Callie Dobbins, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, serves as Facility Executive at Levine Children’s Hospital and Jeff Gordon Children’s Center.
On April 6th, Callie will serve on the pediatric leadership forum "Unique Challenges Faced by Pediatric Leadership and What to Do About Them" at Becker's Hospital Review 11th Annual Meeting. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place on April 6-9, 2020 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Callie's session, click here.
Question: What, from your perspective, is the biggest challenge about the future of work for hospitals, and what can they do about it? (i.e. automation, desire for more flexibility, clinician shortages, etc
Callie Dobbins: While most will agree that healthcare is changing rapidly and likely that much of the change is needed, I believe our biggest challenge is changing at the right pace while not losing the quintessential essence of what makes healthcare meaningful to the patient and provider. As a nursing professional and executive leader, it is far too common to hear concerns around clinical burden and burn out expressed by clinicians of all disciplines. These feelings are real and ones that must be addressed locally and globally. We are also facing meaningful provider shortages in many clinical specialties which are only compounded by the shortage of other clinicians such as Registered Nurses. At the same time, our patients, while expecting clinical excellence, are also elevating their expectations of what defines a superior consumer experience that is no longer solely defined by those experiences within healthcare environments but also every consumer experience a person is exposed to. Thus the challenge becomes how do we take all of these realities and truly pivot to address each variable simultaneously to improve the greater good. While some find this challenge over-whelming, I personally see this as a defining moment for health care organizations to innovate and design a system where we reset the care experience to enhance the experience for clinicians and patients alike.
Q: What’s one lesson you learned early in your career that has helped you lead in healthcare?
CD: Flexibility! Early in my career as a novice ICU nurse, I remember several defining movements where the day began and ended in a very different place than I planned. While it did not take long to “expect the unexpected,” this has become a skill that has proven to serve me well in an ever-changing environment. No one will agree that stagnant clinical care is superior care, but often, we hold on to the workflows, processes, and procedures that are comfortable and consequently status quo. Thus as a leader who expects change and the unexpected, I have been able to help my teams learn to expect an iterative process for evolving “how we do things” and to empower our teams to be flexible for the greater calling of improving the care we deliver our patients.
Q: Where do you go for inspiration and fresh ideas?
CD: Honestly, anywhere and everywhere. Some of our best ideas have come from the most untraditional locations and sources thus I am a firm believer that it is our obligation to try to find the best in leadership methods, other industries and consumer-driven experiences to enhance the healthcare environment. Certainly, with every great idea, it is important to determine how to take the nugget of knowledge learned in each idea and apply it to the culture and environment where one practices; at the same time, not succumbing to the pitfall of “they are different; thus it will not work.”