Elle McGraw reflects on nursing leadership, community and family

Elle McGraw is a Clinical Nursing Supervisor at Dartmouth Hitchcock and helped lead her team to the 2025 Silver Beacon Award for Excellence.

Elle McGraw is 32 and serves as Clinical Nursing Supervisor for the Neuro Critical Care Unit and Neuro Special Care Unit at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. She and her husband are expecting their first child in May. She says caring for patients in the hospital and then seeing them recover in the community motivates her. Outside work, she mentors new nurses and maintains a small homestead that she and her husband share with neighbors. Key facts: - Age 32 and born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. - Education includes a BA in Anthropology and Psychology from the University of Colorado Boulder and a BS in Nursing from Thomas Jefferson University. - Clinical Nursing Supervisor at Dartmouth Hitchcock’s Neuro Critical Care and Neuro Special Care Units. - Helped lead the team to the 2025 Silver Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and helped create a Neuro Response Nurse role presented nationally at the Neuroscience Nursing Annual Conference. - Family includes husband Zac and their first child expected in May, plus a cat, a dog, and homestead animals. - Volunteer focus on mentoring early-career nurses and sharing produce and goods from a small homestead with the community. Summary: Her leadership work contributed to national recognition for patient outcomes and a healthy nursing workforce through the 2025 Silver Beacon Award. She helped develop a Neuro Response Nurse role and presented its measurable benefits at a national conference. She expects a child in May and says she plans to live and work in New Hampshire into later life.