A Successful Day
I just returned from Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Lancaster General's is a very busy Emergency Department. They see over 85,000 patients a year and are on track to break 90,000 visits per year within the next year or two. For comparison, consider that Cook County Hospital in Chicago, one of the busiest in the nation, sees 148,000 ER patients a year. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia saw 92,216 ER patients in 2005. My ED sees about 48,000 patients annually.
Lancaster General has managed to grow into a premier regional health care facility while maintaining a small-town feel and a commitment to excellence. They have acheived Magnet Recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. LGH was also named a Top 100 Hospital for 2005. Those are no small potatoes! Their ER is clean, orderly and manned by helpful, pleasant staff at every turn. No wonder they're a Magnet hospital!
I almost went to work at Lancaster General when I moved to PA in 2001 but was lured by the irresistable appeal of a five-minute commute. It meant I gained an extra hour every work day but, given the relationship I was in, an extra hour to contemplate my life at the time might have been a very useful thing. I loved working at Saint Joe's and often miss the sense of homeyness of the hospital and of the surrounding communities. Saint Joe's was also a Top 100 Hospital in 2002 and 2003, while I was working there. But I'll always be left wondering what it would have been like to work for a Magnet!
On our site visit, we discussed LGH's experiences with PICIS, the computer program we will (probably) be installing in our ED. Then we toured the ER and got to see the program in use. The reviews were universally positive from the staff. Almost everyone I've spoken with who's used this program has had nothing but praise for it. I look forward to helping implement this at Crozer.
I think I made another positive impression today, despite the fact that I didn't pipe up much. Much of the talk was about interfaces with different medical record, order entry, laboratory and radiology department programs and silly stuff about 'servers.' Sorry, to me a 'server' is someone who brings me food and drink in exchange for a healthy gratuity. I developed a lousy, dry, hacking cough last night which has blossomed into a feeling of general malaise during the day today so I wasn't much interested in talking. I got by with knowing nods and the rare, short comment. Can you tell I really hope to get offered this darned job soon!
I've got another couple work-related nuggets to share. Last week I received an invitation to "Tea with Nancy," our Vice President of Patient Services. Of course, my shift managers tell me what an honor this is. Really? It may be an honor but it feels more like a curse. I told one co-worker that they don't want me there, not with my big mouth. I wonder if they really mean it when they say Nancy really wants to hear what we think. Be careful what you wish for and all that.
The other tidbit is lots more exciting. My boss's boss informed me today that I'll be receiving a letter from the health system soon. I thought she was going to tell me it was an offer for the EDIS position but that wasn't it. It seems I've been nominated for the Excellence in Professional Nursing Practice award at my hospital. Now who could have done that? I've been a nurse for 22 years and spent the first 17 years of my career at a single facility and have never before been nominated for a nursing excellence award.
Now this is my idea of an honor! I'll get to dress up and go to a dinner. And it doesn't matter if I "win" the award. In this case, the honor truly is in the nomination. The honor is knowing someone thinks that much of your nursing practice. I imagine I'm a dark horse. I've worked there for less than three years. There are nurses at my hospital who've been there for as many decades! But it will bring me great pleasure just to be there as a nominee.
Oooo...I'll get to pick an outfit! God, what if I do win? What the hell will I say? Maybe I'll feign laryngitis (I'm sure I can find a doctor to write me a note to that effect ; ) and hold up a sign that reads, "I'm more excited than I can say."
I'm settling in for an evening of nursing my cold, all set up with leftover tuna salad from work yesterday and a 32 oz glass of OJ. Even though my throat is sore, my face is flushed and my body chilled and I've been working hard all day on hacking up chunks of lung tissue, today has been an above-average day.
Ain't life grand?
Lancaster General has managed to grow into a premier regional health care facility while maintaining a small-town feel and a commitment to excellence. They have acheived Magnet Recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. LGH was also named a Top 100 Hospital for 2005. Those are no small potatoes! Their ER is clean, orderly and manned by helpful, pleasant staff at every turn. No wonder they're a Magnet hospital!
I almost went to work at Lancaster General when I moved to PA in 2001 but was lured by the irresistable appeal of a five-minute commute. It meant I gained an extra hour every work day but, given the relationship I was in, an extra hour to contemplate my life at the time might have been a very useful thing. I loved working at Saint Joe's and often miss the sense of homeyness of the hospital and of the surrounding communities. Saint Joe's was also a Top 100 Hospital in 2002 and 2003, while I was working there. But I'll always be left wondering what it would have been like to work for a Magnet!
On our site visit, we discussed LGH's experiences with PICIS, the computer program we will (probably) be installing in our ED. Then we toured the ER and got to see the program in use. The reviews were universally positive from the staff. Almost everyone I've spoken with who's used this program has had nothing but praise for it. I look forward to helping implement this at Crozer.
I think I made another positive impression today, despite the fact that I didn't pipe up much. Much of the talk was about interfaces with different medical record, order entry, laboratory and radiology department programs and silly stuff about 'servers.' Sorry, to me a 'server' is someone who brings me food and drink in exchange for a healthy gratuity. I developed a lousy, dry, hacking cough last night which has blossomed into a feeling of general malaise during the day today so I wasn't much interested in talking. I got by with knowing nods and the rare, short comment. Can you tell I really hope to get offered this darned job soon!
I've got another couple work-related nuggets to share. Last week I received an invitation to "Tea with Nancy," our Vice President of Patient Services. Of course, my shift managers tell me what an honor this is. Really? It may be an honor but it feels more like a curse. I told one co-worker that they don't want me there, not with my big mouth. I wonder if they really mean it when they say Nancy really wants to hear what we think. Be careful what you wish for and all that.
The other tidbit is lots more exciting. My boss's boss informed me today that I'll be receiving a letter from the health system soon. I thought she was going to tell me it was an offer for the EDIS position but that wasn't it. It seems I've been nominated for the Excellence in Professional Nursing Practice award at my hospital. Now who could have done that? I've been a nurse for 22 years and spent the first 17 years of my career at a single facility and have never before been nominated for a nursing excellence award.
Now this is my idea of an honor! I'll get to dress up and go to a dinner. And it doesn't matter if I "win" the award. In this case, the honor truly is in the nomination. The honor is knowing someone thinks that much of your nursing practice. I imagine I'm a dark horse. I've worked there for less than three years. There are nurses at my hospital who've been there for as many decades! But it will bring me great pleasure just to be there as a nominee.
Oooo...I'll get to pick an outfit! God, what if I do win? What the hell will I say? Maybe I'll feign laryngitis (I'm sure I can find a doctor to write me a note to that effect ; ) and hold up a sign that reads, "I'm more excited than I can say."
I'm settling in for an evening of nursing my cold, all set up with leftover tuna salad from work yesterday and a 32 oz glass of OJ. Even though my throat is sore, my face is flushed and my body chilled and I've been working hard all day on hacking up chunks of lung tissue, today has been an above-average day.
Ain't life grand?
posted by Cheryl at
4/27/2006 04:42:00 PM
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