Dr. Susan Martin Hernandez: A Model of Joyful and Compassionate Leadership

Some individuals develop leadership skills at a young age, and these skills become indicative of future endeavors. When given the opportunity, they lead by example and empower others to take ownership of their work. Our “On the Road” segment continues with an alum who leads and serves simultaneously. Hosted by Dr. Brad Schultz and Amanda Price, this …. is Mustangs Unbridled.

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Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;32;03
Speaker 1
Some individuals develop leadership skills at a young age, and these skills become indicative of future endeavors. When given the opportunity, they lead by example and empower others to take ownership of their work. Our On the Road segment continues with an alum who leads and serves simultaneously. Hosted by Dr. Brad Schultz and Amanda Price, this is Mustangs Unbridled.

00;00;32;05 - 00;00;45;05
Speaker 2
Seek to Learn is a core value of Lipscomb and its truest sense. It means never stop learning. For this individual curiosity is an insatiable motivator, and the desire to know more leads to the betterment of self and others.

00;00;45;07 - 00;01;17;20
Speaker 1
Today's guest is Dr. Susan Martin Hernandez, Alumna from the Class of 1985. Susan has spent the majority of her career in the health care industry, working and leading alongside nurses. She is the health system chief nurse executive for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Thank you so much for inviting us in. Now, you may have noticed, I said the University of Texas, not U.T., because I want to make sure our community knows that we're talking about a different U.T. than what they're used to.

00;01;17;23 - 00;01;26;00
Speaker 1
I want to know when we talk about Lipscomb. When did you start Lipscomb and how did you find yourself there?

00;01;26;02 - 00;01;43;11
Speaker 3
I started in the first grade, and I think I found myself there because my parents and my grandparents wanted to make sure I had a Christian education and they were going to find a way for that to happen, for me. I know there was a kindergarten back then, but I did not start in kindergarten with just first grade.

00;01;43;13 - 00;01;45;21
Speaker 2
About what you said. Parents and grandparents.

00;01;45;21 - 00;01;46;03
Speaker 3
Oh, for.

00;01;46;03 - 00;02;00;02
Speaker 2
Sure. Because I think that's I don't know that it's unique to Lipscomb, but I noticed that so often is multigenerational and they involved our grandparents at the school is is a really big deal. And so I thought I just think that's interesting You said that. That's great.

00;02;00;05 - 00;02;10;05
Speaker 3
They were very influential throughout my whole entire life. But I do think it starts with making sure that they raise Christian children who then raise Christian children and continue those values.

00;02;10;07 - 00;02;14;14
Speaker 1
Where was the first grade located? Was it on campus now?

00;02;14;16 - 00;02;15;22
Speaker 2
I think that was in kindergarten.

00;02;15;23 - 00;02;33;06
Speaker 3
No, that was the kindergarten. The kindergarten was sort of up on the hill above the football field where it sits now. Right. But first grade, I'm trying to think if I was even in portables at that point, I don't think I was actually. No, I was. If you're facing Harding Hall, I want to say it was sort of back to the left.

00;02;33;06 - 00;02;35;11
Speaker 3
There were some portables back there.

00;02;35;14 - 00;02;37;20
Speaker 2
What's nice say there's no portables on campus right now.

00;02;37;20 - 00;02;39;25
Speaker 3
That's impressive.

00;02;39;28 - 00;02;47;26
Speaker 1
You were involved in several different activities when you were there at Lipscomb. Do you mind sharing some of the things that you enjoyed that you did?

00;02;47;28 - 00;03;07;10
Speaker 3
Sure. I loved of course, I loved making friends. I was a little bit social, but I loved being in the chorus. I loved being a cheerleader. I loved I really loved sports in general. I will tell on myself I thought I was going to be a basketball player. And in the very beginning, this will tell you how old I am.

00;03;07;10 - 00;03;20;08
Speaker 3
It was when girls played half court. I was terrible at basketball, so therefore that did not last. But I still liked it and I liked being a part of it, which I think is part of why I wanted to be a cheerleader so that I could continue to be connected to the sports.

00;03;20;15 - 00;03;22;26
Speaker 1
And I didn't know about this half court thing.

