Interview Story - Solved a Problem

At our hospital, my department received a new manager of quality improvement. We needed a way to integrate this new staff member into our staff. She was the first person in this role, and was hired by an administrator without input from our department. We were also told that this staff member had lots of experience. Unfortunately, that was not true. And because the staff was expecting someone with lots of experience, they rejected her.

For her role to work, and to relieve some of the administrative burden from our staff, the staff needed to provide her with the data she needed. But, as they didn’t trust her ability to do the job, they withheld this information, leading to further frustration. Several heated discussions ensued between the new staff member and the existing staff about the quality improvement and this new staff member’s role in the organization.

To turn the situation around, I worked with both her and the other staff members. For the new person, I coached her in her area of expected expertise. I explained the work of our department and clarified the importance of the various metrics by which we were measured.

For the rest of the staff, I talked to them about the fact that it was not her that claimed she had the experience, but rather the administrator who hired her. I provided coaching for the new person and the current staff and we mainly focused on interpersonal and team-building skills.

It took over six months of me being persistent and we finally had a breakthrough. After a private sit down with one of the most resistant staff members, the Director of Nursing, the staff accepted this person and by then, we had honed some skills in the area in which she was working. I continued working with this person for well over a year, until she had mastered the role.

My administrative assistant told me that she could not believe what I had accomplished both in teaching quality improvement to the new person but also getting her integrated into the existing staff.

When I left this position, she told me that if I had not coached her and helped her breakthrough to the current staff, she would have quit in frustration. The last time I checked with her, she was feeling comfortable with the work she was doing, and her supervisor says she is doing a great job.