“Back in the Saddle Again”
22 Aug
Whoops, I think the summer heat got to me and I’ve been remiss in posting regular blogs. This new habit is not yet a fully ingrained one so it was easy for me to temporarily lose focus. Two factors have inspired me though – your comments to my recent posts and rounding. Whenever I get a chance to meet and talk one on one with employees, I get motivated. I get motivated to get out more, motivated to connect more and motivated to do a better job with my tasks.
For now, I’ll comment on two recent responses that have to do with attitude. One of our colleagues wrote, “Everyone has a lot of stress but if you continue to move ahead and be positive about changes, life will be easier.” And when I asked for your favorite words of wisdom, one person wrote, “Find happiness within yourself. Then share yourself with others.”
That sentiment is often what I find when I round in our operating units. I’m always impressed by the folks with positive attitudes. In these tough times, it’s more critical then ever that we stay focused on the tasks at hand and continue to move forward with determination and the confidence that Inova will remain a successful leader in the healthcare industry.
Rounding allows me to hear your concerns and ideas, and to share stories. We love to share “wow” stories at our leadership meetings, but I have to confess that some of my favorites are the ones that never get told because they are not necessarily the “over the top” stories. They are barely noticeable acts of service to others one can only really experience by being there.
One day at Inova Fairfax Hospital, I was stepping off an elevator as a patient being discharged was wheeled onto the elevator by a transporter. In front of me was a nurse returning from break. When the patient spotted “her” nurse, her whole face lit up! She exclaimed, “I was so upset that I was going to have to leave without getting the chance to say goodbye and say thanks for everything!” From this two-second exchange, I could tell that this nurse really made a difference in this patient’s experience. The patient was not only leaving the hospital, but leaving a “friend.” When you see me or other leaders rounding, please stop and share your wow stories – the big ones as well as the small ones.
And so, as Gene Autry would say, I’m back in the saddle again. I look forward to sharing more rounding stories, more of Inova’s new processes like iPEX and Epic, and “ride along together for a while.”
