Last week, we celebrated Nurses’ Week which is a great opportunity to recognize the positive impact of all of our nurses. Each year we pick one person from each campus to receive CJW’s Nurse Excellence Award who exemplifies the highest level of nursing excellence and dedication.   This year’s recipients are Kathryn Sheffield, RN at Chippenham Hospital, and Connie Rush, RN at Johnston-Willis Hospital.  Both of them truly demonstrate an outstanding ability to exemplify CJW’s Service Commitments to our patients.

Kathryn Sheffield is a RN in the CCU who has been described by her peers as extremely proficient while providing care to very complex and critically ill patients.   She maintains an optimistic and compassionate demeanor and seeks opportunities to provide exceptionally positive experiences for her patients.  Kathryn gets constant praise from her patients and their families and has received numerous letters from those that she has touched.  She was quickly identified as a teaching resource after starting as a new graduate in the CCU and has been instrumental in training new staff members and students.  Nursing is truly a calling for Kathryn, as she is described as always having a smile on her face, even on the most challenging days.

Kathryn has taken the lead role in educating her peers with our “Code Ice” patients and eagerly took on the role of “Save our Skin” Champion.  In this role, Kathryn has been a strong patient advocate by utilizing innovative strategies to protect this high risk patient population.  Outside of her clinical skills and positive approach, she also exhibits the servant heart of nursing.    Kathryn spent countless hours making baked goods and organizing a sale for the American Heart Association that helped raise over $500.00.    

Connie Rush has been in the role as Oncology RN for the past 12 years at Johnston-Willis Hospital.  Before becoming a nurse, Connie’s career path was very different.  She worked in the line crew building power lines for Virginia Power.  She realized, however, that she really desired to help people and went to nursing school.   In May of 2001, she started her first job as a nurse in Oncology at Johnston-Willis Hospital.   Connie has been working weekends since that time and has been described as the “rock” for this shift.  

Karen Roesser, Clinical Nurse Specialist, recalled a time when a patient and their family were having difficulty understanding what a physician was trying to articulate to them regarding end of life care and hospice.  Connie asked the physician, “Would it be ok if I took a stab at this?”  The physician agreed.  Connie explained the complicated situation in a way that the patient and family could understand and they ultimately agreed that hospice care was the best option.  Connie helped to facilitate this care and made her patient’s end of life care more comfortable.  Approximately six months after her patient died, the patient’s sister came back to the Oncology Unit and when she saw Connie, she immediately began to cry and started hugging her.  She told Connie, “Thank you so much, you made a difference in the care of my sister, she passed without pain and with her dignity.”

Connie has a very big heart and willingly helps anyone in need.  In her community, she has helped several elderly people who do not have families in the area.  Currently, she is helping an elderly woman by taking her grocery shopping and to her doctors’ appointments.  She is also working to assist her in obtaining a Hoveround wheelchair to help her get around her house and out into the community.  These are just two examples of those she has helped, as she has assisted many in her community over the years.

Congratulations to Kathryn Sheffield and Connie Rush for their outstanding contributions to our patients and their families here at CJW Medical Center!

One of our biggest challenges at Chippenham and Johnston-Willis Hospitals is to continually expand our recruitment strategies.  We have been given great ideas from employees with original ways we can find talented people to join our team.  I am pleased to share that we have hired two new recruiters in HR, Justin Kimlel and Sara Hayes, to support the staffing needs of our hospitals.  They have already launched innovative and proactive techniques to find individuals that would fit our culture of quality and service excellence.  Most recently, we significantly expanded our use of social media, enhanced our website and internet postings, and begun planning for creative job fairs and networking events.  We have found that our employees are always the best source of great candidates.  So I ask for your help by reaching out to your friends and professional contacts to encourage them to consider our organization.  We are also offering referral bonuses for employee leads that get hired.

What ideas do you have for innovative ways we can recruit healthcare professionals at Chippenham and Johnston-Willis Hospitals?

On a much lighter note, it isn’t uncommon for me to be do public speaking engagements.  Last week, I had the opportunity to recruit some future healthcare professionals at Ms. Seitz’s 3^rd grade class at Bettie Weaver Elementary.  As you will see in the picture, they were most excited to look like they just finished a busy day in the operating room.  We talked about all the great careers in hospitals; most of the kids assumed you were either a nurse or a doctor.  Hopefully, I convinced them that there are countless different jobs that make such a remarkable difference in patients’ lives.

There was no shortage of great questions and comments from the class.  One child wanted to know if we also did operations on pets (because he had seen the term “hospital” used in other veterinarian buildings). I hadn’t ever considered making that our next expansion project.  I had a wide variety of guesses on how much our total annual payroll cost is at CJW in a year.  One child guessed one thousand dollars a year, a large a sum of money to him, while one of his classmates guessed one trillion dollars. I am not sure I know how many zeros are in that number.   Another student wanted to know if patients ever passed away at a hospital.  They were engaged and eager to share all of their experiences as patients or visitors at a hospital.  It was obvious that they truly understood how important the work being done at a hospital was to our community.  Thank you for continuing to make a difference.

Have your kids ever asked you great questions about your job?  If so, I would love to hear about it here on the blog.

CJW Hospital Week Carnival at Chippenham Medical Center

This week we celebrate National Hospital Week.   The recognition started in 1921 on Florence Nightingale’s birthday week.  The recognition was originally designed to encourage trust in Chicago’s city hospitals in the wake of the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 which killed over 600,000.

This annual celebration is a meaningful opportunity to recognize all of Chippenham and Johnston-Willis Hospitals’ 3,300 employees who consistently show a deep dedication and commitment to our patients and their fellow coworkers.  The celebration is also a chance to remind our community of our commitment to them through our people, our technology and our high quality service.  Last year, we provided over $200,000,000 in uncompensated care which includes $60,000,000 in charity care.

