Time To Care

I’m a collector. Some might say hoarder, but I prefer “collector”. The focus of my “collection” is thoughts, ideas and random pieces of interesting information. My “collection” is extensive and in being so, as you might imagine, it is everywhere!

There is no room in my home that is not replete with books. But the real heart of my collection is in my home office. There you’ll find stacks of articles and newspaper clippings occupying the corners of my desk.  My desk blotter (yes, I have a desk blotter! I think today they call them desk pads) is actually a large paper calendar and is covered with “notes” hastily jotted as thoughts or conversations occurred. And on the wall, is a large bulletin board. At least, I think there is a bulletin board under all that paper.

Once in awhile, I choose a limited portion of my collection and reacquaint myself with its contents. And that is exactly what I did with the bulletin board today. I began by carefully pulling tacks and evaluating the individual items for worthiness to remain in the collection. It’s in doing this that I came across a wonderful document. The documents title is “The Intrapreneur’s Ten Commandments”.

We are all probably familiar with entrepreneurship, which is defined as a person who independently undertakes risks to innovate. We may not be as familiar with intrapreneurship, which is acting as an entrepreneur within an organization!

Though many among us would like to be the visionary entrepreneur that innovates a new way forward in the healthcare industry, the chances are low that that dream will be realized. But we all have the opportunity to tap into our individual intrapreneurship and work inside our organizations to enable small innovations in how we work.

So to that end, the rallying cry to the healthcare workforce is - Dare to become an INTRAPRENEUR!

In our quest to influence the changes we know need to be made to insure a healthier healthcare system that provides the kind of care we would all want to receive, we need only follow these rules:

The Intrapreneur’s Ten Commandments”

1.       Come to work each day willing to be fired.

2.       Circumvent any orders aimed at stopping your dream.

3.       Do any job needed to make your project work, regardless of your job description.

4.       Find people to help you.

5.       Follow your intuition about the people you choose, and work only with the best.

6.       Work underground as long as you can – publicity triggers the corporate immune mechanism.

7.       Never bet on a race unless you are running in it.

8.       Remember it is easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission.

9.       Be true to your goals, but be realistic about the ways to achieve them.

10.   Honor your sponsors.

(Author Unknown)

I may never get to write another blog post. My colleagues here at Kronos are sending me stories that I just have to share!

I’d like to introduce you to Anna Lisa Leal, Kronos Project Manager and her touching, true story, that puts everything into perspective!

Thanks Anna Lisa…

About 11 years ago, I came to work for Kronos after working 17 years in a large hospital group. In my role in field service, I often work on site with my Kronos customers during implementation. I was on a large project that had been going for about a year, and had several more to go. It was close to the Christmas holidays and I was on site for a final week before a time when many of us would be taking a break.

 We were all elated yet drained because we had completed some significant work in the prior months and were gearing up for our next steps. Seems we got big tasks done, celebrated, and then went on to more big steps. Schedules were crazy, tasks to do that seemed to have no end – you know how it is. There never seemed to be enough hours in the day! I was about to take off to my next meeting and I received a text from a friend of mine who still works at the hospital where I used to work as well. The text caused me to “pause” and helped to put our collective work as Information System project teams, both customer and Kronos in perspective.

 Our texts:

Mary: Patient just given 3 wks 2 live. Has no family except 6 yr old son. Held her while she cried. Prayers 4 strength would b good.

AL: Wow – that gives me perspective today.

AL: Thank you so much for sharing w me. Wrking for large hospital org (60K emps)

AL: Ur note helps me remember why this cust hired us. To help ensure we staff and pay emps right . So u can focus on ur job

Mary: Good staffing makes the patients feel cared about rather than just cared 4. Yay u 4 what u do!

