I have known Grace Marin for about 20 years in many capacities. Ms. Marin is an avid healthcare leader, who is passionate about the patient experience, and demonstrates skilled communication and coaching techniques. In my previous role, … I worked closely with Ms. Marin in all aspects of patient satisfaction and employee engagement … Work was initiated in the advancement of a nurse driven professional practice model and subsequent institutional culture change with improved metrics related to patient experience, quality and safety goals. Ms. Marin was also instrumental in the work related to a third Magnet Designation…

When I moved to become the Chief Nursing Officer… in 2014, … Ms. Marin became a dynamic partner in the journey… to advance nursing practice and become a leader in patient experience… Ms. Marin and her team engaged nursing leaders and nursing staff to adopt evidence based behaviors resulting in increasing patient experience outcomes. Ms. Marin demonstrated expertise in conducting gap analyses and within various scenarios and shifts, was able to systematically assess, diagnose, plan, and implement solutions to achieve performance improvement goals. Ms. Marin led several Patient Experience Champion Programs … and enlisted many staff as advocates for patient centered care. She displayed strong interdisciplinary team skills in her work and succeeded in … leading in many HCAHPS metrics…

Compassion paired with thoughtful precision are just a few of the special qualities Grace brings to her profession. In a fly by world, Grace doesn’t hesitate to pause to get to know you or to gain deeper understanding of the situation at hand; which is why she is a supportive leader and coach. A natural story teller, Grace shares her broad healthcare and patient experience to relate and effectively communicate with her colleagues and clients. I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing Grace in action in changing, high stress environments and highly recommend her; for she is the rare calming influence that produces reassurance and builds confidence, which we could all use more of.

Grace became my professional mentor about two years ago when she joined our team as a patient experience coach. I didn’t know it then, but it was the best thing that could have happened to me so early on in my nursing leadership career. She provided timely feedback and encouragement regarding my interactions with patients and staff. Grace coached me through crucial conversations with my team and gave me the confidence I needed to continue this work… In the short time Grace was with us, our hourly rounding scores improved along with our HCAHPS indicators for nursing communication and nursing responsiveness. Not only was Grace my professional mentor, she served as my personal coach as well; always making sure I was taking care of “me” too. I am a better leader because of Grace’s patience, compassion and resilience and would recommend her to anyone ten times over!

Grace and her Team came to our institution to coach the Managers on how to coach the staff. It was during one of these sessions that I realized that I was holding back on something. Coaches have the knack to delve deeper into your person… I was not aware that I was holding back acknowledging the good work of my staff. I seldom communicated my feelings of pride and delight because I was raised not to expect praise.

The team opened my eyes to the power of communication – to say what you feel. My self awareness has done wonders in boosting staff morale and team spirit on the Unit resulting in better team work and appreciation of each other

When I was in my internship… as a hospital chaplain, I became involved with a lot of staff care initiatives… Grace Marin was my champion and knowledge base for… how to best serve the nurses and clinicians in teaching active listening and then measuring those interventions for outcome oriented proof. Her knowledge was whole and her compassion and willingness to work with me was extraordinary. She is a gem and I’d love to be on any team she creates.

I had many opportunities to work with Grace and her team whose job was to function as coaches for the training of our staff in the area of Patient Experience Improvement… it was very evident to me and the other members of the C-suite, that Grace and her team was making a difference… we saw a steady improvement in the areas that Grace and her team concentrated on, which were the nursing staff and other ancillary service line.

We worked with our Hospitalists, Advanced Practice Professionals and our Emergency Department staff. Truthfully, she was responsible for the improving trend in the Physician scores, including some score in the “99th percentile”…

Grace has a very pleasant personality and her voice is very calming. However, she demands and shoots for excellence in all of her work. She practices with the highest ethical and moral standards in my opinion. She will be an asset to any organization that would be lucky enough to hire her.

From the moment I met Grace I was impressed with her kind heart, open spirit and intelligence. A nurse by trade, Grace has a natural inclination to care, support and help others. She is a coach’s coach and has a talent in giving feedback that is both challenging, uncomfortable and necessary. She forces you to grow in ways you never considered.