See Me as a Person (SMAPP) Facilitators

Theresa Pak a.k.a. Tpak is a nurse with over 30 years of experience who has worked in many different states and clinical areas from ER to ICU. Her roles have ranged from bedside nurse to nursing supervisor, as well as inpatient manager in various units at UC Davis Health. She has led her units through transitions, such as adopting the care of pediatric patients into the adult care arena and transforming mixed level acuity unit to cardiology ICU. She also supported MSICU Gold to Gold Beacon designation of critical care excellence for the past 9 years.

Tpak is also one of the original Re-Igniting the Spirit of Caring facilitators, the Relationship Based Culture (RBC) anchor program started in 2004. In 2017, in support of developing RBC based on values of Love Compassion Integrity and Courage, she helped adopt two more Creative Healthcare Management programs, See Me As A Person (SMAAP) and Leading An Empowered Organization (LEO). Additionally, in 2010 Tpak helped make RBC more inclusive and reached out to other disciplines outside of PCS. She has helped grow the program from 4 nurse facilitators to 31 facilitators from different disciplines. At UC Davis Health, Tpak is a champion of Wellness throughout. Most recently, Tpak completed the TNT fellowship through Peter Yellowlees MD CWO and has collaborated with others to bring meditation practices to UC Davis Health. She has also taken on facilitating the DEI workshops, working with School of Nursing and the DEI council to provide education, training, and resources to nurses. Tpak is a trained facilitator for all three programs, RSC, LEO, and SMAAP, and currently manages the LEO course load.

Jerry has been on Tower 4 ENT/Internal Medicine since 2006 as a Nurse extern and as an RN since 2008. He became a CN3 and now is one of the AN2s. Jerry has been a SMAAP facilitator since it was brought to the UC Davis Med Center 2 years ago. He enjoys facilitating the workshop as he has the privilege to hear about all the moments staff exhibit the four therapeutic practices of attuning, wondering, following, and holding.

Michael has been a combined ICU/ER nurse for 20 years. He graduated from California State University Chico with his bachelor's degree in Nursing, and UC Davis with his Masters Degree in Healthcare Leadership. Michael is currently a Clinical Nurse III in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Davis, and a staff nurse II the emergency room at Kaiser South Sacramento. Michael has been a facilitator for See Me As A Person for just over two years. He believes that the best way to recognize emotional fatigue and burnout in yourself and others, is to view yourself and others through a lens of empathy. When you can be self-aware and introspective with yourself and recognize the need for self-care, then you can provide the best of yourself for family, friends, co-workers, and most importantly, your patients. Having experienced severe burnout personally, Michael considers it an honor to be part of such a transformative program like See Me As A Person.

Ashley has had nurses in her family for 5 generations, dating back to the early 1900s, and thus feels as though she was destined for this profession. Ashley started her nursing career in Iowa, in 2006, and has worked in several hospital settings in Iowa, North Carolina and now here in California. Her clinical expertise is amongst medical surgical patients, however, has dabbled in progressive care. She feels blessed to have started a career here at UC Davis Health as a STAN nurse with the patient care resource department, having exposures to many units and outpatient clinics within the system; expanding her network with many excellent colleagues. She now serves as an Assistant Nurse Manager on Tower 6 Medical Surgical Unit and is so proud to serve UC Davis Health patients amongst a fantastic group of clinicians who recently were recognized with the AMSN PRISM Award. Within the hospital, Ashley also serves on the falls committee, the quality and safety council, and is the safety coordinator for T6 MSU. In her free time, she loves to play with her Old English Sheepdog, travel, cook, exercise and spend time with family and friends. Ashley facilitates See Me As A Person.

Colleen is a CNIII in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where she has worked on night shift for twenty years. Colleen loves facilitating both See Me As A Person and Reigniting the Spirit of Caring because she believes in the transformative power of this work. She is excited to share her passion for relationship-based care. In her off time, Colleen enjoys spending time with her husband and three kids and being outdoors as much as possible enjoying the beauty of nature.

Kelly is a CN III on the Medical Intensive Care Unit where she has worked since 2014. Kelly believes that the therapeutic relationship stems from a compassionate care of self. Teaching See Me As A Person has been transformation for her bedside care and in alignment with her values as a whole. Outside of work, she enjoys quality time with her husband and daughter, time in nature, and gardening.

Brandon is the Practice Manager of Internal Medicine and Specialty Clinics at UC Davis Health. Brandon obtained his Master of Health Administration from The Ohio State University in 2005 and has 15 years of health administration leadership experience. Prior to Brandon’s arrival at UC Davis Health, he served in a variety of leadership capacities at Virginia Mason Medical Center (Seattle, WA), Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hospital (Chicago, IL), Catholic Healthcare Partners (Toledo, OH), and Cape Fear Valley Health System (Fayetteville, NC). He served as the Assistant Administrator and CEO in Training for Signature Healthcare.

