Teamwork Nicole Stone, BSN, RN, OCN
Transforms
Operations The need for chemotherapy doesn’t stop, even in the The pandemic pushed us to
to Ensure face of a global pandemic. Nicole Stone, BSN, RN, change the way we worked,
Continuity OCN, an outpatient oncology supervisor at Regional and we are all more open
of Care Cancer Center, said, “Keeping the clinic open while to change now because we
following the necessary COVID-19 safety precautions see how it can improve what
gave the care team the opportunity to collaborate and how we work and our
and develop new work processes.” patients’ experiences

To reduce the risk of exposure among staff and Nicole Stone, BSN, RN, OCN
ensure patient safety, the clinic separated into two
teams and transitioned from a typical 8 a.m.- 5 p.m.
schedule to three 12-hour shifts.

Nicole explained, “Everyone—leadership, nursing, pharmacy, lab, schedulers—came together
and agreed on the plan so we could still see the same number of patients, while also
keeping ourselves as safe as possible.”

The teams made the best of the situation by encouraging each other and even creating
friendly rivalries and leaving notes boasting their team was the best. “There were very busy,
and long days, but our team showed incredible determination to provide the safest care
possible,” she said.

Patient 100% 99.5%
Experience
Gulf Coast Medical Center Surgery HealthPark Medical Center
As part of our strategic (Inpatient) 4 BD S B (Inpatient)
goals, we want to
deliver a caring 98.9% 96.1%
and compassionate
experience every time Gulf Coast Medical Center Cape Coral Hospital OBGYN
to our patients. We 2E ICU S (Inpatient) (Inpatient)
have listed units and
departments that are 94.8% 89.8%
in the 80th percentile,
which exceeded our HealthPark Medical Center HealthPark Medical Center
annual objective goal: 2W (Inpatient) 4W (Inpatient)

89.0% 83.9%

HealthPark Medical Center HealthPark 4 Medical Center BDS C
COU (Inpatient) (Inpatient)

82.2% 77.6%

HealthPark Medical Center 1 Cardiac Outpatient/LPG
Decision (Inpatient)

19

Certified Zero
& Platinum
Certified Zero
Units

As part of our ExceptionalLee Promise,
we are committed to continuously improving
care and creating a safe environment for our
patients, their families and each other.

Over the last several years, Lee Health has made significant progress toward improving the safety
and efficacy of care for patients in our hospitals. Today, Lee Health is recognized as being in the
top percentile of hospitals nationally when it comes to safety. This is a major accomplishment, and
it would not be possible without our dedicated team of nurses. In 2020, the following nursing units
were recognized as Certified Zero and Platinum Certified Zero:

Certified Zero: Platinum Certified Zero:
12 months with Zero CAUTI and CLABSI 24 months with Zero CAUTI and CLABSI

Gulf Coast Medical Center Gulf Coast Medical Center
4 West MPCU | Nursing Director: Beth Thacker 5 East Cardiac Medicine | Nursing Director: Carol Bennett
5 West General Medicine | Nursing Director: Carol Bennett
4E General Surgery | Nursing Director: Stratton HealthPark Medical Center
Washington 2W MPCU | Nursing Director: Kristy Desfosses
7 West Oncology | Nursing Director: Michelle Stevens
Hollenbeck Cape Coral Hospital
3W | Nursing Director: Pat Crowe
HealthPark Medical Center
8 West | Nursing Director: Lorraine Martins Lee Memorial Hospital
2 South | Nursing Director: Kristy Desfosses 4N Neuro | Nursing Director: Marguerite Pierce
4 SICU | Nursing Director: Sandra Simmons 5 Rehab | Nursing Director: Orin Shift
7 West | Nursing Director: Lorraine Martins 8 SPCU | Nursing Director: Renee McCauley

Cape Coral Hospital
4N Medical Surgical | Nursing Director: Bekah Jernstedt

Lee Memorial Hospital
8 West | Nursing Director: Lorraine Martins
6 Rehab | Nursing Director: Orin Shift
3N PCU | Nursing Director: Marguerite Pierce
5N General Surgery | Nursing Director: Jennifer Schmidt
L7 | Nursing Director: Renee McCauley
8N SICU | Nursing Director: Renee McCauley
4NS | Nursing Director: Marguerite Pierce

Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida
Hematology Oncology | Nursing Director: Laura Ortiz
3 NICU | Nursing Director: Nancy Vossler
PH6 Acute Care | Nursing Director: Erin O’Connell

21

The Year of the
ExceptionalLee
Nurse

This year, the Year of the Nurse & Midwife, elevated our day-to-
day work and profession to the entire world seemingly overnight.
As the novel coronavirus swept the nation, our nurses stepped up
to the plate in countless ways, including participating in extensive
training, taking assignments in other departments and even
minimizing time with family members to keep them safe.

