The Employee of the Month Award recognizes the people you love to work with. These winners show exceptional performance as defined by the network’s Standards of Behavior, live out the network’s values, and demonstrate the healing presence practices outlined in Called to Care.
You can read the nomination stories and view the pictures of the November Employees of the Month below. Congratulations to all of our recipients!
Anna Kuykendoll – 5 Main (Med/Surg/Tely), Fort Hamilton Hospital
“Anna is always willing to lend a hand to every patient on the floor. She truly makes this 5 Main group feel like a team. Stopping to tend to every call light and every alarm, Anna will grab the phone as soon as she can when it rings to the desk. When Anna works, every patient on this floor has an extra nurse. She is always grabbing things for other nurses. Anna makes working the Covid floor much more do-able. Anna sets a high standard for new nurses like me. She pays attention to small details and has shown me to always put patient safety first. With a positive attitude influencing everyone in the room, Anna is a delight to work with.”
Jennifer Davis – Radiology Administration, Greene Memorial Hospital
“Jen is one of the most inspirational people I have had the pleasure to work with. She truly cares about her patients, team, and facility through process improvements and advocating. As chair of the department’s Unit Practice Council, she leads the improvements in the department and increases the engagement of her peers. She truly has a passion for people, and it is demonstrated in every interaction she has. In her role as chair, she has helped facilitate the increase in patient satisfaction. I have personally witnessed her walking a patient back to the parking lot to ensure they did not get lost. During this interaction, she got to know them a little better and you could tell the patient enjoyed the chat. Her energy is contagious, and you cannot help but smile when you are around her. Through the Unit Practice Council, she helps to encourage and organize community outreach opportunities along with team building events. Jen is the coworker that everyone loves to be around. She truly has a passion for her work and drives others to have that same passion. She demonstrates the Kettering Health culture in all she does.”
Taylor Baughman – 4100 Telemetry, Grandview Medical Center
“Taylor is always very passionate about her patients and is the first one to help in any situation. There was an 88-year-old Covid patient on our unit whose wife was at Soin and was maxed out on heated high flow oxygen, meaning she was close to intubation. This patient wanted desperately to see his wife not knowing if this could possibly be the last time. There was no family available to get him to her so Taylor set up transportation for him to see his wife so that they could be together. Hearing this did not surprise me because this is just how Taylor is. She is not only an exceptional nurse, but she is a loving and caring human being with a heart of gold. She is one of the most caring people I know, and she needs to be recognized for all she does.”
Blake Carter – Adult Psych, Kettering Behavioral Medical Center
“Blake goes above and beyond his job responsibilities. He is very supportive of staff and patients, reliable, compassionate, and always willing to help others. He has an outgoing personality, very strong work ethic, and takes pride in all his responsibilities here at KBMC. He routinely receives Shooting Stars from staff and patients that recognize him for his patience, kindness, and ability to have a calming effect with confused and agitated patients. He anticipates the needs of others and never feels that something is ‘not his job’. He always has a smile on his face and staff know they are going to have a great shift when his is scheduled. He is a great resource for how the unit works, an awesome preceptor, making new hires feel welcome. In fact, he recently put together a HUC resource manual to assist new hires. I feel that Blake is an outstanding asset to KBMC and very deserving of this award. He brings joy to staff and patients and brightens everyone’s day.”
Mary Harden – Nursing, Kettering College
“Mary has tirelessly worked to get the nursing students to comply with Castle Branch requirements for clinical rotations. August is always a difficult month for this, however, this year, Mary had to add on the Covid vaccine requirements near the end of the month. She did a great job of communicating to nursing students the expectations of this requirement, especially why it was required. She assisted them with not only how to enter the information into the Castle Branch compliance system, but also helped them with finding information on the vaccine or the exemption. She emailed students on this as all clinical coordinators do and she spent hours on the phone with students as well. She worked weekends and some holidays to get this done. Her work was on time and even sometimes done before it was required. This was above and beyond what the “normal” requirements for the job require. Thank you, Mary!”
Jillian Cavinder – 3W Clinical Decision Unit, Kettering Medical Center
“I would like to nominate Jillian Cavinder as she goes above and beyond to meet her patient’s needs. Most recently, her patient’s belongings, a down pillow and comforter, were inadvertently thrown away. Jillian gloved up and went through linen looking for the articles. Then she found out it had been put in the trash. Jillian went downstairs and found the bag of belongings which meant the world to her patient. The daughter was super impressed and happy not to have to go replace the items. Jillian’s actions meant the world to her patient and family. They were so relieved as well as the staff member who accidentally threw them away. She went above and beyond for sure to make the situation better. Jillian also stepped up to do charge nurse when our previous charge nurse moved out of state. This took Jillian out of her comfort zone a bit, but she has grown and developed into a wonderful leader. She is calm cool and collective on the outside which is important to her team in the most chaotic of times. Her leadership role has helped the unit not skip a beat when a seasoned veteran left the unit. We can count on her as a preceptor as well. Jillian deserves to be recognized for all she has done to be a very strong dependable team player for her peers and patients.”
