Team Peak Performers: TCU/RCU Co-chairs, Medical Center

Emily Carvajal and Mandi Nottoli are co-chairs for the TCU/RCU Unit-Based Council and work every day to improve the work environment on our unit for staff and the clinical environment for our patients. One example of how they improve patient care is their work to promote inclusive, equitable patient care. They purchased black trach training dolls that are used to train patient family members when we had only ever had white training dolls for the last 20 years. This simple but impactful act ensured that our simulated patients accurately reflect the diverse patient population that we care for. They also worked with central supply to keep ethnic hair care products stocked on our unit. They created staff education on how to use this hair care product and collaborated with black TCU/RCU staff to ensure the accuracy of information. They implemented a patient hair washing schedule that was sensitive to the care needed by this patient population as well. This has never been considered or done before on TCU/RCU.

Emily and Mandi are always coming up with creative and engaging ways to improve the staff work environment. Recently during a time of high patient census and a feeling of decreased morale on the unit, they organized a “Christmas in July” event with games, prizes, and food for staff. Every day of the week had a new event or competition to participate in on both day shift and night shift. They hid “Buddy the Elf” pictures all over the unit for staff to find throughout the day. They even arranged for a photo station with a therapy dog that accommodated both the day shift and night shift. The staff has made multiple remarks about how incredibly supportive and encouraging this event was. One staff member said she genuinely was looking forward to coming to work more than she had in over a year because of our Christmas in July event. Emily and Mandi are a great example of what being a Team Peak Performer look like!