With more than 100 years of service to our community and an
abundance of expertise and experience, Lee Health nurses have
established a proud and inspiring legacy of care and compassion.
Our nurses embody professionalism and skill that brings to life
what it means to be an ExceptionalLee nurse.

Throughout 2020 and 2021, Lee Health nurses celebrated
many accomplishments. We wanted to highlight a few of those
throughout this section:

Celebrating 50
Years of Service
to Lee County

Diane Spears, one of the first
African American nurses at Lee
Health, celebrated her 50th year
at Lee Health in 2020. Serving as
the nursing director for general
medicine – infectious disease at
Lee Memorial Hospital, Diane has
mentored countless nurses over the
years and developed leaders for
the future of nursing. On Feb. 22,
we celebrated “Diane Spears Day”
with a proclamation from Fort Myers
Mayor Kevin Anderson. Diane truly
embodies what it means to be an
ExceptionalLee nurse.

23

Gulf Coast In August 2020, Gulf Coast Medical Center’s medical and surgical oncology departments
Medical Center moved to a new state-of-the-art inpatient cancer center on the seventh floor. Before the
Expansion move, nurses worked tirelessly to ensure the space would keep workflow efficiency a top
priority so that patients receive the highest quality of care. Nurses also kept patients and
their traveling families in mind which impacted the room layouts and furniture to include
extra seating, areas for visiting and food trays. The nursing teams also completed tabletop
exercises and simulations and learned the lingo used at their new hospital.

A Lifesaving Rhia Sheehan, RN was at Lee Community Healthcare Clinic in North Fort Myers, which
Phone Call provides care for the uninsured and underinsured. She was working with a patient whose
symptoms required care from a specialist outside our area.

She secured the referral, arranged the appointments and accommodations and called the
patient to let her know that everything was set. “I remember talking to her and giving her all
of the details. But it wasn’t until I talked to her two weeks later, to follow up, that she shared
with me what that phone call meant,” Rhia said.

The woman, who was uninsured, felt she was becoming a burden to her husband. So, she
decided that she was going to kill herself. But, Rhia called.

“She told me that call saved her life,” Rhia said. “To this day, I keep in touch with her and her
husband.” It may have been Rhia doing her job, but it was also a powerful example of the
impact nurses can have on the patients they serve.

Get to Know Darcy Allen Do you have a favorite quote? If so, what is it and why is it
Our Nursing your favorite?
Leadership MBA, BSN, RN
HealthPark Medical Center “Leaders become great not because of their power but
Over the last year, because of their ability to empower others” - John Maxwell
we have seen several
colleagues take part This quote keeps me focused on empowering teams so they
in the Voluntary Exit can practice their profession together to do the very best
Program or move on for for our patients.
other reasons, including
retirement and relocation. Alyssa Bostwick What would you like your nurses to know about you or
While we are always your leadership style?
saddened to say goodbye MBA, MSN, RN, CPN
to close colleagues, Golisano Children’s Hospital of I believe in transformational leadership. I am incredibly
many of whom become transparent and honest even when that means admitting
like family to us, we are Southwest Florida when I was wrong or didn’t make the best decision. I believe
also excited to see new there is such strength in vulnerability and that we can be
leadership and energy our truest and best selves when we are vulnerable together
come to our nursing team. as a team.

Throughout 2020 and Jennifer Higgins As you think about the future of nursing and where the
2021, Lee Health added profession is headed, what worries you looking ahead?
several new chief nurse RN, MSN, NEA-BC
executives (CNEs) to our Gulf Coast Medical Center The shortage of nurses and the burnout begins to take the
team. We want you to focus from the true calling of nursing. The ability for nurses
get to know our nurse Lee Health CNO to build traditional relationships will take strong, cohesive
leaders better; here are teams of nurses to work towards excellence together.
short profiles filled with
interesting background Julia Liebscher What advice or wisdom would you give a new nurse or
and advice for newer someone thinking about going into nursing?
nurses. MS, BSN, RNC
Lee Memorial Hospital Make sure that you truly have the passion to take care of
people. This continues to be one of the most rewarding
professions. You may be overwhelmed the first year.
It’s always okay to ask for help and ask questions.

