Kelly Hancock
DNP, RN, NE-BC
|
September 20, 2017
What inspired you to adopt LEAD and other programs such as “Building an Empowered Team,” “Managing Relationships,” and “Lead the Super Charge”?
If you take a step back and look at the transformation that’s happening in healthcare today, you’ll find that nursing is leading that transformation. There are over 3 million registered nurses in the United States, and they’re calling for the transformation of many things. One of these things is supporting advanced nursing degrees, which encourages nurses to take more leadership roles, whether that’s informal leadership roles at the bedside, or more formal leadership roles at healthcare organizations.
The LEAD program is designed for frontline nursing caregivers, from novice to mid-career to seasoned nurses. As nurses at the bedside, you are the leaders of delivering care, even if you don’t have a formal title. You are leaders by the way you deliver care and how you advocate for a patient, in addition to how you impact the day-to-day operations within that realm. LEAD is for them to think about how they develop their own skill sets to help them see what their potential is. We want to give them different examples of how they are leaders.
A lot of it is about reflection, and personally, that’s my favorite part. I have the pleasure of going to the graduation at the end of the course and I hear wonderful testimonials from many of the participants about what these programs meant to them. People say that they have a renewed sense of resiliency in why they chose to become nurses; they reflect on the value that they bring, not only to patients and their families, but also their colleagues. I’ve heard some really candid and emotional reflections, and I’ve seen this program evolve into a high-level engagement program that specifically focuses on the frontline caregivers. They are the backbone to our organization, and when they find their authentic voices, it’s delightful.
We put a lot of time and effort into some of our other courses because it’s important to invest in the education and development of our leaders. We were inspired by a commitment to develop only ourselves, but of others. As a leader, one of my duties is to make sure that I provide the resources and the culture for others to grow and develop, whether that’s at the bedside or in leadership positions.
The course, “Building an Empowered Team,” is about team-based collaboration. When patients look at healthcare, it’s changing to a team of caregivers rather than individuals. You have a physician, a practice provider, nurses, therapists, etc., and often, these caregivers are solely educated in their field. We want these courses to enhance how people work together in interprofessional teams to better understand how to give care to patients.
What challenges did you face in implementing these programs? How did you overcome these challenges?
People don’t know what to expect when they sign up for these courses and while we don’t mandate participation, we encourage it. We try to convey how these courses will impact their overall well-being and quality of care, in addition to the impact over their own growth and development as healthcare providers. Once people are engaged, they see the value. As people participate, they start to spread the news and share their experiences with their colleagues. They’ll say things like “Hey, I just took this incredible class, you should sign up for it,” and this has really fueled participation. From an organizational standpoint, it’s important to invest time, resources, and also allow people to go offline to take these opportunities. This cost is worth the potential in growth and development within these caregivers.
How are these programs funded and how do you measure a program’s ROI?
The programs are covered and supported fully by Cleveland Clinic. We measure our caregiver engagement on an annual basis, and there are some key indicators that measure engagement around personal growth and development. There’s also the anecdotal piece. We’re big supporters of education and growth, so it’s exciting to see so many of our nurses become certified in their speciality, which we believe is a result of their participation in courses like LEAD. We see nurses moving on with their formal education, and oftentimes, they’ll begin to pursue their master’s in something they’re passionate for.
How have you seen the relationship between doctors and nurses change since you were a novice nurse? Have you seen these relationships change since the implementation of LEAD?
We’ve seen a stronger sense of teamwork between units, and we’ve seen the frontline staff become empowered. We’ve done a lot of work towards continuous improvement so that these roles can own their practice and identify what their barriers even are. I think if not for some of these LEAD efforts in particular, they wouldn’t see or acknowledge their voice to make a difference.
I’m proud to say that as an institute that attracts many new graduates, we’ve also seen more mentorship. Many nurses who have completed these programs are more intentional about how they mentor, onboard, and welcome new nurses into their units and teams. They approach them with more empathy and are aware with how they communicate with them. They recognize that starting a new role can be overwhelming because they’ve been in their shoes before. Nurses have really been transformational in that aspect of providing emotional support. It’s been really fun for me to see how engaged new nurses are, in addition to fostering the pride that these nurses have.
What is your top priority for 2018? What do you hope to achieve from this?
I want to continue focusing on other areas to strengthen our educational and growth standpoint. We continue to focus on the priorities of our frontline caregivers, and we hear their concerns based on the caregiver survey. This includes strengthening communication between one another and within teams, our commitment to better ourselves and leaders as well, and I think lastly, how we think of creative ways to engage frontline caregivers so that they have a culture where they can practice and provide the best care possible.
