Transformational Leadership

Transformational Leadership positions our nursing team to achieve organizational goals. Leaders inspire nurses to put their knowledge and expertise to work to advocate for resources and communicate processes that will improve care and the nurse practice environment.

Our nurses are leading through change to make life better for children and the families we serve. In 2023, our nurses demonstrated Transformational Leadership by impacting the organization through efforts that include:

The evolution from shared governance to nursing professional governance to emphasize the value of the nursing profession through accountability, autonomy and authority over their practice.
The launch of the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes a distinguished career in professional nursing committed to professional development, patient advocacy and compassionate care.
Interprofessional process and performance improvement initiatives led by clinical nurses

Nursing professional governance empowers nurses with new mindset

Over the summer, more than 70 clinical nurses and more than 40 managers learned about the journey to professional governance at two retreats.

Attendees gained new understanding of their role in professional governance during presentations led by Chief Nurse Executive Tammy Webb, Nursing Excellence Vice President Brennan Lewis and our Nursing Professional Governance team. They also participated in interactive sessions to spark creativity and reinforce the principles.

Following the retreat, managers were asked, “What does professional governance mean to you?” Sample responses:

“Empowering our nurses to commit to excellence, growth and development.”
“Removing barriers for my clinical nurses to have a voice.”
"Empower nurses to make decisions and drive their practice."
“It is the best way to get clinical nurses involved in owning their practice and being a voice to make change.”

PICU nurse honored for a transformational career at the bedside

Forty-three years after starting her nursing career at Children’s Health, Jonda Leitch, BSN, RN, became the organization’s first recipient of the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award. It recognizes nurses who have devoted their life’s work to compassionate care.

Recipients have accomplished a distinguished career that promotes a positive image of professional nursing. They also engage in professional development of themselves and other nurses, advocate for improved patient care and are recognized by the broader nursing community as transformational nursing leaders with 25 or more years of experience.

"Jonda exemplifies the success built by a lifetime at the bedside,” said Alison Kell, MSN, RN, CCRN, NPD-BC, Children’s Health Nursing Recognition Program Manager.

Jonda shared wisdom she learned along the way:

“Be curious, always. Listen well.
Look for an experienced nurse who has qualities you admire and let them become a part of your practice.
Love well, be kind. You are getting a peek into a family’s life, and that is an honor.”

Plano and Dallas nurses help drive improvements

Clinical nurses on the Children’s Health campuses in Plano and Dallas put their performance improvement skills into action at the unit level, contributing unique insights that improve patient care and the employee experience.

Plano Emergency Department Reduces Transfer Time

Leaders partnered with process-improvement experts with the Toyota Production System Support Center, a division of Toyota Motor North America. They found opportunities to reduce the time between an admitted Emergency Department (ED) patient’s bed assignment and the patient’s transfer to Acute Care Services (ACS).

For seven weeks, members of the ED team, ACS, administrative supervisors and Environmental Services representatives collected data from clinical employees to identify key barriers to reducing the ED-to-ACS admission time.

Now, care teams see patient progress on status boards in real time, reducing the time spent on communication between departments. Leaders also acted on clinical nurses’ recommendations for efficiencies in additional processes. The project reduced process time by 30% from Q4 2022 to Q4 2023, despite an 8.4% increase in ED to ACS admissions.

Dallas Nurses Empowered to Lead Through Change

Clinical nurses are making a difference on the Dallas campus by participating in the organization’s new management system that started in 2023. The program seeks to improve outcomes through enhanced communication, standard work and team member engagement. This new approach encourages professional development and allows clinical nurses to influence change by providing their perspectives and solving problems directly related to their daily work.

Fifty independent True North huddles and visual management boards were established across the Dallas campus. The True North huddles help align teams to ensure everyone is working toward the same goals. This helps nursing units solve problems collaboratively with interprofessional teams, track progress of their respective initiatives and share evidence-based practices with other units.

The initiative positively contributed to our culture of safety, leading to better outcomes for our patients. As a result:

The Dallas Campus celebrated more than one year without a Serious Safety Event, resulting in a rate reduction of 85% year-over-year.
The Good Catch rate improved by 47% in 2023, as documented in SafeLink, our safety event reporting system