 When I’m having a tough day, running from meeting to meeting, revising documents and schedules and estimates for the umpteenth time, data needs to be scrubbed, data can’t’ be found, schedules shift, change, working late into the night…..I pause and think about Mary. NEVER in my worst days at work will I EVER have to hold someone while they cry and come to grips with the fact that they are dying and will leave their children behind…..and then…..turn around and go back to the rest of my work and a thousand tasks and other patients needing my care. Wow.

 Mary’s comment about “Good staffing makes the patients feel cared about rather than just cared for” is WHY we do what we do. It’s about optimum Schedules, optimum staffing, workload metrics, tracking attendance, ensuring folks have leave taken care of, paying them correctly, and of course, making sure productivity is good so we can keep the doors open and continue the mission.

 So – on those “tough days” – keep the faith – and know there is a bigger reason to our work….

 Anna Lisa Leal

As we approach the end to Nurse’s Week 2012, I thought it would be great to share one more story from a Kronos Sales Executive. (I’ve been knocked over by these guys this week!)

Wait until you hear what Mark Crowl experienced and what a difference it made in his life…thanks for sharing this Mark!

As a kid, playing football in Oklahoma, like a few other states in this country, is life or death.  In my junior year at the end of our last regular season game before the playoffs, I tore up my knee.  I was 16 years old and both scared and angry. 

I went to Oklahoma City where I learned I would need surgery to repair my knee.  I was scared, this was no football field.  My Orthopedic surgeon was a thought leader among his peers on knees.  In 1977, knee surgeries were completely different than they are today.  He had a nurse who worked with him and his patients.  The Doctor introduced her as “The General” and said she is my secret to my success.  He told me, I would find out soon why. 

He proceeded to tell me, young man, you may not be able to play football again.  Worst words a kid could hear. He left the room and I was trying not to cry. The General looked at me and said, quit feeling sorry for yourself, we will beat this injury. 

I never knew The General’s real name because I was too scared to ask.  She was short and stout, old school and you could tell she didn’t mince words.  As you could imagine, I didn’t care for her because I wanted her to feel sorry for me.  Trust me, it may have entered her mind but in no way was she going to let me know.  The General looked directly at me in her matter of fact way of talking and informed me I was going to stay in the hospital for a week, then wear a cast from my hip to my toe for three months.  She said it was going to hurt a lot. Recovery time after the cast would be another six months which would put me at the start of the next season.  I was sixteen, no family or friends around and was scared out of my mind. 

The day of surgery The General came early and said, smiling, you ready?  She said she liked surgery days, I thought she was a mad scientist. They hooked me up and I watched and listened to everything they said.  My mom was in the room and was scared too. 

After surgery, I woke up to The General smiling the mad scientist smile.  She said raise your leg.  I have a full length cast. It was massive and my leg was killing me. Then the smile went to that stern look, raise your leg 10 times.  I can still remember the pain but I wasn’t going to let the short tough acting nurse push me around so I did it.  I thought it was a challenge, one timer.  She then barked, I want two more sets of ten.  I did them with every ounce of guts I had.  As she left the room she said, I thought you would do better!

 Now I was mad. I would see The General three times a day and she barked the same orders on the leg raises.  I dreaded seeing her. She meant pain.

Finally, as I’m getting ready to go home she came in the room and told me I could’ve done more but I did just OK.  Trust me at that point, I would have done jail time to smack her.  I hobbled to the car on crutches while she stood there and watched.  She didn’t even offer to help. 

I went back to the doctor after the three months and had the cast removed.  My leg was half the size of my right leg.  It looked horrible and the doctor rubbed his hands over the scar and said, beautiful.  I saw it too but my definition was very different than his.  I continued to do the exercises.

Finally in July 1978, he gave me the ok to play football again.  The General was standing right next to him just staring at me. She didn’t say a word. 

As I left the office with my mother, I told her I hated that woman and couldn’t believe she kept a job. 

