Through her actions, Eva inspires me and others to learn more, do more and imagine more – every day!
Where do I even begin…
Eva Heldt is one of the most inspirational leaders and incredible human beings I have ever had the opportunity to work beside. Her ability to lead her team is remarkable! Eva guides and motives the team towards success through her positive influence and consistent servant leadership. She role models our mission, vision and values in all that she does, even when it’s not easy. Her positivity, passion, integrity, poise and compassion are like no other!
Advocates for the nursing team, patients and families
Eva advocates for the team and our patients on a daily basis. Rarely does a day go by that Eva isn’t navigating a challenging situation, to assure we have the best outcome possible for our patients and our staff. As I round, I often here the staff say “Where’s Eva? I know she’ll be able to help!” Staff looks to Eva for help and support on a daily basis because she is advocates for the team and our patients to assure the best outcomes possible. Eva currently co-leads the Nursing Leadership Council, advocating and supporting nursing and patient focused initiatives. She is also an active member of the Code Blue committee, supporting the electronic code documentation pilot.
Creates a safe, supportive, trusting, collaborative and mutually respectful environment
Eva is a leader who leads by example and truly ‘walks the talk’. She rolls up her sleeves and jumps in to help, working side by side with team on a daily basis, developing safe, trusting and professional relationships. Eva flips her schedule on a regular basis to work the nightshift when there are staffing gaps. Not only does this allow her to support the staffing need, but also facilitates important relationships with all staff members and respect from the team. Eva is also a highly respected leader across the organization. Both formally and informally, she provides mentorship to both new and experienced leaders. She has been and continues to be a great resource to Brad as he transitioned from Unit Coordinator to MICU & CSU Manager, coaching and mentoring him in the manager role. Within our team, she is usually the first to say “I’ll show you how to do that” or “I’ll put some time on our calendars to review that process”. Across the organization she is a ‘go-to’ for many people. If there’s someone in need, she’s there to help, and typically in person. Because of Eva’s kind and thoughtful approach with people, she successfully tackles hard situations and difficult conversations with her peers, the team and with our patients, in a supportive manner that fosters trusting and respectful relationships and results in positive outcomes.
Celebrates the team in meaningful ways and is visible, accessible, responsive
No one likes a celebration more than Eva! She takes every opportunity to celebrate the team, whether it be hitting a quality target, survey participation rate, someone passing boards or welcoming a new baby or bride/groom to the Cardiology family. Eva also rounds with staff and patients to gather feedback on staff and shares that in her weekly email update. As a reflection of her leadership, there is a culture of recognition on Cardiology – the team takes note and gives kudos to one another on a regular basis. The culture of celebration and recognition that Eva fosters is an important part of the team culture in Cardiology. Every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Eva provides a weekly treat for the team as a way to recognize and thank them for their incredible work throughout the year.
Visibility, accessibility and responsiveness are three of the many characteristics that describes Eva’s leadership. She has an open door policy, but don’t expect to find her in her office! Eva is usually on the unit rounding with the team and helping however she can, or on another unit helping the team or connecting with another leader. She is very visible and present with the team. Her flexibility to meet the needs of the team, coming in early and staying late on a regular basis, is commendable.
Honors human differences
Eva fosters open communication with every member of the team, with consideration for each person’s ideas and suggestions. She takes the time to meet with staff members, to get to know them for who they are, leveraging each person’s differences in building the team. She holds the team to high expectations and accountability, having crucial conversations with grace, empathy and true compassion. She cares deeply about every member of the team – acknowledging and appreciating each individual for who they are and what they bring to the team. She pushes the team to excellence, embracing the failures and celebrating the successes while helping each member of the team to flourish. As I round with the team and talk with the staff about why they love working on the Cardiology unit, almost every time the answer is Eva and her incredible support for them. Within her peer group, Eva covers for other managers on an almost weekly occurrence, which helps support each person’s life demands and balance. When she covers, Eva rounds on the unit she is covering and addresses concerns in the moment to assure all staff and patient needs are met.
Encourages innovative problem solving, supports free exchange of opinions and ideas
Eva engages the team in collaborative problem solving and decision making. She motivates the team to exceed expectations with her positive, ‘can-do’ attitude. Over the years, Eva has engaged the team in problem solving through L2 huddles and rounding, which helps improve our processes and reduce incidents of patient harm. Prior to COVID, this work led the team to solid reductions in patient falls, medication errors, missed immunizations and specimen errors. Cardiology has not had a mislabeled specimen since May 18, 2018!
COVID presented a set of challenges that none of us could anticipate. Eva was instrumental in assuring patient safety in regards to telemetry and pulse monitoring for this patient population. When gaps and concerns were identified, Eva worked collaboratively to check and adjust our processes quickly. She would go to the source to see what was happening, discover what was working and identify what barriers we were facing. She leaned in, engaging the teams in process improvement with quick turnaround and solutions. Our remote telemetry and pulse ox monitoring is a good example of this.
Develops a culture of resiliency, compassion and excellence as well as supports professional development
Eva promotes a culture of resiliency, compassion and excellence, resulting in exceptional patient experiences, consistent quality outcomes and extraordinary team comradery. She is purposeful in connecting with each team member and building meaningful, supportive, and trusting relationships that are grounded in respect and openness. In building these connections, she is able to understand and support each person’s goals, leveraging every opportunity to foster both personal and professional growth and development. Year after year, Cardiology sees this in action - Cardiac Techs become Nurse Externs and Nurse Externs become Cardiology RNs. It is the time and energy that Eva invests in each of these team members that results in this kind of progressive development.
Supports organizational strategies, goals and initiatives
Everything Eva does in her day-to-day work supports the organizational strategies goals and initiatives. Whether it’s her advocacy for nursing, patients and families, or through engaging the team in problem solving to reduce harm or improve staff satisfaction, Eva lives and breathes our mission, vision and values. As we have been making changes in our rounding standard to improve patient throughput, Eva has been instrumental in advocating and supporting the discharge rounds process. She has engaged in difficult conversations with providers and staff alike to assure they understand the ‘why’ and reset expectations.
Eva does ALL of this and so much more
Through her actions, she inspires me and others to learn more, do more and imagine more – every day! I am truly blessed to work with and support Eva and believe she exemplifies the attributes of a Nursing Leader. At the end of each of our 1:1 meetings, Eva always says “I appreciate you.” Well, it’s my turn to say Eva. I appreciate YOU more than you know!