Candace Smith What would you like your nurses to know about you or
your leadership style?
Ph.D., RN, NEA-BC
Cape Coral Hospital The leadership styles most enjoyed are the transformational
and servant leadership, as these styles create vision for
hope and achievement in others through a shared mental
model of leadership.

Diane Smith As you think about the future of nursing and where the
profession is headed, what most excites or inspires you?
MS, RN, CMPE
Ambulatory Services Rapid technology advancement is enabling nurses to “touch”
more people than ever, which completes a basic human need
to connect and fulfills the calling of the nursing profession.

25

It’s working, folks! Keep flattening the curve!
By staying home and social distancing, we are
the firebreak that will slow this wildfire. And
if it wasn’t helping, the numbers would be
growing exponentially! Proud to be a part of
this community. PAUL G.

Quote shared via #LeeHealthStrong campaign, April 2020

Our Impact:
Lee Health
by the Numbers

With nearly 5,000 nurses, we play a vital role in
ensuring our health system stays on track with our
strategic goals. Despite COVID-19 changing many
of our plans, Lee Health received numerous awards
and recognitions.

27

Lee Health Clinical Practice Council
Snapshot

LEADERS:

» Monica Rembert, BSN, RN-PCCN, HPMC, CPC Chair FY 2020
» Katherine Lalor, MSN, RN-CHFN, HPMC, CPC Chair-Elect and Chair FY 2021
» Sherri Parmar, BSN, RN-PCCN, GCMC, CPC Past Chair FY 2019 - 2020

250TOTAL: Members, Liaison
Attendees and Leaders

Nurses by License Nurses Leveled in PNAP

4,462 39 35

Registered Nurses PNAP For Level III
candidates
229 4

Advanced Practice For Level II
Registered Nurses
Nursing Students
217 (RN, LPN, CNA)

Licensed Practical 200
Nurses
Students
61
Hours Spent Training
Board Certified Nursing Students
Registered Nurses
FY20 NURSE EDUCATION
4,969
248,783
Total
Hours

$8,399,620

Community Benefit

FY20 APRN EDUCATION

6,934.50

Hours

$6,934.50

Community Benefit

Procedures and 48,542 6,869
Encounters
Surgeries Infant Deliveries
Beds by
Facility 214,540 83,517

ED Visits Home Health Visits

78,698 13,749

Total Acute Trauma Services
Admissions District Visits

56,856 2.6+ M

Total Short Total Patient
Stay Days Encounters

2.6+ M 1.1+ M

Total Outpatient Ambulatory
Procedures Physician Visits

291 461

Cape Coral Hospital HealthPark Medical Center

135 414

Golisano Children’s Hospital Lee Memorial Hospital
of Southwest Florida (Includes 75 skilled nursing

699 and 60 rehab)

Gulf Coast Medical Center 2,000
(Includes skilled nursing)
Total

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Awards and Leapfrog Group Top Hospital Award for Outstanding Quality
Ratings and Safety

» HealthPark Medical Center
» Lee Memorial Hospital
» Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida

Leapfrog Safety Grades

» Cape Coral Hospital – A
» Gulf Coast Medical Center – A
» HealthPark Medical Center – A
» Lee Memorial Hospital – A

CMS Quality Star Ratings (January 2020)

» Gulf Coast Medical Center:
» L ee Memorial Hospital, HealthPark Medical Center & Cape Coral Hospital:

CMS Five-Star Quality Ratings

» Gulf Coast Medical Center Skilled Nursing:
» HealthPark Care & Rehabilitation Center Nursing:
» Lee Memorial Hospital Skilled Nursing:

U.S. News & World Report High Performing Hospitals

» Lee Memorial Hospital
» HealthPark Medical Center
» Gulf Coast Medical Center
» Cape Coral Hospital

U.S. News & World Report High Performing Best Nursing Homes

» Lee Memorial Hospital Skilled Nursing Unit
» Gulf Coast Medical Center Skilled Nursing Unit
» HealthPark Care & Rehabilitation Center

Healthgrades

» Cape Coral Hospital – America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Specialty Care
» Gulf Coast Medical Center – America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Specialty Care
» Lee Memorial Hospital – America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Specialty Care
» HealthPark Medical Center – America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Specialty Care

American Heart Association/American Stroke Association
Get With The Guidelines Stroke Awards

» C ape Coral Hospital, Gulf Coast Medical Center and Lee Memorial Hospital -
Stroke Gold Plus Honor Roll Quality Achievement Award

» H ealthPark Medical Center - Stroke Elite Honor Roll Quality Achievement Award

Other

» H ealthPark Medical Center is an IBM Watson Health 50 Top Cardiovascular
Hospitals

The workers are all HEROES in my eyes!!! NORMA R.