A couple of weeks after football season, my mother yelled at me to come to the phone. I said hello and the next thing I heard was, hi, it’s The General.  I was in shock so much that I tried but couldn’t hang up the phone.  She asked how I was doing.  I said fine and then her tone changed and said, I’m so proud of you.  She said. I followed your team all year and you had a great season.  I even saw where you lead in tackles.  I asked why she cared. 

She said, my patients are my children. She said, you were a pistol and you would give me that stare.  I pushed you harder than almost any patent I’ve had because I knew you would do it.  I knew you wanted to play football so bad. I knew you didn’t like me but I had a lot of respect for the way you worked at getting better.

 I apologized to her and she said I didn’t need to as she had already received the best gift I could give her, playing again.  We hung up the phone.  I looked at my mom and started crying.

I have had multiple injuries requiring hospital stays and long recovery times.  Healthcare may be in flux but the care the nurses provide can’t be measured.  Nurses affect not only the injured but all who love the injured person.  Nurses are truly hero’s in my book as they have put me back together with tender care multiple times.  I will never forget the one I love the most, “The General”.

Among the many things I am involved in doing at Kronos, a good amount of my time is spent with our Sales Executives. There are the customer meetings that bring us together, as well as, the ongoing assessment of the industry needs in workforce management technology. I also spend some of my time providing education to the sales team on all types of issues related to the healthcare industry. A common theme in all my interactions with the team is always a focus on the important role that the nursing profession plays in healthcare delivery.  

Sometimes I wonder what the team really thinks about nursing. Well, today I found out. One member of the team decided to take time to care and share his thoughts in honor of Nurses Week and he sent me the note below…thanks Mike!

Let me introduce you to Mike Leon, Senior Sales Executive, Kronos for Healthcare and let Mike tell you what he really thinks…

 I can remember the day almost 18 years ago like it was yesterday.  My daughter Kelly was born at 31 weeks weighing 3.5 pounds.  She was transferred from the local hospital to Cleveland’s Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital where she spend the next 40 days of her life.  I had just started my career at Kronos, had a 3 year old at home and was just getting my first taste of the complexities of healthcare. My wife who is a State Farm Insurance Agent and I had to figure out a way to balance life with a 3 year old son at home, work, and figure a way to visit our daughter at RB&C every day. 

To say that I was completely stressed out would have been an understatement.  I remember a doctor pulling me aside the first day to go over all the issues, and giving me the “odds” of what was going to happen, both good and not so good stuff.  I remember walking away and literally crying in the corner by myself.   I also remember a nurse coming over to me and telling me that everything was not as bad as the doctor had portrayed to me.  Something about “doctors”  bed side manner vs. “Nurses “ bed side manner.

So over the next 40 days, my wife and I visited our daughter Kelly every day.  We devised a schedule that one of us would go in the morning and one of us would go at night and spend a few hours at the hospital.   Each day I went there I realized how truly dedicated the staff was to the small little lives in the NICU.  The nursing staff who I interacted with 95% of the time were incredible in their knowledge , dedication and compassion to both my daughter and my wife and I.  I also learned a great deal about the technology and how truly blessed we were to have a World Class Organization like Rainbow Babies and Children in our city.  My whole perspective on Quality of Care and specifically about the profession of Nursing was forever changed back in 1994.

When someone talks about how US Healthcare is broken.  I can tell you that certain things are NOT broken like the dedication of the nursing profession in NICU’s all over the United State and the Quality of Care these nurses bring to the job every day!

Nurses are Superheroes! (Some of us even have capes)

 And as superheroes, we, of course, possess super powers. In fact, we possess several super powers, but one stands out. The most important and single greatest superpower that a nurse possesses is the - ability to identify who in the room is the patient! Stop laughing and think about it…

 That guy over there on the stretcher, is he the patient? Maybe, but maybe not.  What about the little girl in room #2 with the broken arm? She certainly needs some medical attention, but mom isn’t in such good shape either. And then there’s the elderly women under anesthesia in the OR, you know, the one whose surgeon is wigging out because the music being played in the suite isn’t to his liking.

