Bill Klaproth (Host): Welcome to the ASHRM podcast, made possible by the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management to support efforts to advance, safe and trusted healthcare through enterprise risk management. You can visit ASHRM.org/membership to learn more and to become an ASHRM member.

I'm Bill Klaproth. And with me is Sharon Rateike, Senior Patient Safety Advisor at ECRI as we talk about FASHRM designation. Sharon, welcome.

Sharon Rateike: Well, thank you, Bill, for having me. It's great being here this morning and talking with you.

Host: Yes, same here. And thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it. So, first off, Sharon, can you tell us a little bit about your journey in healthcare risk management?

Sharon Rateike: Sure. I would love to tell you my story, Bill. My path is not a straight one, that is for certain. I actually have a background in Exercise Science. And I have worked in healthcare for a little over 20 years in the inpatient, outpatient, cardiac, pulmonary and oncology field, also working with wellness patients.

I also dabbled a little bit in corporate and community wellness and employee wellness. And I also did a brief stint in the corporate world working as an employee and corporate wellness program coordinator. So, I decided at one point I wanted to get completely out of the healthcare field and go back into the corporate world and decided to go get my graduate degree in occupational, environmental health, and safety. Again, my plan was to get out of healthcare because I had been in it for so long and wanted to really focus on occupational health and safety, ergonomics, working with corporations.

So, during that time, I actually had been still working in a hospital position as an outpatient in the outpatient cardiac setting, and saw this position for risk manager posted. I thought it looked interesting and decided to sit down with the Director of Quality to just kind of find out what's entailed in the role, what a risk manager would do, what they were looking for, and especially to let her know that once they hired that person, if it would be all right if I shadowed them, because I found that it probably would fall under the umbrella of the occupational environmental health and safety I was going to grad school for and wanted to learn more about it.

So, during that conversation, she actually talked me into applying for the position. And as I like to say, four interviews later, I was hired on as the new risk manager for the hospital. I really had no idea what that entailed. In fact, when individuals asked me what would I be doing in this role, I would just say, "Well, I guess I'm going to be managing risk for the organization." So, I was very green as a new baby risk manager and I really found that, to be an advantage, to be able to take advantage of all my resources, to be able to be molded in the field of healthcare risk management, learning from individuals, learning from organizations, and learning from the work.

And through that, I have found my new passion and a love for helping individuals, helping organizations, helping those in healthcare across the spectrum to be proactive and reduce and mitigate and prevent harm to patients, staff, and the organization through that risk reduction.

Host: What a great story. I love hearing these stories. Everybody's got a different path to where they are now. So, I love that you were in exercise science then a corporate wellness coordinator, then back to grad school. I mean, this is really interesting. And then, into risk management.

Sharon Rateike: Right. Yep. Not a straight path.

Host: I love it. It's so cool. Well, thank you so much for sharing that Let's talk a little bit about FASHRM. What led you to want to submit for the FASHRM designation?

Sharon Rateike: Well, you know, that's an interesting story too, because back in 2023, I had heard an ASHRM leader come and present at our state risk management conference. And the leader from ASHRM spoke on all the different ways that you could participate in ASHRM, all the different certifications that you could get. And just becoming more involved. But at the time, I was really busy in my risk manager role at a healthcare system. At the time, I was overseeing three hospitals and seven or eight clinics. So, I really didn't have time to look any further into the FASHRM designation, but it was planted—the seed had been planted in my mind. And I did decide then just, as I move forward in my career, to take the opportunity to set the goal and to look at what I would need to do, what I would want to do in order to become a FASHRM-designated member of ASHRM.

And from there, I reviewed the work and the qualifications to outline specifically where I would need to grow professionally in order to submit for the fellowship.

Host: So Sharon, I'm curious, why is this designation important to you? What was the driving factor?

Sharon Rateike: Well, I really respect ASHRM as an organization. And, you know, it's such an honor to even have my CPHRM certification through them. And I wanted to be able to contribute more and grow more as an individual. And ASHRM is just so well respected internationally, that I felt going ahead and submitting for this designation really would help me to take that next step, not only in my own personal path, but really help me to become a subject matter expert and to be seen as that. And then, to grow and learn to have that association affiliated with me through ASHRM. The designation really is recognized as something that is for those that are well-respected and, want to really contribute to the field of risk management. And that's something that I really want to be able to help others to learn and grow in this area. I felt this was one of the best ways to show my commitment to the occupation.

