Megan Weisbart, MSN, RNC-NIC, CNL, PHN, is a board-certified administrative nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center, where she’s worked since 2018.
Throughout her career at UCLA Health, Weisbart has held leadership positions on councils and committees across multiple levels, including the Transformational Leadership Council (TL), Evidence-Based Practice Council (EBPC) and Unit Practice Council (UPC). She is currently chair of the systemwide Nurse Executive Council, which oversees the execution of professional-governance decisions that impact nursing.
Weisbart’s passion for leadership began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she started to notice a high instance of nurse burnout. As UPC chair of her NICU unit, she oversaw a nurse-wellness-bundle project aimed at reducing exhaustion. That led to developing a nurse-wellness basket for her unit, with individually wrapped toiletries and wellness items.
All Unit Practice Council chairs attend a system-level council meeting once a month. There, Weisbart met other UPC chairs from across the system. “As I was moving through the professional-governance structure, I was able to see that systemwide perspective, and I realized it wasn’t just our unit that was struggling with nurse wellness. I feel like I’ve been able to look at nurse wellness through different lenses, and it’s been a great passion of mine,” she said.
Weisbart has presented team-based QI initiatives at multiple international and national conferences. These initiatives include improving the timeliness of NICU antibiotic administration, fighting NICU nurse burnout and formation of a TL-engagement bundle that provides education and mentorship for UPC chairs.
Her dedication and contributions have been widely recognized, earning her many accolades. She has been honored with the Professional Governance Award and the Rising Star Award. Additionally, she played a key role in achieving the Drivers of Change Team Award, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Gold-Level Beacon Award for Excellence and five Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence awards.
Weisbart earned a Bachelor of Science in psychobiology from UCLA in 2014 and a Master of Science in nursing from UCLA in 2018. Initially, she had planned to be a physician, but enrolling in a nursing class on elder abuse during her undergraduate studies sealed her career aspirations.
A 10-week preceptorship at the NICU at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center solidified her desire to work with vulnerable populations. “My passion is being an advocate for those patient populations who don’t have voices for themselves,” Weisbart says. “That’s been the common theme that got me interested in nursing.”