wild wild west

As of Wednesday, I am temporarily living in Phoenix, AZ (well, technically Goodyear, AZ) for the next 6 months in order to help open our newest hospital here. I'm excited for multiple reasons, not least of which is the much warmer weather--I've set my iGoogle to show me the temps in Chicago and in Phoenix, and delight several times a day when I notice that the Phoenix temperature is 2x or3x as much as Chicago's.

The hospital opens at the end of December, which will make this holiday season even crazier than usual, as we will have only a few days to prepare for and pass state inspections, train the entire staff, and tie up all the loose ends required to get the place up and running. As for me, my "unofficial, official" task is to help get the Lean/Six Sigma department up and running. Lean and Six Sigma are two process improvement methodologies we use to eliminate waste (waiting time, etc), reduce defects (increase pt. safety), save money, and improve service delivery/quality of care. My responsibilities, besides setting up the various processes, programs, and training all employees, will include the implementation of several tools required to staff nurses based on patient acuity. For non-HC people, this essentially means understanding how much RN work is associated with a given patient condition, and then structuring staffing around assigned acuity levels so that patients get the best care and nurses are utilized most efficiently. Patient-based nurse staffing is mandated by Arizona state law and will require a tremendous amount of clinical knowledge and IT skill that I simply do not have....yet. I love the challenge of working on something that is completely foreign to me, and will help acquaint me with all the order sets, documentation, etc. that an electronic health record requires. Plus I'll get to hang out on the inpatient/ICU unit, and there's not much more I like than being around patients (as opposed to spreadsheets!)

Even more appealing to my creatively-inclined brain is the start-up atmosphere: the feeling of actually envisioning something and then creating it...as opposed to most of what I've experienced in the corporate world, when implementing anything feels like a battle. It's an opportunity to help establish a culture that embraces process improvement and equips employees with the tools they need to create change, rather than just providing lipservice to the notion of employee empowerment. After spending years studying culture as a concept and the last year observing organizational culture in particular, I still have no clue...but I'm excited to find out!