Host: Yeah, I love what you said there about showing your commitment to the occupation. And I also like how you said you were really looking to contribute and grow more as an individual. And the FASHRM designation really allows you to do that. So, Sharon, what are some of the leadership publishing or lecturing activities that you have done to support the designation?

Sharon Rateike: The first thing I did, Bill, when I became a risk manager was join my state organization for risk management in healthcare. And I encourage anybody who is in the risk management field, either looking at the FASHRM designation or even getting their CPHRM to become affiliated, become active in their state organization. So, mine is the Wisconsin Society for Healthcare Risk Management or WSHRM, up here in the state of Wisconsin. And I immediately got involved in it. I started to attend open board meetings, volunteered for the conference planning committee, because I knew that way I could get around people who knew the work and I could learn and grow from them.

So from there, I actually became a board member of WSHRM from 2018 to 2023, where I served as president in 2022. Again, I took about a year and a half off. And I am, again, president-elect for the WSHRM organization, because I just have such a passion for helping those individuals out there in our field learn and grow.

With ASHRM, I also decided that the best way to learn and to network is to become active in an organization. So, I volunteered as much as I could with ASHRM to participate in their Patient Safety Awareness Week activities on that committee. I also participate in the Education Scholarship Committee, because we're looking for people to share ideas and share work and really expand risk management. And who better to do that than a bunch of individuals across the nation, talking to one another, trying to make the occupation better?

From there, you know, I present both in the state of Wisconsin and, most recently, I've presented in some other states on risk management. So, simple things like the risk management process, the foundations of risk management, basics of risk management. I'll be presenting in May on the continuum of risk management. So, kind of the whole life cycle of risk management. It's easier to do that then to try to outline what a risk manager actually does throughout a day because our days are so varied. There's no single straight line in a day in the life of a risk manager.

So, I really enjoy taking what I've learned, especially since I was such a green risk manager, and being able to share that knowledge, whether it be through presentations, whether it be through organizations or committees, whether it be through writing, with those that are in the field so they can help to grow in their professional career also and, hopefully, grow the same passion for risk management that I have.

Host: Yeah. Well, that passion is clear. And that's a great example, Sharon, of the value and importance of getting involved. You talked about WSHRM, you know, get involved with your state organization. You said you volunteered, you became a board member, you became active in ASHRM, you did presentations. So, it is a great example of how to get involved and really understand, things that you might not have known before and really assimilate all that information and meet people and people that can help you as well. It's just a great example of kind of stepping up the ladder. Would that be right?

Sharon Rateike: Absolutely. it's one way to grow professionally, and then bring others with you.

Host: So, let's talk about that then. What advice do you have for others who are considering submitting for their FASHRM designation?

Sharon Rateike: Yeah. You know, my advice is to just go for it. I feel that when I first heard about the FASHRM designation, it intimidated me a little bit. I thought I haven't been in the field long enough. I don't have the experience, the knowledge, to go for the designation. But sitting back and reviewing what the necessary qualifications are and reviewing what is needed for submission, I was just delighted in being able to find out where I needed to grow as a professional in order to submit, but to also understand that I didn't need to be in the field for 20 plus years. I could be fairly what I still considered only being in the field for a little over 10 years, still newer in the field and submit for the designation.

And I will tell you, my best advice is to really work with those at ASHRM if anyone's interested in this designation. The team there is phenomenal in helping to outline and clarify what is needed for it and to help just create that timeline for submission.

My other great piece of advice, because this was just a struggle for me, was tracking my CECs. There is a large amount of continuing education credits that need to be verified within a timeframe when you do submit for the designation. And I had placed those in so many different places. Finding those gave me probably some extra gray hair. But I really felt that, again, the team was so helpful there. It was so worthwhile. And for those that are thinking about doing that, I'll just say take that first step, look into it, look at what is necessary for it, look at where you can grow as a professional. And then, reach out to the team at ASHRM if you have questions, because they're there to help.

Host: Great advice, Sharon. I love that. So, thank you so much for sharing that. And thank you so much for your time today. It's really been great to understand your journey to risk management, what made you want to submit for the FASHRM designation, some of the things you did for it, and then advice for people considering for their FASHRM designation as well. Sharon, this has been great. Thank you so much for your information today. We appreciate it.

Sharon Rateike: Yeah, my pleasure. Thank you, Bill.

Host: You bet. Once again, that was Sharon Rateike. And to learn more about the FASHRM designation, go to ASHRM.org/FASHRM-designation. And the ASHRM Podcast was made possible by the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management to support efforts to advance, safe and trusted healthcare through enterprise risk management. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels. And check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you. Thanks for listening.