1
00:00:00,358 --> 00:00:02,751
Welcome everyone to the Becker Health care podcast

2
00:00:02,751 --> 00:00:05,224
series. I'm am Mariah Muhammad, writer and moderator

3
00:00:05,224 --> 00:00:06,979
with Becker Healthcare care, and I'm thrilled to

4
00:00:06,979 --> 00:00:09,770
have with me today Karen Utah, Senior Director

5
00:00:09,770 --> 00:00:12,409
of the professional practice, quality and regulatory Department

6
00:00:12,409 --> 00:00:14,873
of Nursing at the uma Mass Memorial Medical

7
00:00:15,032 --> 00:00:16,781
Center. Karen is very nice to have you

8
00:00:16,781 --> 00:00:18,710
on the podcast today, to get a started

9
00:00:18,710 --> 00:00:20,789
would you mind, please introducing yourself and telling

10
00:00:20,789 --> 00:00:21,750
us a bit about your background.

11
00:00:22,789 --> 00:00:24,870
Absolutely. And thank you so much, Mariah for

12
00:00:24,870 --> 00:00:25,484
this opportune,

13
00:00:26,163 --> 00:00:29,117
I am Karen Utah, and in my senior

14
00:00:29,117 --> 00:00:30,714
director role here at the Medical Center.

15
00:00:31,592 --> 00:00:35,046
I have the opportunity to collaborate with many

16
00:00:35,278 --> 00:00:38,772
nurses and inter professional colleagues to really drive

17
00:00:38,772 --> 00:00:41,154
exceptional practice. And just to give you a

18
00:00:41,154 --> 00:00:43,695
little background on my journey, I have had

19
00:00:43,695 --> 00:00:46,727
the fortune to spend my entire career here

20
00:00:46,727 --> 00:00:48,949
at uma Mas Memorial Medical Center. I actually

21
00:00:48,949 --> 00:00:52,124
started as a a Pc here many moons

22
00:00:52,124 --> 00:00:54,999
ago and have worked my way up and

23
00:00:54,999 --> 00:00:56,987
reinvented myself. And I think that's really what

24
00:00:56,987 --> 00:00:59,292
the joy of nursing is all about is

25
00:00:59,292 --> 00:01:01,200
that, you know, you grow and learn and

26
00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,403
have that commitment to life, long learning. So

27
00:01:04,563 --> 00:01:06,880
I was at the bedside as a critical

28
00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:09,278
care and acute care nurse and then had

29
00:01:09,278 --> 00:01:12,290
an inkling that education was my passion and

30
00:01:12,567 --> 00:01:13,360
went to,

31
00:01:13,835 --> 00:01:16,452
get my masters with a focus in advanced

32
00:01:16,452 --> 00:01:16,952
practice

33
00:01:17,799 --> 00:01:19,885
education and worked in

34
00:01:20,353 --> 00:01:22,666
development for a number of years, became director

35
00:01:22,666 --> 00:01:23,325
of that

36
00:01:24,181 --> 00:01:26,812
department. And then during the pandemic, there was

37
00:01:26,812 --> 00:01:30,418
this role became available, and I was tapped

38
00:01:30,418 --> 00:01:33,375
to lead this work. So for the last

39
00:01:33,694 --> 00:01:37,130
4 years, I've been working as the senior

40
00:01:37,130 --> 00:01:37,450
director.

41
00:01:38,580 --> 00:01:40,485
Wonderful. Wonderful. Thank you so much for giving

42
00:01:40,485 --> 00:01:43,740
us that that background on your experience. So

43
00:01:43,740 --> 00:01:45,590
was everything going on nowadays

44
00:01:45,978 --> 00:01:48,286
in everything that you're doing within the organization,

45
00:01:48,683 --> 00:01:50,695
what are are the biggest issues you're following

46
00:01:50,752 --> 00:01:52,264
health care in... For this year?

47
00:01:53,313 --> 00:01:56,017
Great question. So the greatest things that I'm

48
00:01:56,017 --> 00:01:59,038
following right now is really around caregiver engagement,

49
00:01:59,833 --> 00:02:02,060
and how that links to patient, safety and

50
00:02:02,060 --> 00:02:02,560
quality,

51
00:02:03,189 --> 00:02:03,829
and really,

52
00:02:05,030 --> 00:02:07,689
leadership development because I think they're leaders

53
00:02:08,310 --> 00:02:10,604
if they're developed and have the tools and

54
00:02:10,724 --> 00:02:14,160
sources, they can really foster that caregiver engagement,

55
00:02:14,479 --> 00:02:17,515
which really ultimately drives quality and patient safety.

56
00:02:18,075 --> 00:02:20,569
So Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Thank you for giving

57
00:02:20,569 --> 00:02:23,129
us that insight. Is there anything that you

58
00:02:23,129 --> 00:02:25,370
are excited about or anything that is making

59
00:02:25,370 --> 00:02:28,184
you nervous in regards to what you're seeing

60
00:02:28,184 --> 00:02:30,740
on the news, anything you're hearing within health

61
00:02:30,740 --> 00:02:32,178
care or anything that you're working on?

