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Post details: Wanted: Advice on working in a hospital
About this blog and this bloggerWanted: Advice on working in a hospital
I've always wanted to work in a hospital. Now I am getting my chance. Starting June 12, I will be working at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare as their new Director of Business Development. In this role, I'll be finding great ideas to enhance/expand the health system's services, evaluate them from a business perspective, and then implement them into reality.
I'm asking all of you healthcare folks out there who read and blog - what advice would you have for me as a mid-level person working in a hospital for the first time? I've already received some advice from some friends and fellow bloggers - take the time to build trust and credibility with physicians; get to know the clinical areas more than you think you'll need; shadow a doc or nurse once a quarter; understand that difference of opinions is sometimes because difference of incentive.
But what would you say? What advice would you give a family member or friend who was going into hospital management as a newbie?
Specifically:
- What are some best practices or pitfalls in working with physicians and other clinical staff?
- How do I make constructive changes in a constructive way?
- Are there any "Sacred cows" in hospitals that can not be touched or talked about?
- What type of person stays the long haul in hospital management, enjoying it every step of the way?
- What do you *really* think of hospital management folks?
a little help, please!?
UPDATE: make sure you check out this hilarious/disturbing bit of "advice" I received from someone.
Comments, Pingbacks:
We all handle paperwork, meetings, and budgets, but somehow being in a hospital brings the "why" home in a very direct way. The hospital setting brings us face to face with the human side of the equation, and helps keep us in touch with the importance of the work we do.
Best wishes on your new job!
Rita
05/25/06 @ 08:27
05/25/06 @ 10:04
05/25/06 @ 10:05
05/26/06 @ 21:36 I think the main thing to remember if you need to interact with the nurses or doctors as they are working is that they are working!
A visit from someone from the business end of the hospital world can be viewed as an just another thing to deal with on an already busy shift.
Sometimes the sense is that management sits in their nice dresses and suits in their nice offices and then come around and try to tell us (the clinical folk) how to do our job. In other words, we do the dirty work and they get bonuses.
(Now remember, I'm speaking from the vantage point of someone who has never been in hospital management and wouldn't know how to any job in that arena...)
It helps to listen. If changes must be implemented, expect griping to high heaven. But eventually the folks will come around. No one likes change, but they'll do it eventually.
And I love the "shadow" idea - learn what a nurse does, what an ER doc goes through, the ins-and-outs (literally) of the admission process. You'll be able to see the "world" of the hospital so that when you have to make decisions, sometimes hard decisions, you will get an idea of how it will affect everyone involved.
And the one rule you should ALWAYS remember: if you are visiting a nurses' station......bring food! : D
06/02/06 @ 17:46 Leave a comment:
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