 Identifying the real patient isn’t always as easy as some may think. And sometimes, there is more than one patient!

 The guy on that stretcher – is an intern with 15 minutes to kill (probably a poor choice of words!). The little girl with the broken arm will be fine, but mom is blaming herself for buying that skateboard and could definitely use a little support. And the elderly woman in the OR doesn’t have a clue that unless someone gets her surgeon down from the ceiling he’ll…well, darn near anything could happen!

 The ability to quickly assess a situation, identify all the players and their individual needs and develop a comprehensive plan to ensure the best outcome for all is an art. It is the practice of nursing!

 And the practice of nursing occurs wherever you find nurses – in hospitals, schools, long term care facilities, assisted living residences, patient’s homes, and even industries like mine – technology! There is always a patient or patients!

 They are not always visibly ill, but they are patients none the less. They are people experiencing pain or distress adversely affecting their lives or the lives of others. They are the ill, the injured, the anxious, their spouses or partners, their children or extended families. They are co-workers, colleagues and communities of all kinds. 

 Today is the start of National Nurses Week 2012. It is a time set aside to reflect on all that nurses do as – advocates, leaders and caregivers. A time to thank our Superheroes!

 So I ask you to join me in honoring the nurses who have supported each of us along the way by adding a comment to this blog post about the difference a nurse made in your life…

 I’ll start…thank you Barbara Goldstein, VP of Patient Care Services at Stamford Hospital for taking the time to care and encouraging me to get my BSN. It was the best thing that you could have done for me…you made all the difference in my career…

 Your turn…(tell us about a nurse that made a difference in your world!)…

It grabs you so unexpectedly that it can be unsettling. A casual glance and it happens, you find yourself taken aback and pausing for yet another longer look. That’s what happened to me this morning when I pulled up Facebook for a casual check-in on the goings on amongst my friends. 

 There was the “happy to be home” status update. The proud parent announcement of a sporting event won. The vacation photo posting that chronicled fun times with family. And then, the cause of my unanticipated whiplash went scrolling by, my own personal Mona Lisa. The lady with the mystic smile!

 A high school friend I haven’t seen or spoken to in almost 40 years had posted a picture of her mother at breakfast this morning. An elegant woman most certainly in her 80’s with what looks to be the softest of white hair and piercing, all knowing eyes, was looking through me. 

 I cannot tell you whether she was smiling or serious in her expression. I couldn’t stop looking at her. It was as if she was speaking to me…I wanted so to be in her presence. I don’t know exactly why, but I felt as though there were things that needed to be said.

 A closer look at the picture made it clear that she was in a nursing home. The bed, the tray table and curtain in the background lead me to that conclusion. She was well groomed sitting in front of a hearty and appetizing breakfast. I was sad and glad at the sight. 

 She was in that moment a connection to the mother I lost so many years ago. This lady with the mystic smile was a friend of hers. Unlike my mother who did not live long enough to require the care of assisted living or nursing home residence, she has had the joy and pain of a long life. 

 I believe that is what I am seeing in her face. The message was clear that there is no life without joy and pain. They are two sides of the same coin.

 It is special work that is done by the staff in nursing homes. They take our most precious loved ones and care for them as if they were their own. And it is clear to me that they have taken the time to care for my friend’s mother. And that has resulted in this unexpected gift to me…the picture of the lady with the mystic smile. My Mona Lisa!

 My friends caption to her mother’s picture read: “Having breakfast with mom and cherishing every minute”…if you have the chance, I highly recommend you do the same!

Miss you mom!

 Susan

 (Out of respect for my friend and her mother’s privacy, I decided against including the picture she posted. Hopefully, I have described it adequately!)

This is probably going to come as a shock to you. I know it came as a devastating blow to me personally. But I just found out, I’m not the only Kronos blogger.