62
00:02:33,057 --> 00:02:35,055
Absolutely. So I think when I'm most is...

63
00:02:35,547 --> 00:02:38,192
Excited about is really the innovation and

64
00:02:38,566 --> 00:02:41,846
collaboration that I see. Really across health systems

65
00:02:41,902 --> 00:02:44,861
and our national organizations such as, you know,

66
00:02:44,941 --> 00:02:46,217
the American, you know,

67
00:02:46,936 --> 00:02:48,153
organization of nurse leaders,

68
00:02:49,249 --> 00:02:52,472
the association of nurses and national development and

69
00:02:52,608 --> 00:02:55,548
really seeing academic medical centers coming together to

70
00:02:55,548 --> 00:02:56,524
really share

71
00:02:56,978 --> 00:02:57,875
best practices,

72
00:02:58,885 --> 00:03:02,475
so that others can learn and just not

73
00:03:02,475 --> 00:03:04,461
have groundhog day when we're doing the same

74
00:03:04,461 --> 00:03:07,082
things over and over again. I would say

75
00:03:07,082 --> 00:03:08,949
what makes me the most nervous

76
00:03:09,569 --> 00:03:11,729
is really the complexities of health care.

77
00:03:12,530 --> 00:03:14,689
Patients are sicker than they've ever been before.

78
00:03:15,330 --> 00:03:16,550
And so really

79
00:03:17,024 --> 00:03:20,855
driving our delivery model of care to address

80
00:03:20,855 --> 00:03:22,074
those needs is really

81
00:03:23,011 --> 00:03:25,405
concerning. I also worry about the resiliency of

82
00:03:25,405 --> 00:03:27,176
what I they call human capital.

83
00:03:27,974 --> 00:03:29,251
I think that is 1 of our most

84
00:03:29,251 --> 00:03:31,187
precious resources is our caregivers,

85
00:03:31,884 --> 00:03:32,943
and it's

86
00:03:33,321 --> 00:03:35,824
because of the complexity, it is really challenging

87
00:03:36,039 --> 00:03:37,151
out there on the units.

88
00:03:37,786 --> 00:03:39,216
And lastly, I would say,

89
00:03:39,852 --> 00:03:41,758
the production pressure and the peace,

90
00:03:42,489 --> 00:03:45,919
really thinking about capacity constraints. You know, it's

91
00:03:45,919 --> 00:03:48,630
not uncommon for us to have many borders

92
00:03:48,630 --> 00:03:52,002
in our emergency departments, and we are using

93
00:03:52,474 --> 00:03:54,392
care spaces that I never thought in my

94
00:03:54,392 --> 00:03:56,949
career, we would, you know, have patients boarding

95
00:03:56,949 --> 00:03:59,587
in. And so when I think about the

96
00:03:59,587 --> 00:04:02,498
work that I do around professional practice and,

97
00:04:02,637 --> 00:04:05,031
you know, our residency program, really, how do

98
00:04:05,031 --> 00:04:05,531
we

99
00:04:05,989 --> 00:04:07,367
give our caregivers,

100
00:04:07,904 --> 00:04:10,231
you know, the tools that they need to

101
00:04:10,231 --> 00:04:11,366
address that pace

102
00:04:11,977 --> 00:04:13,008
because it is exhausting.

103
00:04:14,039 --> 00:04:17,148
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And Karen, thank you so

104
00:04:17,148 --> 00:04:19,138
much for explaining that Before I let you

105
00:04:19,138 --> 00:04:20,491
go The last thing I want to ask

106
00:04:20,491 --> 00:04:23,276
you, what was the most effective health leaders

107
00:04:23,276 --> 00:04:25,277
need in order to be successful in the

108
00:04:25,277 --> 00:04:27,023
next 2 to 3 years that you think?

109
00:04:27,657 --> 00:04:30,275
Yep. That's a great question. I think the

110
00:04:30,275 --> 00:04:30,775
first

111
00:04:31,386 --> 00:04:33,235
foundation and really sort of the vision would

112
00:04:33,235 --> 00:04:35,629
be that they have a commitment to developing

113
00:04:35,629 --> 00:04:38,102
a healthy work culture. Right? I think that

114
00:04:38,102 --> 00:04:38,921
is really

115
00:04:39,473 --> 00:04:40,530
needs to be celebrated

116
00:04:40,905 --> 00:04:43,530
and really worked on. Really, the first step

117
00:04:43,530 --> 00:04:44,825
in that is really fostering

118
00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:46,576
relationships with caregivers

119
00:04:46,951 --> 00:04:48,007
because that trust

120
00:04:48,715 --> 00:04:51,098
that comes from that relationship is really the

121
00:04:51,098 --> 00:04:52,607
foundation of psychological safety,

122
00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:57,555
which is paramount to really promote patient safety

