My time as an intern at Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital was spent under the supervision of Susan McCarthy, the Director of Nursing Operations for the Richmond area outpatient infusion centers. I initially approached the assignment with skepticism – after all, I do not have a clinical/nursing background. However, I am proud to say that we had a very successful semester and I achieved many milestones during my time with Susan. Her title as a director means she is not involved in direct patient care; she oversees the nurse managers for six outpatient infusion sites. She also works with other leaders in different departments to improve processes and patient care. Her role was extremely relevant to my studies and I am very glad to have been placed with her for my internship.

I had a lengthy list of goals I wanted to achieve and at the end of my rotation, I am satisfied with my performance and what I achieved. My goal of creating and implementing a patient welcome packet has successfully been completed. Throughout the semester, I compiled existing flyers from Bon Secours’ database and created my own original content and put into a folder to be used a resource for new infusion patients. All of my documents were submitted and approved by Bon Secours. During the last week of my internship, I was able to put together a stockpile of folders that were disseminated to each infusion site. Initially, these folders are being given to each patient since it is new, but thereafter will be given to new patients only at their first infusion appointment. I have uploaded a pdf of the folder documents which can be found here on my projects tab.

Along with the creation of the folder, I had the goal of running a meeting to present it to the staff at each site. Within this goal, I wanted to create an agenda and keep minutes for the meeting. I did not quite meet this goal in that respect. In talking with Susan and the site managers, we decided that an informal meeting would be best. I presented the welcome packet to the staff at each site and brought breakfast or lunch; we treated it as a quick “in-service” like a pharmaceutical sales rep would present. This type of meeting was very successful. The staff was very receptive and excited to have a new resource for their patients. Throughout the semester, I attended several meetings with Susan and kept minutes for her innumerable times. For that reason, I still consider this goal as being met, because I learned through observation how to create an agenda and successfully be a record-keeper.

At the same presentation for the welcome packet, I also educated the staff on the Press Ganey patient satisfaction survey. I was able to complete research on methods to increase participation in the survey and communicated my findings to the staff. I hoped to be able to trend an increase in survey responses following this education. Unfortunately, my internship ended before we could trend a significant increase for the purposes of my coursework. Susan and I are going to remain in contact following the internship and she will let me know if there is an increase, for my own personal satisfaction.

Another goal was to sit with a financial counselor and explore community engagement at Bon Secours. I was able to meet with the pharmacy services financial coordinator at the Southside outpatient infusion center. Her role is to assist infusion patients by educating them on their insurance plan and obtain copay assistance/free drug where necessary. Her role is vital to the infusion centers; the cost of some treatments is astronomical. I also explored community engagement at the nearby Sarah Garland Jones Center, which Bon Secours has a vested interest in. This center is located within walking distance of Richmond Community Hospital and also has a café that employs area youth to teach them business skills.

My final goal was to complete research regarding the role of a charge nurse. I was successful in this venture as well. I was able to compile my research into a document for Susan, who used these talking points in approaching her site managers about this potential change in staffing. The conversations went over very well when she was able to supplement her points with my research.

An unofficial goal of mine, not listed on my portfolio, was a personal goal of leaving the internship with a post-graduation job offer. I got not one, but two, job offers during the semester. I’m excited to say that in April I will be starting a position in McKesson’s medical-surgical corporate office in Richmond, VA.

It was interesting to see concepts and subjects from my coursework come into play during my work at Bon Secours. My human resources classes most closely connected to tasks I observed Susan dealing with on a daily basis. Unfortunately, disciplinary issues and staff attitudes were major problems that she had to deal with. I remembered learning about progressive discipline (and the associated documentation) and got to see these steps in action. Two staff members had to be put on a 180-day probation due to violation of the tardiness policy. I was able to see how Susan reviewed the policy and documented violations. In class, I learned that documentation was key and got to see this in practice.  In my Public and Community Health Administration class, I learned about different characteristics and qualities of leadership; I was able to see these in practice in Susan. One assignment given to me was to conduct research on effective leadership qualities for Susan to go over with her leader; because of that class, I already had a good baseline of knowledge.

I gained innumerable new skills during my internship. Above all, confidence was the biggest thing that I gained during this experience. I conquered my fear of speaking in front of groups and was very successful at it. I gained new business contacts and networking skills. Additionally, I learned how research can be used for real-world applications, such as my charge nurse research. At the end of this experience, I am confident of my skills post-graduation going into the workforce.

While I had a wonderful experience, there were some frustrations and challenges as well. Susan manages six infusion sites, so that puts her on the road quite a bit. I found it very frustrating sometimes to not be in one place all day or not know what my day would look like. It was tiring to be on the road a lot. Sometimes it felt like I couldn’t get anything done because we were always going somewhere. I’m used to having a similar daily routine. Over time, however, I learned how to relax and “roll with the punches.” I found it nice to not be chained to a desk. We could work from anywhere with internet access. I began to enjoy the change in scenery and lots of commuting gave me and Susan the chance to discuss sensitive matters without being overhead by others in the office. These conversations were where we explored in depth the human resources issues that she was handling. By the end of my rotation, I found it easier to go with the flow.

Overall, I found this experience very beneficial to me as a senior on the cusp of graduation. It gave me real-world experience and helped me build on my theoretical knowledge from class. It allowed me to see how I would function in the real world in an administrative position. It also helped that I had an amazing preceptor. My initial trepidation was unfounded. Susan was an incredible resource during this time, and I cannot speak more highly of her. In her I have found not only a great teacher, but a lifelong friend as well. If there was something I wanted to observe, or another professional I wanted to work with, she did her best to make it happen. She was always striving to make it the best experience possible for me and ensuring that I learned something new every day. I am sad to be leaving, but excited to see what the next chapter has in store for me following graduation.