Nurses Week award recipients
Riley Children’s Foundation (RCF) educational grant winners RCF grants are individual awards to any nursing student enrolled in an accredited nursing school with a GPA of 3.0 or greater. Applicants submit a personal statement of what it means to be a Riley nurse.
DAISY Nurse Leader Award The DAISY Nurse Leader Award recognizes a nurse leader that impacts staff and/ or the patient care they manage by: role modeling extraordinary behavior; creating an environment where attributes of trust, compassion, mutual respect, continued professional development and ethical behavior are modeled and supported; motivating staff with a shared vision and enthusiasm to achieve better outcomes for themselves and for their patients; and promoting and enhancing the image of nursing within the organization, the community and the profession. Sara Murff, clinical manager for 8 West “We are nominating Sara for the DAISY Nurse Leader Award because of her continued dedication, leadership, resilience and compassion. She is the glue that keeps 8W together.” “Thank you for being such a kind and understanding manager! Your aura lights up 8 west, you’re the best.”
Tiffany Brown, Hematology & Oncology, Master’s of Science in Nursing, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Graduation Date May 2025 I exemplify and incorporate the 4 IU Health Values, purpose, excellence, compassion, and team into my daily work. In my role as a leukemia/lymphoma nurse navigator, I provide guidance and education for patients and families throughout their cancer journey. I enjoy teaching and creating different ways to present educational materials based on their level of education to engage individuals and enhance their ability to learn. I strive to do my best every day at work and will go
Kirsten Reid, Nursing Professional Development, Master’s of Science in Nursing, Nursing Education, Graduation Date February 2025 My passion and commitment to Nursing Education come from a desire to empower and develop the nurses at Riley Children’s. Education and professional development lead to nurses who are confident, competent, and resilient patient advocates. I exemplify purpose by being present and attentive to the needs of the departments I represent as their Nursing Professional Development Practitioner. I round daily on each unit, observing and listening to the team members.
“I have worked with Sara since she started on 8W. To watch her grow from a nightshift bedside nurse, to shift coordinator, to THRIVING manager has been awesome. She is so understanding and cares about her staff both professionally and personally. Sara is an incredible manager! She is supportive to her staff, always willing to hear our concerns and answer any questions, and she has a big heart for these 8W kiddos. She is the best leader 8W could ask for! She seeks to advocate for her staff and therefore advocate for the care of all 8W patients. I am thankful we have a leader like Sara!” DAISY Team Award The DAISY Team Award is given to a nurse-led team that exemplifies the Riley Children’s mission and values and are role models of collaboration and teamwork that make a difference in the lives of patients, families, employees and our community. Riley Emergency Department The team embraced the development of a discharge timeout tool with standard work and education followed by a validation process to ensure that best practice would be hardwired. This created a family- and patient-centered approach to facilitate their return to home. The discharge timeout tool created a teaching focus for patients and families to fully understand the expectations of their diagnosis, follow-up and any other discharge needs, allowing time and space for questions and concerns to be addressed by our Riley Emergency Department team prior to leaving our care. Our nurse navigator spent time with the team supporting and mentoring our entire team while they were learning and hardwiring the use of the discharge timeout tool including both experienced and less experienced nurses. With the creation of the discharge timeout, the tool has now become a best practice with proven results with patient experience scores. This best practice is now being spread across other IU Health sites. We create a safe space for families to speak up. We connect with them and develop relationships built around trust. These results don’t happen without being a strong team and having the ability to count on and rely on one another and hold each other accountable to our high standards and expectations we have set for the care of our patients.
above and beyond for patients and coworkers. I am always looking for ways to improve our processes and developing educational material for staff and families. I treat all staff with respect, kindness, and empathy. Madelyn Pittard, Hematology & Oncology, Doctor of Nursing Practice, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Graduation Date August 2025 A large part of my role as a nurse navigator is to ensure that families feel what we like to refer to as the “Riley hug.” We are often one of the first people they meet at a very vulnerable and scary time in their lives, and we are fortunate to be in that space with patients and their families to help support them. Our support continues
As their NPD, I advocate for development, orientation needs, and practice questions to leadership.
Sara Murff (clinical manager for 8 West)
What it means to be a Riley nurse…
Sarah Rhoads, Quality and Safety, Doctor of Nursing Practice, Transformational Leadership, Graduation Date May 2024
Every day I come to work I find great Purpose in what I do. Caring for the smallest of infants, as well as their families, has greatly humbled me in the years I have worked in the Riley Maternity Tower NICU. Purpose has
motivated me to find various ways I can contribute to the betterment of the unit and the care we provide to the infants and their families. I try to show great Compassion in my work through my interaction with the infants and families by going beyond what is expected of me. Courtney Worland, Cardiac Cath Lab, Master’s of Science in Nursing, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Graduation Date August 2026 The values of IU Health, purpose, excellence, compassion, and team are engrained in my daily work and now help drive my future career goals. I am pursuing my Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner degree with hopes of one day continuing to work with this same population after witnessing the need to focus on this area. My purpose has always been to provide compassionate care, but now also includes focusing on the mental health and psychological development of these patients. I have learned a new sense of compassion after seeing the challenges and obstacles our patients are faced with and have learned to extend this compassion not just to pediatric patients, but to their families, and I would not be the nurse I am today without the teammates who have taught, mentored, and supported me to this point. Being a pediatric nurse, caring for patients with congenital heart disease, and working at Riley Children’s have engrained the IU Health values into my professional and personal life and I can only hope to continue providing excellent care and serving the pediatric population as I move forward in my career.
throughout the continuum of the patient’s care even before diagnosis to either death or survivorship. The relationships that I have formed with my patients and families is one of the greatest parts of my job. I have also been able to form relationships with other members of our interdisciplinary team, including our solid tumor physicians, and have hopefully been able to show them the strength of a Riley nurse and all that we are capable of. Kailey Potts, Riley Emergency Department, Doctor of Nursing Practice, Family Primary Care, Graduation Date August 2025 Through my time at Riley Children’s, I have had the opportunity to utilize the IU Health values almost every day. I have been challenged and placed in many heart-wrenching situations but have also been put in some of the most rewarding, memorable scenarios. Even when workdays are tough, I leave every shift feeling like I have learned something or have made a difference. … I still often feel like I have a greater purpose to serve as a nurse than to only do what is expected of me. Throughout my nursing career, I have reflected on and searched for aspects of nursing that would help me feel more fulfilled. I have found that making impacts and differences both within and outside of Riley was something important to me.
Riley Emergency Department team members
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Riley Children’s Health Nursing Annual Report 2024 | 7
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