MRMC | AGCH You Said, We Did: Cultivating Excellence

Your Voice. Your Workplace. Your Pathway.

The ANCC Pathways to Excellence survey is now open through August 18! In this episode, we explore what Pathways to Excellence means, how it differs from Magnet, and why every nurse's voice is essential. Learn how the survey helps validate our nursing practice environment and supports our ongoing commitment to creating a workplace where nurses feel valued, empowered, and supported. Your experience matters and your feedback helps shape the future of nursing at our organization.

This week, we celebrate Nurses Week 2026 ! This year, our theme is the "The Power of Nurses" Nurses are powerful, not just in the clinical skills you bring to every shift, but in the way you see people, the way you show up with compassion, with courage, and an unwavering commitment to those in your care.

 What is your super power? Let's hear from our nurses about their special super powers! Thank you for the lives that you change, the hands that you hold, and the hearts that you heal.

Happy Nurses Week.

In this episode of our Nursing Education Series, hospital leadership and clinical experts come together to address one of healthcare's most pressing challenges — workplace violence. Hosted by Chief Nurse Candice Monge, this session is a direct response to employee feedback, sharing the concrete steps Marian and Arroyo Grande hospitals have taken to protect staff.

In this episode:

• Leadership perspectives from Hospital President, Sue Andersen and COO, Mark Allen on their organizational commitment to staff safety
• Nursing Council initiatives led by Jill Austin, including two-way radio deployment for safety sitters and standardized Code Green protocols
• Mobile Duress Button rollout — Robin Dodds explains the new wearable safety device coming to EDs and high-acuity units in June
• LPT Integration — how Licensed Psych Techs embedded in the ED and medical floors are reducing behavioral escalations
• Situational awareness & staff safety — Security Director Tom Lepetri covers early warning signs, your right to exit an unsafe situation, and post-incident reporting
• 5150 vs. 1799 holds — Social Work Manager Jamie Pereira clarifies the legal and practical differences between these two psychiatric hold types
• Code Green & patient elopement — VP, Patient Care Services, Amber Rogers on when and how to activate a Code Green without delay
• Staff wellbeing — Mission Director Tony Cowans addresses moral distress, escalation fatigue, compassion fatigue, and introduces the Code Lavender and Code Kindness support programs

Whether you're a bedside nurse, sitter, or clinical leader, this session equips you with the knowledge, tools, and support resources to stay safe and feel backed up at work.

A CEU credit is available — complete the post-test in Pathways to receive your education credit.

 We took an exciting twist on our podcast and we went to all of you to hear your voices!

Every year you trust us with your voice through our My Voice survey, and every year that voice changes this place, the systems we've built, the standards we hold, and the care our patients feel. That's all of you.

This week we came to you to say thank you, to show what you said, and to hear from you about what makes Marian Regional Medical Center and Arroyo Grande Community Hospital's meaningful, to you as our individual staff members.

As an invitation to complete the MyVoice survey beginning on April 27th, tell us what's working, what's difficult, and what we should do next. We're all listening and we will act.

You are the reason that this organization continues to move forward, and so let's keep it going together.

In this episode, I am very excited to introduce you to your colleagues, your friends, and your coworkers who all have shared a little bit about what makes this organization special to them and where we can make a difference!

In this episode, we're joined by Kerry Forsythe, M.S., SLP, MHA, Executive Director of Lifepoint and CommonSpirit Partners for Acute Rehabilitation Units, and Jennifer Sandoval, Director of Nursing, to explore the impact and success of acute rehabilitation services across the Central Coast.

Together, they share how interdisciplinary care teams are transforming recovery for patients transitioning from acute care to home, improving functional outcomes, reducing readmissions, and elevating the patient experience.

Hear firsthand how strategic partnerships, clinical excellence, and a strong culture of collaboration are driving measurable success within our Acute Rehabilitation Unit and what's to come in our future! This conversation highlights the critical role rehab plays in the continuum of care and how innovation at the bedside is changing lives every day.

You asked for more opportunities to hear directly from leadership and we listened.

Join Sue Andersen, Hospital President, for upcoming Town Hall Meetings at Marian on Monday, April 13th at 12 p.m., 2 p.m., and 6 p.m.

In this quick update, we're also sharing a sneak peek of highlights from Sue's recent time with our French Hospital and Arroyo Grande teams, so teammates who weren't able to attend can still hear important updates and stay connective to the conversation.

Tune in, stay informed, and make plans to join us at one of the upcoming sessions - your voice matters.

Join Emily and Sarah, Marian’s expert wound care nurses, for a special episode of Nursing Wound Rounds as they share their passion for nursing professional practice, clinical excellence, and all things wound care. Recently recognized with a DAISY Award and Acts of Humankindness for their exceptional impact on the patient experience, Emily and Sarah bring both expertise and heart to the bedside. In this episode, they discuss the importance of wound care certification, nursing best practice, and the personal “why” that drives their commitment to healing, compassion, and excellence every day.

What does it take for a community hospital to become a Gold leader in perinatal care?

In this episode, Chief Nurse Candice Monge sits down with Veronica Tomilloso, Perinatal Director, and Lisa Shuffield, Assistant Nurse Manager, to unpack how Marian Hospital earned Gold Perinatal Center of Excellence status and advanced Joint Commission Advanced Perinatal Care Certification. They share how a deeply collaborative care model and an innovative donor human milk program in the Well Baby unit helped raise exclusive breastfeeding rates from 31% to 63%.

This conversation is for nurse leaders, perinatal teams, and healthcare professionals committed to building sustainable clinical excellence through education, mentorship, and frontline engagement. Because excellence isn’t limited to academic centers—with the right vision and empowered teams, it can be built anywhere.

Listen in and ask yourself: What could “Why not here?” look like in your perinatal practice?

What does it take to transform a community hospital cath lab into a nationally recognized center of excellence?

In this relaunch episode, Candice Monge, Chief Nurse sits down with nursing leaders Sarah Davis-Arnold and Jessica Bower to discuss the multi-year journey of building a high-performing cath lab and electrophysiology (EP) program from the inside out.

Facing high turnover, heavy traveler utilization, and inconsistent training processes, the team developed a comprehensive cath lab and EP procedure manual, recently published in Cath Lab Digest, to standardized practice, strengthen onboarding, and support succession planning a rapidly evolving cardiovascular environment.

This episode is for nurse leaders, healthcare executives, cardiovascular teams, and anyone committed to building systems of clinical excellence that last.

Excellence does not belong only to large academic centers. With vision, discipline, and empowered teams, it can be built anywhere.

Listen in and consider, what would "Why Not Here?" look like in your organization?

Hear from Mark Allen, Chief Operating Officer for Marian Regional Medical Center and Arroyo Grande Community Hospital about our Waste Management efforts and what you need to know!