00;03;22;28 - 00;03;23;29
Speaker 3
Oh, it's old.

00;03;23;29 - 00;03;26;01
Speaker 2
Just play defense or offense.

00;03;26;03 - 00;03;31;08
Speaker 3
And it was in the old Barton gym, which was blazing hot.

00;03;31;11 - 00;03;39;09
Speaker 1
But you forgot one. I found that you were senior class secretary. So you were involved as well? I was. You were a leader at a young age, right?

00;03;39;09 - 00;03;51;08
Speaker 3
I was a leader at a young age, yes. I was a leader at a young age. And it's funny, my mother has this thing that she sent me about little girls. And for all of us who were called bossy when we were young, they should call us leaders now.

00;03;51;10 - 00;03;51;25
Speaker 1
And you know.

00;03;51;25 - 00;03;52;07
Speaker 3
Why?

00;03;52;07 - 00;03;56;00
Speaker 1
Truth men are not called bossy. No, only women.

00;03;56;00 - 00;03;59;29
Speaker 2
And so that's not the direction of this time.

00;04;00;03 - 00;04;02;17
Speaker 3
And it's not a criticism.

00;04;02;20 - 00;04;06;01
Speaker 2
People give.

00;04;06;04 - 00;04;25;13
Speaker 1
So they do not like having this type of conversation with me and they bring it up at the end. Sometimes. Yes. So tell me, with academics, athletics and city government, that was a really well-rounded education that you received. How so? How did that shape you going forward into your adult life?

00;04;25;15 - 00;04;45;27
Speaker 3
I think it taught me to be a great team player and to learn to speak up for what was right at the time. Depending on the scenario. It taught me how to deal with people, which I deal with lots of humans now, which is really amazing that it transfers from those small group activities to what I do today.

00;04;46;00 - 00;04;56;13
Speaker 3
But it does it teaches you how to how to be in the front, how to be in the back, and how to figure out which space you need to be in and all those times.

00;04;56;15 - 00;05;16;16
Speaker 2
So we came across an article where you were quoted as saying at one time you wanted to be a teacher because of the way your teachers treated you. Yes. And so did you have somebody in mind as you were saying that quote, or was it just a general overview? And then are there some teachers during your time? And let's come that really just stood out of making a connection with you?

00;05;16;19 - 00;05;35;13
Speaker 3
So many so immediately several come to mind. So I'll tell you, I have to give credit to Ms.. Gentry, who taught me how to tell time, and I had to learn the hard way because I didn't learn it very well at the beginning because I was too social, I think. And so I missed recess one day and I figured out very quickly I was gonna learn how to turn, tell time and be quiet in my seat.

00;05;35;13 - 00;05;55;13
Speaker 3
So I love that about her and and stay connected with her for quite some time. And then Jerry Skorton hands down second grade. I just loved sitting in her feet and listening to her, read books to us and teach us to read. And she is still someone that I get to see today, which is really nice for me.

00;05;55;16 - 00;06;12;01
Speaker 3
I remember someone named Ms.. Dees, and what I find interesting about these folks that I'm remembering is they read to us and even I think I was in the sixth grade with Ms.. D's, and yet she still thought it was important to let us have a quiet time and to read to us and to teach us that way.

00;06;12;03 - 00;06;18;01
Speaker 3
I loved Ms.. Smith and Ms.. Treacy.

00;06;18;01 - 00;06;20;25
Speaker 1
That name is one that keeps popping up. She was great.

00;06;20;27 - 00;06;22;10
Speaker 3
Since she was great.

00;06;22;12 - 00;06;23;12
Speaker 2
Know what? Grading Mrs. Smith?

00;06;23;12 - 00;06;42;09
Speaker 3
Teacher She was high school, but in high school, those were people that were made a good impression on me. I remember Coach McAdams and one of the reasons I remember him is because I engage with him through football and sports and, you know, the friends that I was with in sports. But I also remember him and this is jumping forward a bit.

00;06;42;09 - 00;06;59;02
Speaker 3
But when I came back as a teacher to do student teaching, he was very kind to me in a difficult time. It's tough to be a student teacher when you're a brand new college graduate, in case you don't know that. And he just laughed and said, Oh, you're getting paid back for all those things you used to do.

