One of the biggest challenges of my career as a manager has been to engage the employees in the shared decision-making process.  This invaluable asset empowers the employee to take ownership of the department and allows them to feel as though they're part of something much larger than just taking care of patients.  This typically can be ...

When you were a child did you ever ask your parents or an authority figure a ''why'' question which evoked the response: ''Because I said so''?  If you remember this happening to you, you probably also remember the way that response made you feel.  Adjectives that come to mind are frustrated, angry, hurt and probably more I can't think ...

Yes, May has come and gone and so is our first run (for those of you who are on a fiscal year of October to September).  Don't let the stress kill you as remember that the budget is a guide and you can survive the process IF you plan your strategy!  Just follow the rules: Don't paint your self into a corner.  The finance ...

Staff satisfaction, or if you prefer the latest lexicon and lingo ''employee engagement,'' is a metric measured by most organizations as it is believed that there is a high correlation between happy employees and improved outcomes.Some would suggest that for many respiratory therapists, it has long been a profession with much apathy and little ...

In a recent posting titled People: The Missing Link for Success, I made mention of the need to ''populate your team with A+ performers willing to put forth an A+ effort.''  All others, as I said, ''should get off the bus.'' The hope would be that your low performers would make that decision on their own. In more extreme cases, you ...

As this generation is now steadily filtering into the work force, I often get questions regarding managing this age group.   I confess to having no real prior knowledge on the subject, so I took to the ''net'' and did a little research.While I don't typically like labeling people with stereotypes, through my research I believe I have ...

In all my years of interviewing this has been my favorite question, ''why did you go into respiratory care?''  The answers have been quite interesting too say the least.  They also tell a lot about the person.  Kind of reminds me of Forrest Gump's momma talking about the shoes people wear, tells them were they have been and what ...

For new managers, the role can be quite overwhelming. For most, they've never been mentored for such a position, and were promoted into the role because of their accomplishments at the bedside.  Rushing out to Amazon.com to read the latest and greatest books on leadership, many find themselves spending the first several months of their ...

In previous blogs, I've discussed my philosophy about the importance of proper orientation of a new hire.  Today, I'd like to share some ideas about retaining quality employees once you have them in your organization.  There are many dynamics to retaining employees, but I'd just like to talk about things you can implement quickly and ...

Perhaps you've been there before.  You're a department manager in a large academic center in a metropolitan area.  You have vacancy rates in excess of 10 percent, and your hospital just added a new 100-bed critical care tower that will require an additional 12 therapists.  Competing with at least a dozen other hospitals in your ...