CATONSVILLE, MD - Every successful organization needs a "go-to" person staff members can turn to when they have questions, problems or are in need of good advice.

She doesn't necessarily need to be an administrator, but needs to know the organization inside and out and be recognized as a true leader.

At Frederick Villa Nursing Center, this person is Kate Redding, LPN, CNAC. In fact, in the past five years there, Redding's worn so many hats she could put a Kentucky Derby socialite to shame.

Staff nurse, assistant director of nursing (ADON), quality assurance (QA) coordinator, MDS coordinator and, most recently, acting DON. Her lab coat is embroidered with her name and credentials, but no job title. Why? "Because my job title has changed so much," Redding said.

It's not that Frederick Villa administrators can't find the right role for Redding. But when you have an experienced, adaptable nurse with proven critical thinking skills, why limit her to one position?

"I'd say that adjusting to change is Kate's specialty," said Maryann Ingram, LPN, unit manager. "She can do it all."

That includes coming up with good solutions in a tough economy.

"Coping with difficult times and taking measures to control costs go hand in hand for Kate lately," said Ingram. "Our census has been down and cutting costs is expected. During this time, Kate, in her acting DON position, was able to move staff around, adding some CNA responsibilities to our restorative CNAs who were experiencing a lower workload in the restorative area and utilized them as on-unit caregivers, which allowed staff to continue working and prevented layoffs."

It also propelled Redding to the title of 2009 ADVANCE's LPN of the Year.

Top Of The Charts
Redding, who was nominated by Ingram for this year's award, bested a talented field of LPNs including runners-up Jean Albertson, LPN, Bayada Nurses, Freehold, NJ; Kimberly Cason, LPN, Professional Healthcare, Raleigh, NC; and Deborah Hinton, LPN, Birmingham Green, Manassas, VA (see sidebar on next page).

At 28, Redding is the youngest nurse to win the LPN of the Year title. She's already accomplished much in her career. Redding most impressed our judges with the challenges she faced in taking on the role of acting DON, a position she filled when the former director of nursing (an RN) was promoted to a corporate-level position.

"Over the past year, Kate was ADON, left on maternity leave to give birth to her second son, returned to work and took on the job of QA coordinator, and then filled in as the acting DON," Ingram said. "She's very deserving of this award."

Ingram knows something about what makes a quality LPN. Not only is she a Maryland Board of Nursing representative, Ingram also finished as an ADVANCE's LPN of the Year runner-up in our 2007 contest.

One of the leadership characteristics she finds most impressive about Redding is her ability to embrace change and motivate others to learn new care approaches for the benefit of residents.

"Our facility is one of 40 across the U.S. under the Grace Healthcare system, and we chose to pilot an electronic charting system for the entire company last October," Ingram explained. "What we soon learned is a lot of our nurses didn't know how to use a computer. So Kate took it upon herself to develop a training manual and program to bring everybody up to speed."

"The computer company's manual was very technical, so Kate's step-by-step instructions made things so much easier for the nurses," added Rita Brown, RN, DON at Frederick Villa. "We had one nurse who was so unfamiliar with the program that she needed help using a mouse, but Kate managed to get everyone on board and moving."

Brown, who became the full-time DON just two months ago, learned early on that Redding was the point person for any questions regarding staff or residents.

"Kate handed over the reigns very well," she said. "She is very much a team player. She was very detailed in explaining how things run and our goals as a facility."

Critical Thinking
Today, as the QA coordinator, Redding's job is more administrative, but she still manages to work closely with residents.

"Even in the position as acting director, filling in and doing the grunt work, Kate still interacted with the patients and could tell you who's who and everything about a particular resident," said Ingram. "Kate's had family members here as residents, so she knows the importance of caring for individuals as if they are family. In gathering information on residents she utilizes her personality skills; her brain is clicking on the medical and personal side to pull the whole picture together."

"Kate has a strong faith base and she applies that when working with residents and staff," Brown added. "They trust her input and judgment. She's honest with you and her critical-thinking skills are a lot better than most RN supervisors."

While critical thinking is largely attributed to RN education, Redding developed these skills while learning how to manage MDS.

"I think every nurse should learn MDS, because it will change how they look at things for the rest of their career," she said. "I was very blessed to learn it as a young nurse. MDS teaches you how to think critically on a day-to-day basis. I'm so accustomed to doing this; it's just become a part of how I handle situations."

Including transitioning into her QA coordinator position.

"It's a relatively new role for me and I'm still learning," Redding said. "Part of what I'm doing now is helping develop an at-risk program to help staff use critical-thinking skills when looking at residents to help them find the root cause of problems involving fall risks, changing conditions, IV usage, infection control and acute behaviors."

Then there's the issue of learning the Quality Indicator Survey (QIS) for Medicare/Medicaid service oversight.

"The whole new QIS process is complicated and sophisticated," said Redding. "In the old survey process, a lot was left up to the surveyor's opinion on how things should go. Now it's very specific in terms of doing more interviewing with staff, residents and families. The goal of obtaining all that information is to learn how you can better improve your services."

Still, Ingram believes no process is too difficult for Redding.

"She attends seminars regularly and has received her certification for nurse assessment coordinator and maintains that certification with annual CEUs," Ingram said. "Kate is always seeking more education to become a better nurse."