00;06;59;02 - 00;07;09;08
Speaker 3
Just think back and it made me stop and remember where those kids were and how I had been in that space and and how I tested people. And and and I learned how to manage that in a different way.

00;07;09;09 - 00;07;11;14
Speaker 2
When you did your student teaching, you did at let's put.

00;07;11;14 - 00;07;20;01
Speaker 3
It part of it but I mean sorry. Yes I did in the email in the elementary school I'm speaking of that student teaching, but. Substitute teacher Oh, okay. I messed up my language. Sorry about that.

00;07;20;01 - 00;07;21;16
Speaker 1
So I didn't do the job.

00;07;21;18 - 00;07;32;05
Speaker 3
I did do substitute teaching. And that's when he taught me that lesson. Yes. Because you're picking up someone else's lesson plans and you don't really know the zone you're in and you have to be flexible.

00;07;32;07 - 00;07;34;12
Speaker 1
What grade did you teach?

00;07;34;14 - 00;07;54;15
Speaker 3
Second grade was my favorite, but to be fair, I never had a full time teaching job. When I got out of school. So this is where life takes you, places you don't necessarily plan for. And I couldn't. When I graduated, there were lots of teachers. There were not a lot of jobs. And I there were certain places I didn't want to teach.

00;07;54;15 - 00;08;10;04
Speaker 3
To be honest, I felt uncomfortable with that. People call me Fraidy Cat sometimes, and I am a little bit in my day job. You might not know that about me, but I'm a I'm a cautious, not a big risk taker kind of a person normally. And so I think that came into play then, especially when I was younger.

00;08;10;07 - 00;08;29;25
Speaker 3
And so all I did was substitute teaching. But I loved second grade because I had a wonderful second grade teacher in Jerry Tina, but also because they're old enough to understand some of the rules, like, you know, stand in line and be polite and don't hit each other, doesn't mean they don't do it. But you know, they know that.

00;08;29;28 - 00;08;37;22
Speaker 3
But they also still think you're wonderful and they're not in that fight back phase quite yet, at least when I was teaching.

00;08;37;24 - 00;08;44;08
Speaker 1
So when the do you realize that teaching may not be the career for you and you were going to look at a different path?

00;08;44;11 - 00;09;04;25
Speaker 3
I think I realized I didn't have the passion for it that I needed to do that work. I think teaching is incredibly important work and incredibly hard work, and you've got to be really passionate about it to do it, in my opinion. And I just didn't have that fire for it. And I still had in the back of my mind that I might want to become a nurse.

00;09;04;28 - 00;09;20;26
Speaker 3
And at the time I was selling cell phones. Back then it was called Cellular one. So word for cellular one years ago selling cell phones. And I made good money, but I knew I was not a sales person. I was the girl that would say, Here's what I have. Would you like it? You'd say, no, and I would move on.

00;09;20;26 - 00;09;39;17
Speaker 3
I wasn't the sales person. And so I just kept thinking about nursing and I kept thinking about nursing and if you if you think back to what Lipscomb had to offer, when I was at college, there was no school of nursing. And so I think if there had been a school of nursing, I would have gone there first, maybe, I don't know.

00;09;39;19 - 00;09;54;11
Speaker 3
But there wasn't that option. And teaching was my other passion, I thought, when I was in school. And so I think I just kind of came back to back around to it as I realized I don't want to be in sales the rest of my life. I clearly I'm not teaching, so I need to find something I'm passionate about to do.

00;09;54;13 - 00;09;59;09
Speaker 1
I'm asking about the cell phone. Did you sell mobiles in a bag? I did carry a purse.

00;09;59;15 - 00;10;00;27
Speaker 3
And the brick phone.

00;10;00;29 - 00;10;04;29
Speaker 1
Because my very first mobile phone was I carried it in a purse and I just carried it with.

00;10;04;29 - 00;10;08;24
Speaker 2
Me. Right. Do you remember who sold it to you?

00;10;08;27 - 00;10;26;27
Speaker 3
Well, and I sold weight years ago when that was the first time that they did buy one get one free. And I literally sat at a table in a mall and sold cell phones, buy one, get one free. And I just couldn't imagine making money like that. And then I thought, But I don't like it like the work.

