Risk Management

Risk management is an interesting topic that I often ignore.  It was great to hear from a real risk manager about the issues that she faces in her job everyday.  Risk management can be boring or seem unimportant until a major issue arises.  In my current position, risk management is very important.  Children who are psychiatric patients are an extremely vulnerable population.  I have a large number of patients on a daily basis and it is  sometimes difficult to chart everything that happens on a shift.  After listening to the guest speaker, I am more aware of how important documentation can be.  I do so much each shift that there is no way I can remember everything I do each day.  This lecture will also be helpful later in my career as I move into leadership positions.

Future of Nursing

This class was much different than I expected.  I thought we would speak more about where the profession was headed instead of focusing on how we can improve education levels and political impact. I think it was interesting to listen to that doctor talk about the ways that we can improve the profession and help to advance nursing careers.  It was also interesting to speak about ways that we can influence nurses to continue on to the bachelor's degree.  I would like to see more NP programs offered in this state. 

Quality

I expected this class to be boring.  I know that quality is important but I feel like I always hear the same buzzwords and information about quality control.  This class was more informative than other lectures I have heard about quality.  I liked the example of the marbles and the funnel.  I have seen many instances in my workplace where the solutions to the supposed problems actually cause more harm and more problems than the original issue.  It's interesting to think about the many causes and effects of processes and how complicated their interactions are.  I feel like I have learned about how to think about the processes and recognize when issues need to be addressed and when you should leave them alone.  I also liked the M&M activity that helped us look at quality and what actually matters. 

Strategic Planning

I expected to learn about how hospitals move forward with their marketing.  However, strategic planning is about so much more than just marketing for one hospital.  It was interesting to learn about how healthcare organizations market their brand and plan for the future.  The group activity was fun as well.  It's interesting to look at how we could expand our little organization's reach into the other area.  It would have been also interesting to combine this activity with our budget lesson to see how strategic planning and budget work together to advance organizations.  Finally, I liked how this information is coming together for me.  I can see the bigger picture about many of the aspects of healthcare leadership.

Wouldn't that be just like me

For this game, I tried to do at least one thing during the day differently than usual.  I think that the point of this exercise is to see that different ways of doing things are not bad.  It didn't hurt me at all to change up my schedule some.  In fact, I had quite a bit of fun with it.  My kids helped me and we all thought of different things we could change.  One day I let them tell me how to get places in the city, following their directions exactly as given.  Another reason for participating in this type of activity is to help students become more flexible in their thinking.  I like to have a set schedule and do things in a particular order.  The order is usually random with no particular reasoning behind most of my schedule.  This activity helps me to realize that changing up my routine is not going to hurt me.  In fact, I found a few ways of doing things that I actually like better than my original routine. 

Change

The topic of change is always interesting to me.  At first, I thought that we would simply be discussing change in the workplace.  I find it interesting that this topic spreads over to personal life.  If we can adapt to change in our personal life we will do better in the workplace and vice versa.  I struggle with the concept of change.  I usually make myself do the new thing but inside I get annoyed that things have changed.  Over days, weeks, or months, I eventually reconcile myself to the change and it becomes the new normal.  Although I appear adapt well on the outside, I need to work on actually adapting inside as well.  I know that change is a necessary process that may improve aspects of my job and/or personal life but I still want to hold on to what I know works.  This will be helpful as I continue to gain experience as a nurse and learn how to be successful at my job.

Budget Interview

Interview with Barry Prettyman, Cole Surveying Inc.

1. What are your three main budgeting concerns? I worry about making sure I can pay all of my suppliers and get the equipment that I need to run my business.  I also worry about making payroll and covering quarterly taxes.

2. What does your budget cover? Supplies, payroll, equipment, utilities/rent, travel, taxes, and consultation fees

3. What is your budget range? It depends upon the month.  In the winter my budget is much smaller and tighter than in the summer.  Also, it really depends upon the year.  The last few years have been tight due to the poor economy and housing market.  This year has been the best year out of the last five.

4. How often do you make your budget? I sit with my financial advisor at least twice a year to make sure I am doing what I need to do for my taxes.  Then, I meet quarterly with my business partner to make sure we have the same budget goals. 

5. What is your profit margin? It depends upon the season and the year.  Anywhere between 20-40%.  Sometimes more, sometimes less.

6. What is your biggest expenditure after employees? Equipment.  Survey equipment is very expensive, over $100,000 for one device, plus computers, printers, copiers (large size), etc  I run a small business so I don't have a lot of employees.  My crew truck is also expensive to maintain and run. 

I learned about how budget concerns can vary depending on the business.  This owner was more concerned with meeting his equipment budget than with payroll expenditures. He also runs a very seasonal business with his income fluctuating wildly between each season and year to year.  I think that there are some healthcare facilities that operate in the same manner.  It is important for leaders to be able to understand budgets from multiple points of view to ensure good leadership.