What inspired you to adopt LEAD and other programs such as “Building an Empowered Team,” “Managing Relationships,” and “Lead the Super Charge”?
If you take a step back and look at the transformation that’s happening in healthcare today, you’ll find that nursing is leading that transformation. There are over 3 million registered nurses in the United States, and they’re calling for the transformation of many things. One of these things is supporting advanced nursing degrees, which encourages nurses to take more leadership roles, whether that’s informal leadership roles at the bedside, or more formal leadership roles at healthcare organizations.
The LEAD program is designed for frontline nursing caregivers, from novice to mid-career to seasoned nurses. As nurses at the bedside, you are the leaders of delivering care, even if you don’t have a formal title. You are leaders by the way you deliver care and how you advocate for a patient, in addition to how you impact the day-to-day operations within that realm. LEAD is for them to think about how they develop their own skill sets to help them see what their potential is. We want to give them different examples of how they are leaders.
A lot of it is about reflection, and personally, that’s my favorite part. I have the pleasure of going to the graduation at the end of the course and I hear wonderful testimonials from many of the participants about what these programs meant to them. People say that they have a renewed sense of resiliency in why they chose to become nurses; they reflect on the value that they bring, not only to patients and their families, but also their colleagues. I’ve heard some really candid and emotional reflections, and I’ve seen this program evolve into a high-level engagement program that specifically focuses on the frontline caregivers. They are the backbone to our organization, and when they find their authentic voices, it’s delightful.
We put a lot of time and effort into some of our other courses because it’s important to invest in the education and development of our leaders. We were inspired by a commitment to develop only ourselves, but of others. As a leader, one of my duties is to make sure that I provide the resources and the culture for others to grow and develop, whether that’s at the bedside or in leadership positions.
The course, “Building an Empowered Team,” is about team-based collaboration. When patients look at healthcare, it’s changing to a team of caregivers rather than individuals. You have a physician, a practice provider, nurses, therapists, etc., and often, these caregivers are solely educated in their field. We want these courses to enhance how people work together in interprofessional teams to better understand how to give care to patients.
What challenges did you face in implementing these programs? How did you overcome these challenges?
People don’t know what to expect when they sign up for these courses and while we don’t mandate participation, we encourage it. We try to convey how these courses will impact their overall well-being and quality of care, in addition to the impact over their own growth and development as healthcare providers. Once people are engaged, they see the value. As people participate, they start to spread the news and share their experiences with their colleagues. They’ll say things like “Hey, I just took this incredible class, you should sign up for it,” and this has really fueled participation. From an organizational standpoint, it’s important to invest time, resources, and also allow people to go offline to take these opportunities. This cost is worth the potential in growth and development within these caregivers.
How are these programs funded and how do you measure a program’s ROI?
The programs are covered and supported fully by Cleveland Clinic. We measure our caregiver engagement on an annual basis, and there are some key indicators that measure engagement around personal growth and development. There’s also the anecdotal piece. We’re big supporters of education and growth, so it’s exciting to see so many of our nurses become certified in their speciality, which we believe is a result of their participation in courses like LEAD. We see nurses moving on with their formal education, and oftentimes, they’ll begin to pursue their master’s in something they’re passionate for.
How have you seen the relationship between doctors and nurses change since you were a novice nurse? Have you seen these relationships change since the implementation of LEAD?
We’ve seen a stronger sense of teamwork between units, and we’ve seen the frontline staff become empowered. We’ve done a lot of work towards continuous improvement so that these roles can own their practice and identify what their barriers even are. I think if not for some of these LEAD efforts in particular, they wouldn’t see or acknowledge their voice to make a difference.
I’m proud to say that as an institute that attracts many new graduates, we’ve also seen more mentorship. Many nurses who have completed these programs are more intentional about how they mentor, onboard, and welcome new nurses into their units and teams. They approach them with more empathy and are aware with how they communicate with them. They recognize that starting a new role can be overwhelming because they’ve been in their shoes before. Nurses have really been transformational in that aspect of providing emotional support. It’s been really fun for me to see how engaged new nurses are, in addition to fostering the pride that these nurses have.
What is your top priority for 2018? What do you hope to achieve from this?
I want to continue focusing on other areas to strengthen our educational and growth standpoint. We continue to focus on the priorities of our frontline caregivers, and we hear their concerns based on the caregiver survey. This includes strengthening communication between one another and within teams, our commitment to better ourselves and leaders as well, and I think lastly, how we think of creative ways to engage frontline caregivers so that they have a culture where they can practice and provide the best care possible.
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