Quote shared via #LeeHealthStrong campaign, April 2020

31



Recognizing

the Contributions

of Nurses with

The DAISY Award

Lee Health is fortunate to have a wonderful
team of talented, experienced and genuinely
caring nurses who go above and beyond
each and every day and night. With that said,
some our nurses are redefining the standard
of excellence through their compassion,
expert care and commitment to our Promise.
In 2020, we focused on enhancing and
expanding the ways we recognize our nurses’
good work by bringing The DAISY Award to
our organization.

In use by nearly 5,000 health care
organizations and schools of nursing across
29 countries, The DAISY Award is one of the
most well-known and respected forms of
recognition in the nursing profession.

33

We are honored to share a comprehensive listing of our winners of
The DAISY Award as part of this year’s Nursing Annual Report.

Cape Coral Hospital

» Tiffany Fritsche
» Shelby Roth
» Jennifer Rourke
» Vita Shtevnin

Gulf Coast Medical Center

» Rebecca Reeves
» Tiffanie Henken

Golisano Children’s Hospital
of Southwest Florida

» Jon Sprott
» Charlene Martin
» Jackie Langenbach
» Melody Bitting
» Deiadra Reel

HealthPark Medical Center

» Samantha Budd
» Ashli Lee

Lee Memorial Hospital

» Melanie James

Becoming Better
Together

It is a known fact that teamwork nets better results. And our nurses know
that health care—despite its complexities—is no different. A multi-disciplinary
approach led to improved safety and quality, more patient-centered care,
and most importantly, better patient outcomes.

We know that working together—not working in silos—is the only way
forward in delivering excellent evidence-based care.

35

With Gratitude to
Our Community

Dear Friends, Family and Neighbors,

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, you, our community
across Southwest Florida, shared an outpouring of support
for our team members, patients, and other first responders
and essential workers. We are all truly humbled by your
giving hearts and generosity through one of the toughest
times in our history.

Your presence, support and motivation encouraged our
team members to continue to deliver exceptional care. Your
financial contributions, donation of supplies and food, and
uplifting letters allowed our team members to stay strong
and resilient through the darkest days of the pandemic.

We cannot thank you enough for everything you did to let
our nurses and other staff know that they are cared for and
appreciated. Your incredible show of support made our
progress possible.

Together, we are #LeeHealthStrong!

With sincere gratitude,

Your Lee Health Nursing Family

37

Together Forward –
Where We’re
Headed and How
We’ll Get There

Looking Ahead to the Future

In April 2021, Nursing Advisory Council members voted to adopt the refreshed
Professional Practice Model and partnered with our chief nurse executives to
introduce the model. Over the next year, we will move nursing together forward by
operationalizing our PPM and by aligning nursing practice across our health system
with our domains and focus areas. Some steps include:

Further Strengthening Shared Governance to Elevate the Voice
of Nurses in Decision-Making:

We want to encourage involvement in shared governance to further elevate
the nursing voice at Lee Health through our Clinical Practice Council and the
Nursing Professional Practice Model.

Continue Elevating and Growing Our Nurses Professionally:

To elevate our nurses, we will continue encouraging them to complete training
and education opportunities, pursue speaking opportunities and publish
research in academic and medical journals.

Supporting Our Nurses’ Emotional Health and Well-Being:

We recognize the real impact of trauma and hardship may appear months or
even years after the trauma occurred. Supporting our nurses’ emotional health,
well-being and resilience has been and will continue to be one of our highest
priorities moving forward.

Recognizing and Celebrating Our Nurses Accomplishments:

We want to continue to share the accomplishments, rewards and certifications
awarded to our nurses.

If the COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything, it is that we can overcome any challenge
we face if we work together and lean on one another for professional guidance and
emotional support. As it has been said, we began the pandemic as a team. Today, we
are a family.

We are deeply grateful for our Lee Health family of
nurses, and we are committed to living our Promise,
honoring our Nursing Professional Practice Model and
advancing nursing at Lee Health and beyond.

39

We Pr ise