see in a day. You muddle through and you make mistakes, but you make sure that you don’t make mistakes with your patients. “On any given day something can happen to anyone and you need to be able to pick up those pieces,” Acker says.
Prepare for Emergencies Blake Woods Medical Park in Jack- son, Michigan, struggled for a few weeks when its assistant OR man- ager left. “She was with our facility since the opening and the newer staff did not have her level of experience,” says Desiree McMurtrie, RN, clini- cal director. “We lost a lot of knowl- edge base, which was difficult because the newer staff relied on her to handle unexpected issues. As a team, we had no alternative except to band together, which is easy for our ASC because it is a lot like a family. It forced us to reach out of our comfort zones and build our own resources. It was like starting anew and, unfortunately, for a short time it decreased our efficiency. It did not, however, affect the quality of the care we provide our patients.” The lesson learned here is to not
rely on a single key person, McMur- trie says. “Empower other staff mem- bers to learn problem solving from the more experienced staff members instead of relying solely on one person. You cannot have all skills locked into one person,” she says. “Have patience. Anytime you have a situation where you lose someone with that experience and knowledge base, it is going to be a trial and you have to have patience to work through it. Looking back, I could have reached out to a select few ven- dors who were used to working only with our assistant OR manager and provided them with alternative con- tact information as well as requested additional staff training for unexpected issues. Perhaps being more proactive
The transition was stressful and
involved a grieving process associated with the loss of the long-time leader, McMurtrie says. “Some staff mem- bers felt that they suddenly acquired more responsibility and had to learn to do things quickly in order to fix issues independently,” she says. “Now it has been a year, and our reliance on each other as a team as well as improved cross-training has allowed us to grow as individuals with more confidence— and that is a very good thing.”
Useful Tips
If you have a job that only one person does, that’s a key person. Every role is vital. Cross-train as much as possible.”
— Margaret G. Acker, RN, CASC Southwest Surgical Center
on that end would have helped the learning curve and decreased stress.” McMurtrie also recommends going through frequent drills and training with staff. “You cannot assume that one person will be in that one posi- tion forever,” she says. “Engage your reps and your surgeons; have them involved in doing the training with the staff, so they can appreciate the staff’s level of knowledge, therefore, reduc- ing frustration when working with less experienced staff.” Fortunately, most of Blake Wood’s surgeons are owners and, therefore, had a vested interest in assisting with the successful tran- sition, she says. “They recognized the situation with the need for additional training and helped with running mock drills at the end of the day. Educational training on the specifics of what to do in case of an unexpected complication is most helpful when it involves every- one and not just a select few.”
When a leader leaves a senior role, many things can happen, and most are bad, says Greg Zoch, managing direc- tor of Kaye/Bassman in Dallas, Texas. Some that he cites include loss of con- tinuity in policies and procedures, loss of staff development, delays in key initiatives, decline in quality or reporting, failure to meet regulatory and accreditation standards that fall under that person and the simple psychic loss that a team can feel when its leader leaves. “There can be a loss of faith in the management company or hospital’s relationship with the physician partners,” he says. “All these can create small to large catastrophic or even devastating consequences, and as such, it is imperative to quickly and effectively find that next senior leader.” With all of that in mind, Zoch sug-
gests a few pointers to consider when a key person gives notice: ■
Identify the primary duties and roles of the departing party and begin assessing and assigning those roles to other members of the team, if pos- sible. “This can create an additional load on those members and under- score the need to immediately begin a search for the new leader,” he says.
■
Begin a search, but before that, iden- tify not just the skills but the per- sonality and other traits ideal for the right fit. “Leadership is about more than technical skills, education and
ASC FOCUS JUNE/JULY 2014 13
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38