Excellence by Design: The Patricia A. Hickey Award for Excellence in Cardiovascular Nursing.

This award reflects the high-impact contributions of pediatric critical care nurses that have helped to shape the field. Lessons from an ongoing career in nursing leadership are shared by Dr Patricia Hickey. Four themes are highlighted which include (1) our role models/mentors, (2) our profession and its impact, (3) our teams and environments of excellence, and (4) our bright future. Program and practice excellence does not just happen. It requires strategic thinking, deliberative processes, risk-taking and guts to create and sustain. A bright future is forecasted with stellar contributions of professional nurses and interprofessional cardiac critical care teams.