Abigail K. Ault is a nurse manager at UnityPoint Clinic – Family Medicine, responsible for day-to-day activities including staffing and scheduling, payroll and budget, and employee/staff relations. Having started as a certified nurse assistant, she is now a nurse manager pursuing a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree.

Since assuming a managerial role in 2014, Ault has led the way in developing measures to improve patient care and outcomes, resulting in her department’s consistently high scores in quality, safety, financial measures and patient satisfaction. In addition to the successful implementation of an electronic medical record system, she helped implement TeamSTEPPS, an evidence-based set of tools to improve communication and collaboration skills, and is a team leader for the LEAN workout challenge, working to find cost-effective solutions and eliminate waste at UnityPoint.

Ault is a faculty member at her alma mater, Methodist College, and current president of the Methodist Alumni Association, helping to lead events promoting the college and foster a support system for current students. She provides outstanding leadership in the University of Illinois College of Medicine Family Medicine Residency program and serves on the Peoria City/County Health Department Reproductive Health Work Group, which is piloting best practices for decreasing sexually transmitted infections and reducing teen pregnancy. She has presented at numerous professional conferences and serves on a range of committees at UnityPoint, Methodist College and the Family Medicine Residency Nurse Associate Board, as well as her homeowners’ association.

In 2011, Ault received the Leadership Award from her peers at Methodist College and the Clinical Excellence Award from faculty members, recognizing her outstanding clinical skills. Earlier this year, she won the Methodist College Rising Star Alumni Award and was honored by the Illinois Nurses Association as one of its 40 Under 40 Emerging Nurse Leaders. Described as a wonderful nurse, leader and role model, Ault has already exceeded expectations in her career—and her future is even brighter. iBi