00;10;27;01 - 00;10;35;03
Speaker 1
Was it a hard sell? People didn't know what mobile phones were at the time or their capacities, or was there this interesting curiosity where everybody wanted one?

00;10;35;08 - 00;10;50;07
Speaker 3
I think it was both. I think it was a little bit of both. We encountered some folks who didn't have that level of trust, and you're not going to make the investment if you don't have that level of trust. And then others were, you know, they wanted what other people had. They wanted that bag you were carrying around.

00;10;50;11 - 00;10;52;01
Speaker 2
Yeah. Oh, it was very prestigious.

00;10;52;02 - 00;10;54;15
Speaker 3
Oh, it was. It was a big deal. Yes.

00;10;54;18 - 00;11;13;07
Speaker 2
So my first thing I said during the introduction was that you seek to learn. And so not only did you get your degree that we mentioned earlier, but you went on to get another bachelor's degree, you got your MBA, you got your doctors in nursing practice. So what has been their motivation to continue learning and challenging yourself?

00;11;13;10 - 00;11;33;09
Speaker 3
It's interesting. First of all, I'm very transparent, so I I'll tell the Ugly with the pretty and the ugly was when I got out of college, I really never wanted to go back to school again. And I don't know why. I don't know why it was like that for me. And then I realized that there's so much in life out there that you can grab on to if you just have the education to do it.

00;11;33;11 - 00;11;58;13
Speaker 3
And I think that fueled me a little bit. But also I wanted to be a nurse, so obviously I had to go back to be a nursing school. And then I decided, hey, I might be good at leadership, so what do I need in order to be good at leadership? And I went back for the MBA rather than my master's in nursing, because I thought it would give me more of the business acumen that I would probably need to lead at a higher level.

00;11;58;16 - 00;12;18;15
Speaker 3
And I've continued to have that passion. I've only worked in academic medical centers, so I think I'm surrounded by it, which helps sort of like Christianity when you surround yourself with those people, it it fuels you in a different way. And I think that's really helped me as someone who said never again. And here I sit still learning every day and enjoying it every day.

00;12;18;17 - 00;12;39;01
Speaker 2
Do you remember any particular lessons because you are doing to get some degrees You're getting into, you know, your credentials, but you know, you also want to feel like as you're going through it, you're getting some nuggets of, you know, truth or big ideas, too. Can you remember any lessons that really stood out during your educational path?

00;12;39;03 - 00;13;02;07
Speaker 3
Oh, wow. There's many. I think it's the people that let me know. It was okay not to be perfect and to continue to study and grow. I think in my MBA program, it was really I learned a lot about the importance of business. And even though I was in health care, if you don't know how to run the business of health care, you're not going to get to do health care.

00;13;02;07 - 00;13;24;20
Speaker 3
You've got to have both. So that mattered. I think in my doctoral program, it was really about how to think bigger. How do I love the operations? I love the daily operations and finding something that's wrong and figuring out how to fix it with the team. I love those kinds of things, and yet it taught me how to think more strategically.

00;13;24;23 - 00;13;49;03
Speaker 3
It also taught me how to value the differences in others related to academia and health care versus the operational side of health care. Because I didn't understand that early in my career. And I remember one of the greatest things is when you're going through your program, they set you up with the person who's going to help you get through it and that you have to defend whatever your project is, too.

00;13;49;06 - 00;14;10;07
Speaker 3
And I remember the person they paired me with at Vanderbilt. I was terrified of her when I was younger, Later, because I didn't understand her speech and how she talked about things and I didn't understand where she was coming from. And she taught me really quickly. I'm in academics, you question everything and you question it over and over and over.

00;14;10;09 - 00;14;29;11
Speaker 3
I thought, Oh, that's what she was doing, because that's her training and that's where she comes from. And that's helped me actually even apply that in terms of how do physicians get trained versus how the nurses get trained versus how to business people get trained, and how do you put that together and make it work for the benefit of patients and families we serve well.

