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I’ve Been Nominated for the Best of Nursing Awards

I’ve Been Nominated for the Best of Nursing Awards!

December 13, 2024

I am incredibly excited to announce that I’ve been nominated for two Best of Nursing Awards.

These awards are given out as part of an annual initiative by Nurse.org to “recognize and celebrate dedication and excellence in the nursing industry in the U.S.”

And the best part is, all Nursing Awards finalists are nominated by the nursing community.

This year, I’ve been nominated in the Nurse Leader and Nurse Innovation categories, but this is truly a tribute to pioneering Awake and Walking ICU nurses like Polly Bailey, Louise Bezdjian, and all the nurses who dare to challenge the status quo, research this subject, and fight to bring evidence-based practices to their patients.

An advocate of Awake and Walking ICUs being nominated for these awards is amazing, as it brings validation and recognition to all the ICU Revolutionists who have been leading the humanization of critical care medicine.

And being nominated for Best Nurse Leader reinforces the fact that nurses are leaders who can influence ICU culture and affect change when it comes to standard of care in medicine.

All things considered, these nominations reflect the power of nurses to make life-saving changes in the ICU, and the world at large.

If you’d like to show your support, you can cast your vote here from now through December 31st.

And keep in mind that anyone can vote – not just nurses, and you can vote in both categories for which I’ve been nominated!

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.

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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