Over the past year, I have relayed countless stories of difference makers through this blog.  I have hardly scratched the surface and look forward to doing many more moving forward.  It isn’t hard to find shining examples of people living our mission to provide high quality and compassionate patient-centered care through our service commitments of accountability, teamwork, respect, communication, quality and compassion.  I thank each of you for all that you do to make our hospitals an exceptional place to work and receive care.

What has been your favorite event over the years at one of CJW Medical Centers’ National Hospital Week celebrations and what would you suggest we do in the future?

This week, I had the opportunity to visit with a lot of employees at the various celebrations around both campuses. I hope you got a chance to participate in some of the events as well!

I am a strong believer that our success as a hospital network is inextricably tied to the level of talent and engagement of our employees and physicians.  To that end, during the month of May, we will be conducting our bi-annual employee engagement survey.  The results of this survey are an important tool to guide our actions for improving the workplace at Chippenham & Johnston-Willis Hospitals.  The survey questions are focused on several key areas including: management, career development, reward and recognition, compensation and benefits, staffing workload, physicians’ reputation, communication, work environment, and safety. 

I am confident that by proactively addressing the opportunities identified in the survey, we can continue to build a culture where the team is emotionally and intellectually tied to the important work being done.  I recognize that our greatest success will come from an environment where employees are passionate about their work, committed to the organization, motivated by their patients and teammates, and vocal in recommending our hospital.  My goal and personal pledge is to take this feedback to heart to guide how we lead our organization to not only meet the needs of our patients, but also the needs of our employees.  Your responses are confidential and will only be shared in aggregate; your honest feedback is needed to ensure we meet these goals.

Please take 15 minutes to complete the survey at www.hcasurveys.com or call 1-800-318-6614.  The results of the survey will be shared in the coming months.  Thank you for your time and ongoing commitment.

Recently, the mother of a young pediatric patient contacted Johnston-Willis Hospital through our online portal because her daughter was very anxious about being sedated and having surgery, a concern with which I’m sure we can all relate. The Operating Room team at Johnston-Willis Hospital immediately jumped into action, led by Nikkole Kantola, the Assistant Director, to put the family at ease. They reached out to the family directly, scheduled a full-service tour days in advance of the surgery, and showed them what they could expect the day of surgery. This is a great example of living the mission and going above and beyond to make our patients our priority.

The mother later wrote us a note saying:

“After the attention she received today, she feels much better.  You and the staff treated her like a famous princess and were so wonderful to her. You really put her at ease.  To receive the tour from you, and then Rhonda Davis meeting us in the lobby, and then Kim Hinson being a wonderfully patient nurse…everyone was awesome!  Thank you so much for your kindness and patience you showed.”

Her daughter’s surgery was successful and she was home resting comfortably later the same day.

I appreciate the special service this family got from the Operating Room team. In reality, I know these experiences happen every day at Chippenham and Johnston-Willis Hospitals, and we often aren’t aware because our staff members take such a humble approach to their jobs. They don’t do it for the recognition – they do it because they know it’s what the patient needs in that moment to feel safe and secure.

Thank you for once again showing what a special places Chippenham and Johnston-Willis are for the people we serve.

Please share with us similar stories from your units here on the blog.

Like you, I was shocked by the tragic events at the Boston Marathon this week. It is a terrible reminder about how delicate life can be and how quickly things can change. The loss of three lives, including Martin Richard, an eight year old child, hits close to home because it is easy to relate to being somewhere to cheer on a loved one.  I know if I were to participate in such a meaningful event as the Boston Marathon, my young children and wife would be at the finish line too. My thoughts also immediately went out to the EMS and hospitals who responded, treating these patients through the chaos. I have no doubt, in the coming days we will continue to hear about heroic citizens and medical personnel who stepped up when it really mattered and accomplished miracles no one thought possible.

We see daily reminders in our Emergency Rooms of tragedies striking much closer to home.  While there are rarely terrorist events, our patients and their families often have to cope with life changing events such as strokes, heart attacks and accidents.  They often struggle to accept the medical issue that brought them to our doors.  We are fortunate to have some of the most compassionate employees and medical staff who are able to not only address the medical issue, but also the equally important psychological issues tied to these crises.

Thank you for your unending commitment to help the patients who need you most.  We are lucky to have you on the team.

I welcome your thoughts here on the blog.

It’s not uncommon for me to be asked about the difference between an HCA Virginia Hospital and a Community Hospital.  This question is flawed because it assumes that because we are part of the largest system of hospitals in the country that we are not in and of the community.  We are first and foremost a community hospital, serving the needs of Richmond, Virginia.

Our success is directly related to our staff, our physicians and the patients’ willingness to choose our hospital.  In that vein, we are continually engaged in the community in areas related to healthcare, but also in activities that benefit the community at large.

The past week, several of Chippenham and Johnston-Willis Hospital employees, including Tracy Kemp Stallings, Margo Catalano, Misty Turner, Joyce Hall and Darlene Kulzer, volunteered to work on the Richmond Liberty Trail.  This new trail is a 6.2 mile pedestrian route that will connect a number of downtown Richmond’s historic locations.

The new Trail will guide visitors and residents past a broad range of key historic sites, adjoins with the Richmond Slave Trail at Lumpkin’s Jail and the African Burial Ground, and will wind through neighborhoods such as Jackson Ward, Monroe Ward, Court End, Capitol Square, Church Hill, Tredegar and Brown’s Island, the Canal Walk and Shockoe Slip and Bottom.

I appreciate the team’s participation in the Richmond Liberty Trail project and know there are countless other activities in the community with which our employees engage to make a difference.

Are you involved in a community project you would like to share? Would you like others to join your efforts? Please tell us about it here on the blog!