123
00:04:58,263 --> 00:05:00,576
for everyone. I think the second is really

124
00:05:00,576 --> 00:05:02,991
shared decision making. Right? That is a really

125
00:05:03,288 --> 00:05:06,500
important strategy to empower our frontline caregivers

126
00:05:07,117 --> 00:05:10,003
to address and input when there's ethical concerns

127
00:05:10,003 --> 00:05:11,678
that are going on or they have a

128
00:05:11,678 --> 00:05:14,869
clinical practice challenge. And then, lastly, I'm a

129
00:05:14,869 --> 00:05:16,485
big fan of, proactive

130
00:05:17,261 --> 00:05:19,209
transformation, rather than reactive

131
00:05:20,218 --> 00:05:21,728
transformation. So thinking about,

132
00:05:22,364 --> 00:05:24,986
we are opening a new building to address

133
00:05:24,986 --> 00:05:28,099
our capacity needs and really, an example of

134
00:05:28,099 --> 00:05:30,164
it is that we are going to over

135
00:05:30,164 --> 00:05:33,976
hire. Right, For our summer cohort to address

136
00:05:33,976 --> 00:05:36,144
our hiring needs so that we have

137
00:05:36,453 --> 00:05:38,838
you know, the most precious human capital to

138
00:05:38,838 --> 00:05:41,620
care for our patients. So rather than waiting

139
00:05:41,620 --> 00:05:44,187
and realizing that we need to hire expensive

140
00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:45,436
contract labor,

141
00:05:46,009 --> 00:05:47,364
you know, we're doing,

142
00:05:47,923 --> 00:05:50,395
our recruitment strategies now even though the building's

143
00:05:50,395 --> 00:05:51,852
is not opening till January.

144
00:05:52,468 --> 00:05:55,235
I'm most excited about the evolution of our

145
00:05:55,434 --> 00:05:58,066
new Grad residency program that we have here

146
00:05:58,066 --> 00:06:00,299
at the medical center that was created back

147
00:06:00,299 --> 00:06:01,415
in 2007,

148
00:06:01,655 --> 00:06:02,155
and

149
00:06:02,532 --> 00:06:04,980
because of the commitment of our leadership

150
00:06:05,416 --> 00:06:06,765
team here over the years.

151
00:06:07,321 --> 00:06:08,297
We have really

152
00:06:08,828 --> 00:06:12,161
successfully seen that through national accreditation through the

153
00:06:12,241 --> 00:06:13,193
Pt tap program.

154
00:06:13,844 --> 00:06:16,896
And have 1 of the strongest retention rates

155
00:06:16,954 --> 00:06:19,985
that we've, you know, ever had and is

156
00:06:19,985 --> 00:06:22,537
compared to, you know, our national average. So

157
00:06:22,537 --> 00:06:24,548
here at the medical center our 1 year

158
00:06:24,548 --> 00:06:28,064
retention rate hover between 90 and 95 percent

159
00:06:28,064 --> 00:06:30,962
in comparison to the national average, which is

160
00:06:31,101 --> 00:06:32,480
hovering around 70

161
00:06:32,872 --> 00:06:35,353
turnover with at the 1 year, Mark, and

162
00:06:35,645 --> 00:06:36,041
really,

163
00:06:36,596 --> 00:06:39,631
the commitment of our organization to

164
00:06:40,097 --> 00:06:42,398
you know, fund and support this program. We

165
00:06:42,398 --> 00:06:44,485
know that new grads need

166
00:06:45,254 --> 00:06:47,158
support as they transition to practice.

167
00:06:47,793 --> 00:06:51,171
And that has been validated in many periodic

168
00:06:51,625 --> 00:06:52,977
and evidence based practice.

169
00:06:53,614 --> 00:06:55,958
And so this program

170
00:06:56,332 --> 00:06:59,612
really gives the new novice nurses, the

171
00:07:00,224 --> 00:07:02,393
support that they need to safely

172
00:07:03,084 --> 00:07:05,406
transition to practice this. It's a 1 year

173
00:07:05,645 --> 00:07:06,123
program.

174
00:07:06,918 --> 00:07:09,147
And what our new grads tell us is

175
00:07:09,147 --> 00:07:12,410
that they can't imagine transitioning from academia without

176
00:07:12,410 --> 00:07:13,127
this program.

177
00:07:13,778 --> 00:07:15,047
Got it. Got it. Thank you so much

178
00:07:15,047 --> 00:07:17,189
for sharing those final thoughts Karen. This has

179
00:07:17,189 --> 00:07:19,330
definitely been in informative discussion. So, again, I

180
00:07:19,330 --> 00:07:20,599
wanna thank you so much for coming on

181
00:07:20,679 --> 00:07:22,759
Becker Health care. When I look forward to

182
00:07:22,759 --> 00:07:23,713
connecting with you again soon.

183
00:07:24,668 --> 00:07:25,702
Alright. Thank you so much.