Bindu Abraham
October 2022
Bindu
Abraham
,
MSN, RN
Nursing Administration
Emory University Hospital
Atlanta
,
GA
United States
You may say she is just doing her job, and yet, the difference is how she does it.
I would like to recognize Bindu Abraham. Here are the reasons why: Every day Bindu comes to work she is positive and upbeat. Our supervisor cadre is stretched right now, but she has picked up extra shifts every week to help out her colleagues and the organization. Implementing the new time keeping system has been very challenging for all, but especially the supervisors, as moving staff within UKG requires several additional clicks to reassign the staff member. Yet, Bindu continues clicking away. She helps the other supervisors, collaborates with persons within the department, and graciously soaks up every nuance to improve her performance such that she is one of the most knowledgeable about the system and shares her expertise across the system. Others from across the hospital and the healthcare system call her for help-and she does. She could refer them to a UKG session, but she doesn’t.
Temporarily reassigning staff has become particularly challenging. Yet, Bindu has established trust with the Unit Charge Nurses who usually understand that if Bindu is calling, she has evaluated all the options and made the best decision to provide superior patient care for our patients. She is calm in the face of pushback from her colleagues, knowing that they are stretched, too. I have seen her calm an upset patient and patient family member. She is respectful, and apologizes for the patient/family inconvenience, yet remains supportive of the staff. She is supportive of the contract staff also. She recognizes that in responding to a crisis on some units, she may be the only EUH employee there-she makes calls to other departments to summon additional resources, she stays on the unit to provide support to the team and the patient.
Creating the Clinical Resource Center has been a significant undertaking. It is not yet what we expect it to be when we are fully staffed and educated, but Bindu has been supportive through every phase. She has now stepped up to do the scheduling of the supervisors, no easy task when we do not have enough. She knows that if the CRC vision can be supported, it will enhance care for patients and improve the support of our staff. You may say she is just doing her job, and yet, the difference is how she does it. She would not have to stay on the unit and, in essence, assume the duties of a unit clerk, during a medical emergency on the unit. She does it because she knows she can do it better than those available, and it will make a difference to the patient. In negotiating for staff, she does not have to spend 20 minutes, which I have heard her do multiple times, with the Charge Nurse, helping them see the larger perspective, but she does and she wants to help them understand. She doesn’t have to extend the hours of her work, to help colleagues here and from around the system to understand how to use UKG, but she recognizes she can help. She doesn’t have to do the scheduling for the supervisors.
Temporarily reassigning staff has become particularly challenging. Yet, Bindu has established trust with the Unit Charge Nurses who usually understand that if Bindu is calling, she has evaluated all the options and made the best decision to provide superior patient care for our patients. She is calm in the face of pushback from her colleagues, knowing that they are stretched, too. I have seen her calm an upset patient and patient family member. She is respectful, and apologizes for the patient/family inconvenience, yet remains supportive of the staff. She is supportive of the contract staff also. She recognizes that in responding to a crisis on some units, she may be the only EUH employee there-she makes calls to other departments to summon additional resources, she stays on the unit to provide support to the team and the patient.
Creating the Clinical Resource Center has been a significant undertaking. It is not yet what we expect it to be when we are fully staffed and educated, but Bindu has been supportive through every phase. She has now stepped up to do the scheduling of the supervisors, no easy task when we do not have enough. She knows that if the CRC vision can be supported, it will enhance care for patients and improve the support of our staff. You may say she is just doing her job, and yet, the difference is how she does it. She would not have to stay on the unit and, in essence, assume the duties of a unit clerk, during a medical emergency on the unit. She does it because she knows she can do it better than those available, and it will make a difference to the patient. In negotiating for staff, she does not have to spend 20 minutes, which I have heard her do multiple times, with the Charge Nurse, helping them see the larger perspective, but she does and she wants to help them understand. She doesn’t have to extend the hours of her work, to help colleagues here and from around the system to understand how to use UKG, but she recognizes she can help. She doesn’t have to do the scheduling for the supervisors.