“Find a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” This famous phrase, attributed to intellectual giants such as Mark Twain and Confucius, has been the ultimate professional goal. While it is an excellent notion, even those who are truly happy in their careers can still view their roles as “work.
Tag: healthcare
ALTIUS Answers: Interview with Senior Consultant Dr. Sheri Matter
ALTIUS is back with the third installment of our ALTIUS Answer/Asks interview series. In this segment, our team gained insight on trending topics and industry challenges through our ALTIUS Asks interview with Dr. Sheri Matter, Assistant Teaching Professor for the Graduate Nursing Program and the Director of the MSN online programs and the DNP Leadership program at The Pennsylvania State University.
The “Lucky Charms” of Leadership
The recent challenges to and changes in the delivery of healthcare have spotlighted the demand for more enhanced leadership development moving forward. Throughout the pandemic, staff have displayed their resilience and ability to adapt, made possible by the innovative leaders that guided organizations through recovery towards stability without any predetermined path. This “trial by fire” approach was necessary given the unprecedented situation at hand, but has, in hindsight, proven the value of certain traits that need to be cultivated in future leaders.
Where Have all the Nurses Gone?
Long before the pandemic began, a shift started occurring in healthcare; an evolution of the nursing profession that introduced new opportunities to licensed staff, deviating from traditional patient care. While these innovative roles are enticing and serve to strengthen hospital operations by expanding skill sets and meeting previously unaddressed needs, these positions are creating further strain on care delivery. Staff shortages were already plaguing the industry and now nursing advancement is another element that organizations must navigate.
Productivity Checklist
This time of year, checklists help manage the back-to-school madness. They provide structure and direction on preparing for the coming year, especially while parents and students alike are still preoccupied with maximizing the waning days of summer. Checklists are also effective in other areas – they transcend in application and detail the elements required and/or steps to be taken in order to reach a goal.
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
This is a question that many Americans have been asking themselves since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; is it better to stay home and visit with a doctor via a telehealth appointment, or is it worth it to venture into the office for a face-to-face visit? Born of necessity, the rapid expansion of the telehealth platform and its increasing popularity over the last 18 months have revolutionized the way that patients are receiving care. Telehealth appears to be one of the positive and lasting impacts of this mass-scale health crisis, widely adopted by providers as a commonplace treatment option. Though an in-person follow-up visit may eventually be required for some specialties, virtual visits have proven to provide the same level and quality of care as their in-person counterparts.
Productivity: A Love/Hate Relationship
Love is in the air, and in healthcare, change is always on the horizon. A focus on productivity and workforce optimization may be part of your organization’s 2021 initiatives, but you may be personally struggling with getting behind the proposed strategies. You are not alone – many industry leaders and professionals have a love/hate relationship with performance improvement.
New Year, New You: 5 Ways to Improve Your Organization in 2021
As we bid good riddance to the stress and uncertainty of 2020, it is safe to say that everyone is excited to begin the new year. However, the challenges of last year have helped to guide growth, both personal and professional. That is why it is more important than ever to use the start of 2021 as a time for reflection and evaluation, determining how to further improve upon a foundation forged in the chaos of the pandemic.
Minimum Staffing v. Minimal Staffing
Many healthcare leaders believe that the term “minimum staffing” is the result of performance improvement initiatives aimed at doing more with less. It is actually a critical component of any department’s operations and should be considered in all productivity strategies and staffing-based decisions. Minimum staffing levels indicate the number of manhours across each job code category in a department, regardless of patient census or workload, necessary to operate safely and efficiently.
Realizing there is no Post-COVID
In the past five months, we as healthcare professionals have all learned a lot about the human spirit's strength and have been humbled by our ability as an industry to persevere during this crisis. We have also come to realize that COVID-19 is here to stay. This devastating virus is not merely a passing health anomaly that we are working to overcome, but instead a permanent change to which we must adapt.