Sandra Liette – NOCC, Kettering Network Services
“Sandra has volunteered to organize an un-official employee of the month celebration for employees at the NOCC/Forrer campus. She always omits her own nominations (even when she has won) so she can present someone with the win. She loves to see their faces light up with joy and happiness and she always shares with the winner the reasons their co-workers have nominated them. Sandra embodies the definition of selfless as she expects nothing in return. Sandra positively impacts others by always keeping a calm demeanor even in critical situations. She enjoys getting to know her co-workers and learning about their lives and personalities. She always looks to find the silver lining and always manages to stay smiling. She offers solutions to problems, volunteers for projects, and serves as an alternate team leader. Everyone enjoys working with her!”
Kendra Castator – First Choice Womens, Kettering Physician Network
“Kendra displays the ultimate conscientiousness in her work. She takes effort to ensure that every patient is taken care of to the best of our abilities every day. She readily sees tasks that need to be completed and tackles them. Kendra has worked hard navigating low staff for months, and now in addition to handling extra duties, works to train a new employee, and has twice in the past six months helped transport patients to the hospital after it was determined in the office that they needed emergent care. She missed her lunch hour both times without a complaint. It is obvious the comfort and continuity of care of the patient are her priority. Kendra’s tireless work ethic is inspiring and challenges the rest of us to keep up with her! Her genuine care for our patients and quality follow-through is the type of employee we enjoy working with.”
Steven “AJ” Johnson – Plant Maintenance, Soin Medical Center
“Today I had a patient who needed medical equipment from her home brought to the hospital. She did not have any family in the area to assist her. AJ drove me to the patient’s home, met with the maintenance representative, and assisted in retrieving the equipment and the patient’s cell phone. As we returned to the hospital, we realized we did not have the cell phone charger. AJ went the extra mile finding a charger and delivering it to the patient. He demonstrated caring, compassion, and trust, and I felt very humbled to be working with him. This action made a positive impact on this patient. The patient was unsure how to use this medical equipment and therefore was returning to the hospital. Having the equipment brought to the patient allowed education to be done which will impact her in preparation to go home and be successful.”
Theresa Lockhart – Operating Room, Southview Medical Center
“Theresa is a former coworker of mine. Recently, one of our team members was diagnosed with cancer, and unfortunately, she passed away. Throughout the time the patient was undergoing treatment, Theresa was an amazing support to her. She was constantly checking in on the patient when she was in the hospital, and when she was in the nursing home. Theresa brought the patient comfort items, would call to speak with the patient, and was constantly praying over her. The patient was diagnosed only four months before she passed, and I know Theresa made a huge impact during those four months. I can’t express enough how compassionate and caring Theresa was with the patient, as well as the patients she serves every day. I think Theresa should be recognized as she was a shining light during the patient’s fight with cancer. Theresa was not only a coworker to the patient, but she became one of her closest friends during this time. It brings me to tears to think about the impact she made on the patient during the last few months of her life. She went above and beyond her work duties as a nursing assistant. Theresa was an angel to the patient covering her with love and compassion!”
Bobby Smith – U2E Cardiac Medical, Sycamore Medical Center
“Bobby treats each patient as if they were a family member. He always does what is best for the patient, sometimes going to extreme lengths to best serve the patient. An example relates to a person admitted to our unit from an outlying ED. The patient had gone to the ED for wounds in their feet and associated pain and swelling from the wounds. The patient’s legs and feet were wrapped in a disposable pad without dressings. Upon examination, Bobby determined the larvae had to be removed to help the patient get more comfortable. Bobby, along with a nursing assistant and another RN, took out all the visible larvae between all the toes and put a fresh bandage in place. This was done using tweezers and a saline filled syringe. This was a very slow and painstaking process, taking over two hours! Bobby persisted until he could see no more larvae. He had given the patient some medication for pain and after the new dressings were in place, the patient was able to finally relax a little. Bobby’s unselfish actions & persistence allowed this patient to finally get a little relief. His caring attitude, and determination to do the right thing for the patient led to their positive experience here at Sycamore.”
David Bechtol – Respiratory Care, Troy Hospital
“David exhibits competence in his practice as a respiratory therapist every day with the patients he cares for, but he is also collaborative with the nursing staff to ensure patients have the best outcomes. David shares his knowledge and expertise with nursing staff to help them better understand how to care for patients with respiratory problems. He came to the Troy Med Surg/ICU nursing skills days (more than one!) to review airway adjuncts and the intubation tray with our staff. Typically, this is something I would put on myself, but David insisted on sharing his knowledge with the unit and took over the education for the day. Everyone expressed how much they learned from David and how they appreciated his patience when answering their questions. He provided examples of the different airways and allowed staff to look at them and learn. It spoke volumes that David went out of his way to take the time and educate the RNs on the unit. Learning from each other makes a huge difference and makes for a more collaborative environment.”
Do you know someone who is a Kettering Health Star? Help us honor them by telling their story in the Kettering Health Stars form, located in the MyHR portal.