Patricia Maguire, BSN, RN, CMSRN, has been quite busy since she joined 5 Cathcart at Pennsylvania Hospital in 2011. Her regular duties as a clinical nurse IV would be enough to fill anyone’s schedule, but Maguire has amassed an extensive list of additional titles and contributions. In addition to being a medical-surgical team member who is loved and respected by patients and colleagues alike, she has won the Clinical Excellence Award in Research and Innovation, served as chair of the Research and Evidence-Based Practice Council and her unit’s Shared Governance Council (SGC), and is a peer supporter for the Care for the Care Provider program and a key member of the Sickle Cell Task Force.
The list goes on, but it is precisely this commitment to sharing her skills as an educator, leader, and compassionate caregiver in as many ways as she can that earned Maguire her latest honor — member of the fourth cohort of Penn Medicine’s Distinguished Nurse Clinician Academy (DNCA).
The DNCA honors nurses across all settings and annually welcomes into its highly selective fold those gold-standard individuals who continuously drive forward Penn’s culture of service and clinical excellence. Last month, the academy recognized another group of nurses who masterfully balance patient care, research, professional development, and community outreach, and Maguire fit the bill perfectly.
For Carrie Marvill, MSN, RN, AOCNS, Maguire has been an “essential partner in identifying educational needs on the unit” and “the driver of advancement of research and evidence-based practice.” As a PAH Research Scholar, Maguire identified a link between high rates of positive patient ratings and nurse engagement with low rates of staff dissatisfaction and burnout. She also investigated the effect of coloring therapy on staff anxiety, leading her to offer poster-size coloring pages to staff during breaks, and she is currently exploring the relationship between leadership rounding and patient and staff outcomes.
When she isn’t furthering her own knowledge, Maguire serves as an empowering mentor for colleagues seeking opportunities for professional development. After all, she is determined to share kindness and openness with others, whether they’re a new staff member, lost visitor, or anxious patient. “Trish is deeply empathetic of the challenges our patients face. She’s an exemplary clinician, a caring and compassionate professional, and truly a role model for those she works with,” said Deborah Drayton, EdD, MSN, RN, NE-BC, CMSRN.
Ann Coughlan, BSN, RN, CMSRN, is particularly impressed by Maguire’s adaptability. Whether she’s maintaining “a very calm demeanor when volatile situations call for a strong facilitator of conflict resolution,” or “articulating her vision and ideas to others, inspiring them to work toward a common goal,” Maguire is able to meet the needs at hand. Jennifer A. Rodden, BSN, RN, echoed this, noting, “Her gentle nature has allowed compassionate exchanges with some of our most vulnerable patients. She’s a grounding force, and her dedication to the elevation of the nursing profession is unmatched.”
For Ashley Stankiewicz, MSN, RN, RN-BC, WCC, Maguire simply is the embodiment of everything the DNCA stands for because “she goes above and beyond in caring for her patients and striving to better our unit, our hospital, and her community.” Given that Maguire herself acknowledges her “unique opportunity to support many lives, including my patients, their families, and my coworkers” and is determined to provide that support in any way she can, this Distinguished Nurse Clinician’s above-and-beyond attitude isn’t likely to fade any time soon.