Hawkeye High-Five: Employees go ‘above and beyond’ for patients, colleagues

Hawkeye High-Five is a recognition program that allows faculty and staff across the university to give a "high-five" to a colleague for their contributions, teamwork, or extra effort.

Developed by University Human Resources, the program is a great way to show appreciation and highlight the positive impact employees are making across campus.

Below is a selection of high-fives submitted in February through this easy-to-use recognition form.

Congratulations to everyone who received recognition.

Susan Huff, pediatric diabetes nurse educator, Department of Nursing, was recognized by Haylee Suter

^{I just wanted to shout out pediatric nurse Sue Huff. She went above and beyond for a patient in clinic who needed a software upgrade on her insulin pump.}

^{The family had been needing this upgrade for months but did not have the resources to do it at home (a computer is necessary). The patient had been in touch with the pump company rep who was unwilling to meet the patient locally to help with this. Without the upgrade, the patient's insulin pump and sensor cannot communicate. Therefore, the pump is not delivering insulin to its fullest capacity, and the blood sugars are affected, resulting in higher A1Cs and more time out of range for the kiddo.}

^{Sue spent the afternoon working with the patient to get the upgrade, despite multiple technology issues and having to call technology support for help. This is not our responsibility, and she could have easily sent the patient home with the poorly functioning system and said, "figure it out," but she didn't because she cares.}

^{Thanks for going above and beyond for our kiddos!}

Kelsey Lenz, custodian, UI Health Care Medical Center Downtown, was recognized by Tylyn Lang

^{Kelsey consistently goes above and beyond to ensure our lab environment is clean, organized, and welcoming for both staff and patients. She is always responsive to our needs, whether it is addressing immediate concerns or making sure routine cleaning is completed thoroughly and efficiently.}

^{Her dedication directly impacts patient care by helping us maintain a safe, sanitary, and professional space.}

^{We truly appreciate her reliability, positive attitude, and commitment to excellence. The lab team is grateful for everything she does to support us every day.}

^{Thank you, Kelsey, for all you do!}

Kelli Haught, senior talent acquisition specialist, Office of the Vice President for Research, and the State Hygienic Laboratory, was recognized by Sarah Tillman

^{I am proud of the work you have done to get the onboarding program up and running. You have taken the idea and made it come to life.}

^{I know our new hires are getting the best experience we can facilitate with the work you do to manage this new and time intensive piece of our talent acquisition puzzle.}

^{Thank you for sharing your talents and energy with the UI community. We are better because of you.}

Amanda Pearcy, identity management analyst, Health Care Information Systems, was recognized by Lauren Schmidt

^{Thank you so much for your guidance and support with IT tasks as I am onboarding at UI Health Care. I know you have so much to coordinate, and your workload is heavy, yet you still made time to help.}

^{Your willingness to help and guide made such a big difference in keeping things moving smoothly. I really appreciate all that you do.}

^{Thank you again for being such a great help!}

In addition to a Hawkeye High-Five, consider other ways to celebrate your colleagues:

• Employee recognition notecards: Send a handwritten thank you note with Iowa-branded cards.
• Supervisor guide to recognition: The guide provides practical tools for recognizing employees, including recognition types, tiers, policies, ideas, and resources, as well as using AI as a recognition partner.