In just a few years, Manny has gone from practicing as an EMT to becoming one of the most beloved and accomplished clinical nurses at Cedars-Sinai. Direct patient care is his passion, and everything he does is in service of that.
Manny loves to mentor new nurses through precepting. To be an effective preceptor, he has learned to manage his own giving nature: He realized that when he jumped to complete tasks for his mentees, he was not actually helping them grow into their roles. It’s hard to watch someone struggle, but Manny realized that when he lets a new nurse do things for themselves, they may founder at first, but they grow stronger and more able. This kind of empathy shows how invested he is in his colleagues’ success.
Manny will go an extra mile to ensure a little bit more comfort for his patients. He walked across the building to borrow a vein finder from another unit just to ensure he got the stick on the first try, and then advocated to his manager that his own unit should have one of the devices. Manny has been instrumental in changing the culture of night shift on his unit: HIs enthusiasm and kindness have helped transform it into a cohesive team, one that no one wants to leave.
The world needs more nurses like Manny: Nurses who are dedicated to direct patient care, and to the continual improvement of that care.