Brandon is currently one of the facilitators for See Me As A Person and received his certification from Creative Health Care Management. As a healthcare leader, Brandon is passionate about advancing the relationship based culture at UC Davis Health and strives to expand SMAAP learnings beyond the clinical practices.

Fun Fact : Brandon is an accomplished concert cellist and has performed across the United States and Asia. He has had the privilege of performing in the Kodak Theatre at Eastman Conservatory (Rochester, NY), Philippine Arena (Ciudad de Victoria, Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines) and the world-renowned Lincoln Center in New York. When he is not performing, you may also find him on ESPN as a member of the Professional Bowlers Association.

Jessica is inspired by mindfulness, positive psychology, sociology and wellness and their intersections in healthcare professional development. She excels at guiding professionals toward creating and thriving in relationship-based cultures. Jessica is a skilled facilitator and collaborator. She brings complex science to life with clear tools for application and usually manages to integrate a bit of humor and reality along the way. She has provided mindfulness and wellness consult and program development for health care organizations and Fortune 500 Companies privately. Jessica has served both the public and private health care sectors as an educator and administrator serving low-income populations, health care and fire professionals and C-Suite executives at the California Department of Public Health. At the County level, Jessica served on multi-disciplinary teams to provide equal access to care for newly diagnosed clients needing HIV/AIDS and Communicable Disease services. Jessica has a vast array of health and wellness experience and works collaboratively with health care professionals to offer broad perspectives and create “a-ha moments” for course participants. Jessica is a trained facilitator for SMAAP and RSC.

I am currently an AN2 for Patient Flow Management here at UC Davis. I started my career here at UC Davis in 2016 as a CN2 for North 1 Acute Care. I then transitioned into a formal leadership role as an ANII in 2018 for South 1 and expanded to East 3 when that unit opened around 2020. More recently, I transitioned to South 3 and North 3 as AN2 when the unit opened in August of 2022. These units helped to facilitate patient flow out of the ED to assist with capacity management.

I graduated from BIMSON with a Masters in Nursing Leadership in 2020 and received my BSN from Samuel Merritt in 2010. I have also been an active member and on the Executive Board of the Philippine Nurses Association Capital City California (PNAC3) since 2022.

Monica is a CN3 in the MICU and has been a nurse for 28 years, She serves on the Bioethics and Schwartz Rounds Committees, and teaches classes on palliative care communication and end of life care. Monica facilitates both Reigniting the Spirit of Caring and See Me as a Person and is inspired by the meaningful connections and relationships that develop during these sessions. Her hobbies include travel, gardening, and making candles.

Al Nutt has worked as an RN in the medical intensive care unit at UC Davis medical center for 4years. He is an active member or the advanced resusitation team, a relief charge nurse on night shift and an RN Preceptor. Al got involved in RBC in 2019 as a See me as a person facilitator. He continues to see the value in this work and pushes to spread the culture throughout the hospital. When not in the hospital, he manages a recording studio and enjoys singing and playing music of all genres. His latest rap album, A Midsummer Night dream was well received by fans. His next collection of songs are due this summer and aim to spread positivity and love.

Nicole is a CN III on T7 MSICU Gold, a mixed adult and pediatric intensive care unit. She has worked on T7 since 2007. She has seen and experienced a lot of changes during her time there. Nicole is a preceptor to new grads and nursing students. When she took SMAAP for the first time in June 2020 it helped re-ignite her passion in nursing. It also helped her to see her patients, their families and her colleagues in a new light. Nicole is excited about this course because the tools and the content are applicable in pretty much all aspects of life. She finds these skills practical not only as a nurse but as a wife and a mom too. She believes that therapeutic relationships with her patients and co-workers help foster a safe, healing environment. Nicole’s goal as a facilitator is to promote self-care and help build therapeutic relationships with her colleagues to improve patient care and patient and staff satisfaction.

Annie facilitates See Me As a Person. She has been facilitating this class since January 2020. Annie is a Clinical Nurse III on University Tower 8 Transplant/ Metabolic. She has been working at UC Davis since 2014 and has her Master's in Nursing Science and Leadership from UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. She believes in leading with love and compassion and that deep listening can heal the world and create Martin Luther King Jr's Beloved Community.

Kristy is a master’s prepared nurse who has worked on Davis 8, Adult Oncology & Bone Marrow Transplant Unit since 2011. She set her sights on being an oncology nurse years before getting her nursing license. “Something about the oncology population is so special. Watching family and friends coming together to support their loved ones through such an intense experience is inspiring and hopeful.” As an assistant manager, she strives to embody the philosophy of loving leadership. She believes that staff need to feel wholly supported though steadfast devotion, kind communication, and meaningful action. “I know the innate culture of relationship-based culture emphasized here at UC Davis Health is what drives the excellence that we are so proud of. People end up staying here for their entire careers, our facility is that special.” Kristy has facilitated courses for See Me as a Person since 2018 and has loved every minute of it. She looks forward to continuing to be a facilitator for many years and is excited to see how the program grows through enculturating the framework of See Me as a Person throughout the medical center.