Transcription:

Scott Webb: This is Mission In Action, a podcast from St. Mary's Healthcare in Athens, Georgia, focusing on patient-centered care under our mission to be a transforming healing presence within our communities. Hi, this is Julie Carter, Vice President for Mission Services. Welcome to this installment of Word Indeed, where we visit with colleagues from around St. Mary's Healthcare System to hear their experience working within our ministry. Today, Tina Childree, the Nurse Manager for the Emergency Department at St. Mary's Good Samaritan Hospital tells her story. She talks with us about how she is laser focused on patient centered care. It would be hard to miss her commitment to safety. She also lets us in on her secret thing for candy cigarettes when it comes to combating burnout and listen to her heart for her colleagues, all the colleagues, not just her fellow nurses. That speaks volumes about another core value, reverence.

Julie Carter (Host): Enjoy.

Tina Childree RN (Guest): Tina Childree RN, I've been here since 2009 off and on from full-time down to PRN and then back up to full-time.

Host: I had no idea that you used to work in trauma centers flight, nurse, and that sort of thing.

Tina: Yes. So I started out as a baby nurse, 2011, but I started out initially in registration, but anyway, I kind of grew up here and then I thought that the hospital was too small to give me the experience that I needed. So, went over to larger hospitals, trauma designation so I could learn new skills. But continuing to work here, PRN. Always wanted to fly. So found my way to fixed wing. did fixed wing travel for a couple years, and then I went into helicopter, about a year. Great experiences there, but I never let go of Good Sam because of the connection I had from being a baby nurse and the older nurses teaching me the things, think outside the box, the book tells you to do it this way, but this is how it's really done kind of thing. education that you can't really get from school. I've been able to see it, Good Sam, go through several name changes. I've got to see the transformation in it. we're still the same at heart. still have that small hospital mentality. I mean, I don't know if it's mentality, but a small hospital feel like we're still the community hospital. Even though we look like we work in a ski resort. it's, it's still that same core of when I initially started working here, like it's about the patient. We all have those that are, our frequent returners and stuff like that, but they become part of family. And we still talk about those that we saw at old mini G. We talk about, you know, how are they doing now?

We haven't seen them in a while, but it's that kind of history that I have with several of the nurses here that we've grown from, you know, a little five bed, ER, into now we're nine bed and our numbers are growing and I would've never expected us to have this, but going back to working with these nurses, it's I've known them as long as I've been a nurse, because this is my second career.

I've only been a nurse since 2011, and I've learned so much just from these nurses, the support that we have here. If there's changes that need to be made or if there's concerns or if there's an idea of how we can improve patient safety or something as simple as a Luer Lock vacutainer and the ER staff can bring it to me, or I can take it to admin and say, hey, I want to try this.

And there's not this huge pushback, because if I can prove patient safety or cost savings, or, hey, just trust me, let me try this. we're still small enough, we can do that. And we're close enough that we know each other, you know, we have each other's back.

Host: Well, it seems like honestly you're describing an incredibly, supportive group of colleagues that kind of have just at heart, the shared purpose, the shared mission. And so that aligns everyone in the same direction.

Tina: Right there, there's no question. I know that whenever I'm going to be presenting something, or if I have an idea, we always fall back to patient safety. Is it about the patient? Cause we try to, I mean, I know that sounds like I'm reading off a script or so, I mean, really not, you, you go back to, is this patient safety, is this patient centered? How can I make it that or I know what questions I'm going to have to answer in order to keep it centered around those things.

And that's 110% of the focus. If it doesn't make sense for the patient, it's not going to work. know, we work staffing around the patients. We, you know, work everything around patient flow and patient care. If it doesn't work around that, it's not going to. And know that if I can show admin, what I'm doing is based on that, they're going to support it 110%.

And I mean, no questions asked. It's like, let's do it, let's get it But we have an amazing team of first nurses. We have cardiac nurses. We have new grads, we have surgical nurses. We have nursing home, previous administrator down there, all of us bring different passions and strengths to the department that is in a very eclectic family, but we work really, really well together.

And any time somebody is sick or not there, or God forbid, they say they need to take time off. life takes them in another direction. I mean, it's like a loss to our family. I mean, it, it just throws off our sync. That's, what's really important about our department is that we stay in sync with each other and -

Host: Well I love what you just told me earlier about the concepts around burnout and that it's often kind of losing sight of that purpose.

Tina: Right. You get lost in the minutiae of the everyday. Of the, oh, I'm here again. The same patients here, again, it's the same thing. I'm just tired and it's, it is very tiresome. So, we have to take a step back every once in a while. And if they don't remember, we have to remind them why they do what they do. just as simple as pointing out what they're really good at. Sometimes they forget that, that, you know, I'm, I'm writing a little, thank you cards this morning to them, just to remind them that each of them are unique. it has been rough. It's been a rough year and we've seen a lot of our families and friends and coworkers get sick or, you know, there's other things going on besides COVID.

And that's one of the things that I try to get them to focus on is that not everything's focused on COVID. I've got employee right now whose grandson is going through chemo treatments. got another one who's going through a divorce. I have one that's pregnant, right now. have one who has child who has lung issues that she's terrified that he's going to get sick.

so much more than just COVID going on right now. Life is still going on. And so now we like COVID on top of it. So, that's why there's that extra burden. So, you have to just remind people, this is why you come here. Thank you for leaving your family and coming here to take care of the patients. And let me remind you of why you do this.

Host: And what I hear you saying too, is that you're very aware of being a healing presence, not just for patients, but for your colleagues too.

Tina: Right. Right.

Host: And that's pretty extraordinary.

Tina: Right. We have to be for each other. I mean, I mean, if we're going to pull through it, if not, we're all going to be burnt out and yeah smoking candy cigarettes.

Host: Only candy cigarettes, of course.

Tina: Little crunchy ones. Right. Those are fun. But yeah, we, we, we have to, but it's not just nursing. It really isn't. Housekeeping is getting really busy because they have to clean up our mess and we're messy. Patients are messy. They're not thanked enough. So I make a point to really reach out and thank them because they're hidden, they don't get seen. It's of a thankless But it's, it's when you step back and you kind of see all of those things, when you see what other people are doing, it makes you appreciate working here. Because you do have an opportunity to see how other people impact just the daily lives of what's going on around here, That's what I like being around here. You know, everybody, I know she's having a bad day.

Host: Yeah. Even behind the mask.

Tina: Tight, no, you do, you know, everybody is having a bad day or they're having a good day or when to celebrate them and stuff like that.