This news came to me when the corporate office announced it thought it would be good sport to create a little competition amongst us. We have been challenged to scratch our way to the top of the pile by collecting the most views of our blog between now and Memorial Day. The winner gets to direct $200 Kronos dollars to the charity of their choice. I need to win! I have to win! The kids served by Share Our Strength want me to win!

As you can tell, I don’t really have a competitive nature – I usually just shoot anyone who gets in my way and keep going! But I’m afraid that’s not an option in this case! So I need your help…

You’ve probably noticed that your Facebook home page, no wait, your Facebook timeline – well, somewhere on Facebook, it says you have a lot of “Friends”.  I want you to ask yourself: What have they done for me lately?

Actually, the question is really: What can they do for Susan?

And the answer is pretty simple, they can go to Time To Care – all they have to do is point their browser to the site – BINGO! I get a little closer to winning this thing…

So the next time you’re on Facebook (10 minutes from now I’m guessing), post the following status update for all your friends:

“My friend, Susan, needs everyone’s help. Please help me help her – go to http://timetocare.kronos.com to see why and how you can help. Pass it on! Thanks”

Thanks for taking time to care!

Susan

If this looks like your current process for screening applicants, we should talk…

Problem solving – that’s what healthcare professionals do. We look for the issues and then focus all our energies on making what is wrong –right! A noble endeavor for sure, but it also can color how we see the world in general.

We’re “always” looking for the problem.

Even in my role now, supporting the healthcare industry with workforce management solutions, it was no different for me this morning. I approached my computer – which lately I’m spending much too much time with – expecting to be confronted with the “problems of the day”. What deadline was in jeopardy? What customer appointment needed to be rescheduled? How will I prioritize the demands on my time? What more can I do to get consensus on a new initiative to move the ball forward? What are the problems organizations have with workforce management practices that adversely affect the working lives of healthcare professionals? And the list goes on…

Expecting to find problems, I found problems and lots of them! So many, in fact, I pushed back in my chair and decided I needed to clear my head and take a walk. I grabbed my iPhone, adjusted the ear piece, turned on some music and headed out the door.

First, up the hill than a left turn around the corner finding a brisk but not too taxing pace, I settled in to my walk. The music was pleasant. Since the music player was on “shuffle”, each new song was a surprise. And considering I have a gazillion songs on it, I hadn’t heard some of them for a long, long time.

And that was certainly true when I heard Van Morrison’s soulful rendition of “Days Like This”. If you’re familiar with the song, you know that it’s a tale of potential and reflective appreciation for all the good things in life. And it was just what I needed…

There was a lot about today that I was overlooking by focusing on the problems. I was missing the fact that as “Van the Man” was reminding me in many ways there was a lot of good stuff happening all around me. The sun was shining. I was working with great people. The work I was doing was meaningful to me (and hopefully to you!). Even the problems had a bright side – they were all fixable!

So for my healthcare friends and colleagues in the trenches solving real problems, please continue to do so, but every so often lift your head up and see all the good stuff. Take notice and be glad for the shift when no one calls in sick, the vacation request that gets approved on the first round, getting out of work on time, hiring that new employee – workforce management isn’t just about the problems!

And if you need just a little nudge to help you see the good stuff, take a listen to this:

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Kronos loves nurses,

We hope you do to!

Did you know that the 2013 Tournament of Roses Parade on New Years Day will feature a float dedicated to nurses?  Sally Bixby is the first nurse to hold the office of President of the Tournament of Roses & Rose Bowl Game. So for the first time ever, the parade will have a float to Celebrate – Honor- Thank nurses everywhere for what they do!

I need your help to support the nurses float.

If I can add 200 “NEW Subscribers” to this blog (see the “sign me up” button – upper right of this screen) than Kronos will donate $5,000 to the Flowers for the Float organization, a non-profit entity supporting this great endeavor!

Let’s band together and show our support for the Nurses Float! Help me get as many new subscribers as possible…send this to everyone in healthcare you know!

P.S. I love spending Kronos money on nurses

Susan