Tracy Course, MSN, RN, clinical director of UPMC Hamot in Erie, Pa., discussed the importance of being a successful leader and how she fights staff burn out daily.
Note: The following responses were slightly edited for style and clarity.
Question: How do you keep your staff members engaged and motivated?
Tracy Course: Engagement has been a high priority for me since joining the ASC. I joined the ASC at UPMC Hamot approximately a year and a half ago. Upon arrival, I did a very detailed assessment of the staff in terms of their professional and personal needs as [those] related to the ASC.
I learned a lot about the perception of staff in terms of feeling they were not heard, but expected to solve the problems of the ASC in terms of patient and physician satisfaction. I inquired about the historical perspective of leadership and their expectations of me as a leader moving forward. The only requirements that they had is honesty, consistency between word and action, as well as someone to support them in their desire to provide safe patient care. In the end, staff want to be heard and see leadership act in the collective best interest of the patients and the staff.
I also believe I model engagement. I find it challenging to be in my office all day and not in the clinical areas supporting my team. I've become very adept over the last 14 years at balancing administrative and clinical demands of myself.
Q: How have you fought burnout among staff at UPMC Hamot?
TC: When it comes to burnout, leadership faces that every day. I had some more senior staff that was near retirement when I joined the team. I met with them and discussed their feelings of burnout. What I learned was they just became clinically stagnant and needed to be rejuvenated in some way. I spent a lot of time talking about the legacy that these nurses wanted to leave behind. Once I engaged them in precepting and educating newer staff, they became excited about nursing again. [They] would speak to me a lot about the growth they were seeing in the newer staff and felt good about the specialty they were handing off. [They] believed that the specialty would be well taken care of once they were gone.
Did it work for every member of my staff that was facing burn out? No, and ultimately one made the decision to retire early.
Q: What are your strategies for growing and expanding a great team?
TC: In discussions with my team, we talk about how to prevent burnout and keep everyone satisfied in their roles. We been successful with cross training people to keep them fresh and excited about what they're doing and keeping them open and aware of the need to constantly be learning and developing as a clinician. We've opened up opportunities for people to learn the charge position for those nurses that are looking for leadership development. We are also in the process of redesigning and implementing a shared governance model that's consistent with the current MAGNET structure at UPMC Hamot.
Q: What advice would you give to other leaders and ASC teams to fight burnout and keep staff engaged?
TC: In terms of advice to other leaders, you either want to be a leader or you don't. It's that simple for me. Don't ask people to do something you wouldn't be willing to do yourself. Communicate clear expectations of performance and strategy to create and sustain the culture you're looking to create. If you're truly passionate about healthcare leadership, I encourage you to keep the patient and the staff at the center of every decision that you make, you can't go wrong.
You have to be open-minded. Listen to the thoughts and opinions of those closest to the work to ensure that good decisions are made. Remember to constantly be in a state of evaluation and assessment of your decisions and how they impact the work environment to ensure that you're always challenging yourself to create something better than what you did before.
My goal is to create a highly reliable, accountable, empowered, fun and fully engaged clinical environment.
Ms. Course is among the key speakers at Becker's ASC 24th Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASC. To learn more and register for the event, click here.