by Allyssa Stevens
Background
Children’s Hospital and Medical Center is a 145-bed nonprofit facility located in the heart of Omaha, NE. Children’s was built in 1948 and set out with a mission to improve the life of every child, while never turning a child in need of medical care away due to an inability to pay. The hospital currently consists of 9 floors, which will expand and double in capacity in the next 2 years with the addition of the Hubbard Center for Children adding 9 additional floors and another 100+ beds. Connected to the hospital are the Children’s Specialty Clinics, which include 50+ outpatient specialty services.
Activities
In my first week at Children’s, I was able to learn a breadth of different things about the organization. During my first couple of days, I attended a new employee orientation where topics such as Children’s Mission, Vision, and Values were discussed. Throughout day two of new employee orientation, I learned about the hospital’s mechanisms for infection control, as well as the language of caring and error prevention techniques. I was also given the opportunity to tour the hospital, specialty clinics, and the new administrative buildings. I shadowed the Continuing Medical Education Coordinator and learned about the Office of Education’s system in planning events, as well as tracking CMEs (Continuing Medical Education Credits).
Conclusion
My first week interning at Children’s allowed me to observe various leadership styles in empowering clinic managers, coordinators, and other employees throughout the entire enterprise. I was also exposed to the importance of staffing retention in maintaining the quality of the organization, as well as promoting the culture of the organization through all levels of employees. Some of the projects I will be working on center around a new outreach program for rural hospitals, as well as additional projects supporting the vision of the hospital in furthering its mission as an academic medical center and analyzing the true cost of education.