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UVA Health University Medical Center Nursing Professional Governance Organization (NPGO) is honoring Sara Scott, 6 Central, as 2024 Health Unit Coordinator (HUC) of the Year for earning team members' respect by excelling in customer service, patient advocacy, empathy, and teamwork.

UVA Health University Medical Center Chief Nursing Officer Kathy Baker, PhD, RN, NE-BC; Associate Chief Nursing Officer Veronica Brill, MSN, RN, NEA-BC; and NPGO President Amy Jordan, BSN, RN, PMGT-BC, surprised Scott with the award!

Congratulations to Scott and the 10 other nominees:

• Ramona Gibson, STICU
• Tanaia Grandison, Mother / Baby
• Kathy Breen Havens, 5 Central
• Samantha Henley, 3 Central 
• Selena Jones, 5 Central
• Aimea Kuhstoss, 3 Central
• Mary Martin, 5 Central
• Kimberly Meyer, 3 North
• Maddie Schermerhorn, 3 Central
• Skylar Sprouse, Mother / Baby

HUC of the Year award winners are hailed for a range of attributes — as shown in the nomination of Scott by Nathaniel Morris, RN, Inpatient Charge Nurse:

Customer Service

"Sara's devotion to comfortable, smooth hospital stays for our patients extends to the highest degree. She fosters closed loop communication among team members — triaging calls from the call bell to determine whether they should be disseminated to the nurse, patient care assistant (PCA), or if it's a question Sara can answer. If a patient says they need to see their nurse, Sara will inquire into what exactly they need to see the nurse for. Many times it ends up being simple requests such as knowing when lunch will be delivered — something Sara answers, saving the nurse a trip if the nurse is busy."

"Sara has shown a proclivity toward continuing compassion and care toward patients and family — even when her shift has concluded for the day, such as the time she was heading off unit and passed by a family member who was concerned about being able to find her way to the parking garage from the unit. Sara invited them to walk with her as that was on her way, and she happily endeavored to see the patient's family member found where they were going."

Patient Advocacy

"Sara's deep knowledge of our health system as well as compassion toward the patient population constantly is seen through the way she works through problem solving techniques and figuring out the best way for patients to accommodate their care. If a patient is in need of a goals of care conversation and a private place in which to do that, she is always the first to suggest one of our private meeting rooms outside the unit made just for those purposes."

"She will advocate for private rooms for patients that would benefit from them, and make suggestions to the nurses for when the team can be contacted for various patient comfort requests (as the HUC can't always page the team directly herself)."

Empathy

"Sara's skills and heart to observing and understanding team members as well as the patient population is immense. She constantly seems to know exactly which patients can be emotionally turbulent, which ones are in need of greater emotional care and support, and is always the first to suggest private rooms or more appropriate, semi-private accommodations if that would better benefit a patient and their family. She connects with the patient population with her kindness, providing over the call bell support when patients call the front desk — as well as in person — patient, emotional support when patients or family members are at the nurses' station."

One UVA Health Team

"Sara's charisma, humor, and caring nature are all hallmarks of her nature and exemplify exactly what a UVA team member should be like. The teamwork and community she fosters among team members on the unit is endless and her presence is always well welcomed by all. Her wealth of knowledge seems to extend to every facet of the hospital itself, and is always open to answering questions, providing support, and expertly observing and taking note of whether team members are overtly busy when fielding calls from the phone line and patient call station that may be for that team member. She seems to have a nickname for nearly everyone she works with, and works to ensure that not only her role on the unit goes well, but that everyone else is doing well also."

RN Care Coordinator Heather Turner, BSN, SCRN, CNRN, also nominated Scott:

"In one day, Sara exemplified all the reasons she is the best HUC at UVA Health. Most of the computers in the health system went down and we were in crisis downtime mode. Sara took the lead at managing the desk and with the support from our administrative assistant (AA) and manager, quickly came up with a system to keep our unit afloat! Sara and the AA were here first and they were quickly familiar with the downtime forms box and promptly set up 'inboxes' for the important forms and developed a process for getting those forms to the right place.

"While our AA was going around putting out other fires, Sara staffed the desk throughout the morning, quickly helping residents and nurses figure out which forms to use and what to do with them. She kept an eye on the inboxes making sure proper forms were going in the proper boxes and watching for updated orders to communicate those in real time. Sara was in direct communication with Command Center support, nutrition services, and pharmacy — confirming proper processes and ensuring the best possible continuation of patient care.

"I personally started going to Sara with all my questions. Every time she was able to either just reach in the box and hand me the exact form I needed or help me quickly figure out what I needed to do and/or where I needed to look. I heard multiple therapists, residents, and pharmacists come to the desk asking for Sara’s guidance and expertise. She dealt with every single person professionally and kindly with the patience of a saint. She did all this while still staying on top of her normal duties of answering phones, call bells, doorbells, bed alarms, chair alarms, etc. She would speak around team members gathered at the desk to make sure patients, family members, and visitors were being addressed promptly, ensuring they were getting the same service at the HUC desk as they would get on any other day of the year. Sara had a positive demeanor throughout the whole day and her 'can-do' attitude is infectious!

"My manager heard word from other managers about how they were struggling and my manager was able to confidently say things were going smoothly on our unit, thanks to her outstanding team. I am very proud of how our whole unit handled that day, but Sara was the person who impressed me the most. I have nominated Sara for HUC of the year before, but never has she deserved it more than right now!"