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I’ve Won an Award for Best Nursing Innovation!

I am proud to announce that I’ve won an award for the “Best Nursing Innovation” in Nurse.org’s 2025 Best of Nursing Awards.

This award, which highlights the Awake and Walking ICU initiative, is a triumphant recognition of nursing innovation, and all those nurses who’ve worked tirelessly over the years to develop these protocols and advocate for evidence-based ICU practices.

Without them, I couldn’t have won this award, and the idea of an Awake and Walking ICU may have remained in obscurity indefinitely.

With that in mind, this accolade honors the pioneering efforts of dedicated innovators like Polly Bailey, APRN, and Louise Bezdjian, APRN, whose relentless commitment and sacrifices have shaped, studied, and perpetuated this revolutionary approach to ICU patient care.

Polly’s journey began with a poignant realization, after witnessing the profound physical, psychological, and cognitive impacts on a young intensive care survivor.

Guided by her nursing instincts, she sought a transformative solution during a time when the prevailing norm dictated that nurses merely follow physicians’ orders.

Her audacious inquiries challenged the established practices of her day by asking:

  • “Why are we automatically sedating every patient?”
  • “Why not embrace the potential benefits of keeping patients awake and mobile whenever possible?”
  • “What if we facilitated mobility and alertness post-intubation, rather than postponing rehabilitation until later?”

Still, despite the incontrovertible evidence that her approach dramatically improves patient outcomes, Polly faced significant resistance – losing friends, enduring mockery, and battling for support in the face of entrenched skepticism.

Nevertheless, her remarkable perseverance in confronting the status quo speaks volumes about her dedication to improving outcomes for ICU patients.

This award also symbolizes a victory for ICU revolutionists worldwide, who have been fighting for a more humane and evidence-based intensive care environment.

All things considered, the recognition of the Awake and Walking ICU as a nurse-led innovation marks a pivotal moment in our field, as it signifies a growing realization among ICU clinicians that traditional practices are not immutable and should evolve in the name of providing better care.

The tides are changing, and the ICU revolution is underway, bolstered by the ABCDEF Bundle.

Critical care medicine is on an upward trajectory, moving toward the widespread standardization of Awake and Walking ICUs.

And together, we are embracing this paradigm shift, igniting hope for the future of critical care – one in which patient dignity and mobility take center stage in the healing journey.

About the Author, Kali Dayton

Kali Dayton, DNP, AGACNP, is a critical care nurse practitioner, host of the Walking Home From The ICU and Walking You Through The ICU podcasts, and critical care outcomes consultant. She is dedicated to creating Awake and Walking ICUs by ensuring ICU sedation and mobility practices are aligned with current research. She works with ICU teams internationally to transform patient outcomes through early mobility and management of delirium in the ICU.

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I am a nurse leader responsible for improving practices across the intensive care units of a large health system. As an experienced ICU nurse, I know the culture that most often exists in ICUs is one that promotes and accepts over-sedation that often causes unintended harm. While reviewing the literature to better align our liberation practices with the best evidence, one of our bedside nurses discovered Walking Home From The ICU. The combination of poignant stories from ICU survivors with the expertise of some of ICU Liberation’s leading experts became the impetus for a system-wide evidence-based practice improvement project aimed at changing analgesia and sedation management in our ICUs.

After initially being inspired by Kali’s podcast and the incredible stories it provides, we saw an opportunity for more. We brought Kali in to present a webinar to almost 100 of our critical care team members, including nurses, APPs, physicians, and respiratory therapists. Kali’s presentation struck a needed balance between evidence-based practice information and inspiring stories, highlighting real patients who benefited from a practice that is often very different from what occurs in most ICUs today. The webinar was very well-received by all who attended, and the lessons learned have continued to be referenced by our team members as we strive to create an Awake and Walking ICU culture.

Kali offers a refreshing perspective on critical care, and she supports it with a wealth of knowledge garnered from years as a bedside nurse and advanced practice provider. Kali knows how to speak to clinicians because she is one, and she’s still very connected to the daily lived experiences of those on the frontline of critical care. I believe anyone working in critical care will find inspiration in Walking Home From The ICU to change the harmful culture of sedation in their practice. I would even go so far as to recommend the podcast as required listening for all ICU team members, whether experienced clinicians or new residents and nurses. When additional support is needed, I encourage clinical leaders to utilize Kali’s expertise and experiences to further inspire and motivate their teams. Time spent working with Kali is an investment that will pay dividends in the positive impact it has on the lives of the patients we serve.

Patrick Bradley, MSN, RN, CCRN
Virginia, USA

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