As part of Nurses Week, May 6-12, more than 20 of UTMB’s leaders shadowed nurses from across the Galveston and mainland campuses to get a first-hand look at the successes and challenges nurses experience on a daily basis.
For Deb McGrew, vice president and chief operating officer of UTMB Health System, and Ann O’Connell, vice president of ambulatory operations, shadowing front-line staff is a top priority. Both leaders make a point to take a few hours out of their day each week to walk in another person’s shoes.
“I’ve made shadowing part of my routine. It helps me stay connected with the environment, meet our great staff and ultimately 
helps me do my job more effectively because I know what challenges our staff and faculty are facing,” said McGrew, who hits the road to visit CMC sites in San Antonio, Huntsville, Conroe and others. “It’s one of the most important things I do every week, and it’s great to see our folks in action.”
O’Connell concurred. “As administrators, we have a responsibility to know what is happening on the front lines in all of our clinics and to understand the challenges staff and physicians have on a day-to-day basis. The further we get away from that, the less effective we become.”
During Nurses Week, McGrew shadowed Rachel Lizardo, a nurse clinician at the Pediatric Primary and Urgent Care, Island West Clinic. Lizardo began by giving McGrew a tour of the facility, explaining step-by-step how patient appointments and walk-ins are handled, and giving an overall picture of how the clinic is adjusting to its new location on 61st Street.
“In pediatrics, there have been a lot of changes recently – so to have someone come to this new location, where we are offering urgent care is exciting,” said Lizardo. “I was a little nervous at first to have [McGrew] shadow me, but it’s been fun and it’s good to have leadership follow us so they can see what we do every day and really experience the connection we have with the kids who come to this clinic. You have to love kids to work here and be a pediatric nurse.”
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O’Connell spent the morning shadowing Joyce Dennis, a nurse at the General Internal Medicine Clinic at the Primary Care Pavilion in Galveston. The PCP clinic regularly sees 80 to 100 patients a day, and O’Connell was interested in seeing how Joyce and her team managed the very busy “in-basket.”
“In clinics, the ‘in-basket’ is a complicated thing – refill requests are put in the in-basket, as well as messages back to patients, appointment requests, My Chart messages, it’s all in there,” said O’Connell. “Everyone is working together as a team to get in there and answer what they can for each other. There were a lot of messages in there this morning, so I was impressed that in addition to rooming the patients and managing the flow here in the Internal Medicine clinic, Joyce was able to get into the in-basket and help colleagues out by working on the backlog. It was impressive.”
While O’Connell makes note of what is working when she is shadowing, she also notes any inefficiencies she sees. For example, during this visit, O’Connell observed nurses and staff having to trek down numerous long hallways lined with patient rooms.
“I’ve noticed that Joyce has to go up and down three different hallways, which takes a lot of time and can be confusing for patients and staff,” said O’Connell. “When we are designing new clinics, it helps me to see how ineffective our older facilities are -- it would be better if we had a clinical staff workstation in the middle, so nurses would be working in a circle instead of up and down three hallways.”
Dennis, who’s been a nurse at UTMB for more than 24 years, was happy to have O’Connell with her for the morning. It was an opportunity to provide input on issues big and small, such as how various new procedures impact clinic flow, as well as a chance to point out equipment that needed to be replaced.
“I’m excited about her being here; I wanted her here,” said Dennis. “Our administrators need to know first-hand what’s going on
and how the clinic is flowing. I wish she were here yesterday -- I was crazy busy!”
Other leaders, including Kim Hagara, associate vice president of Audit Services, and Sheila Lidstone, chief of staff for the Office of the President, also participated in the Walk a Mile in Our Shoes events. Hagara shadowed an OR nurse at the John Sealy Hospital and watched a surgery being performed, while Lidstone witnessed her nursing team deliver a beautiful baby boy.
Nurses Week 2015
UTMB celebrated Nurses Week with various events across campus including a health walk, a breakfast, a poster showcase, professional organizational booths and an award ceremony. Join us in celebrating all UTMB nurses, who provide direct patient care seven days a week, 365 days a year. Many thanks to all UTMB nurses for their commitment and dedication to patients. Click here for a fun video in which nurses from UTMB sites all over the region show “it’s all about the patient.’’