00;14;29;13 - 00;14;50;25
Speaker 1
So you've had a long career in health care. You've worked at adult hospitals, children's hospitals, more than more than a decade now. You've been in an administrative role. So when you look back on your career, has there been a particular place where you have found fulfillment or you found joy in what you were doing?

00;14;50;27 - 00;15;20;04
Speaker 3
I find joy almost every day. I really I warn people about me. I say I wake up happy every day and that might get on your nerves, you know, because I really do. I think I think I have been so fortunate to get to do a lot of different things. I've loved the times that I was learning to be a leader early in my career as the charge nurse on a place called Severn North, where we took care of cardiac patients, some who were having heart transplant and lung transplant.

00;15;20;05 - 00;15;42;18
Speaker 3
I remember finding joy and even comforting their families when things weren't going well. I remember when I decided I wanted to help more than just the four patient assignment I had, and I wanted to help the whole team that was trying to care for people and finding joy in solving that puzzle. I've really enjoyed getting to know different types of people.

00;15;42;20 - 00;16;04;29
Speaker 3
I think one of the things that when I got out of school, out of Lipscomb and lived in the work world, I encountered lots of different people, but I was still a little bit sheltered until I went and worked at a really large place like Vanderbilt and I found joy in learning about different types of people and different cultures and figuring out how you engage and how you learn from each other.

00;16;04;29 - 00;16;26;08
Speaker 3
I really liked that. And that's also happened here at UT Southwestern University of Texas, after which I might go back to the earlier comment. There's a little bit of an arc about the real beauty in my household. Sure, because I am the real orange, not the burnt or side of that conversation.

00;16;26;08 - 00;16;33;02
Speaker 2
Good for you. You know, we're also here in our short visit here, we've also heard a lot of controversy between Fort Worth and Dallas.

00;16;33;02 - 00;16;34;08
Speaker 3
Oh, and that is true.

00;16;34;10 - 00;16;36;26
Speaker 2
And probably we've heard it in four different conversations.

00;16;36;29 - 00;16;38;12
Speaker 3
It's alive and well.

00;16;38;14 - 00;16;40;28
Speaker 1
So that's what we need to pick up more people in the Fort Worth side.

00;16;41;00 - 00;17;01;00
Speaker 3
It's great to see. And I, I frustrate people in Dallas because I live in Dallas, but I still love Fort Worth. It's wonderful, but it's different. Yeah, it's different. But yes, that is real. I did learn that very quickly. So how do you see it as different? Oh, there's there's almost competition, which is a little strange to me, but in terms of the feel of it.

00;17;01;02 - 00;17;26;11
Speaker 3
Sorry, Dallas, I think Fort Worth feels more like what I perceive Texas to be. I mean, it still, the more people wear the boots and hats to work every day, there it is a slower pace, although it's growing and it's vibrant. I don't mean it to be sort of a dead place. I mean it to be just a slower, more laid back, easygoing type place than Dallas is.

00;17;26;11 - 00;17;29;26
Speaker 3
Dallas is big city fast for sure.

00;17;29;28 - 00;17;46;18
Speaker 2
So we we we interviewed a student last night and one thing we had or one thing they said about class that they love that moment you says I'm early when I ask you about your classes. She's taking a class right now where the whole class I don't think the whole class is built around this, but a big part of it is like overcoming fears.

00;17;46;20 - 00;18;05;02
Speaker 2
And so the students all put their most common fears in kind of some kind of system, and they and they rank them. And so now they've been systematically working through these fears. So like heights. Like heights, I'm scared of heights. Right. And so they had to go to the swim center and jump off the highest board like everybody in class did.

00;18;05;02 - 00;18;21;19
Speaker 2
It. And then they would talk about it. Goodness. And just like I don't know if snakes was one. And so then they had to go have this experience where, you know, they they make them all hold on. But at least you had to touch it. You know, that kind of thing. And so I just thought, like, you're too I'm a little scary, a scared about being in situations.

00;18;21;19 - 00;18;33;08
Speaker 2
And hey, it's so good to go into band. These is bigger settings. So has there been a fear that you've had to overcome in your career that you almost embrace now?

00;18;33;10 - 00;18;37;18
Speaker 3
I would say yes. And first of all, you just need to find about.

00;18;37;20 - 00;18;38;03
Speaker 2
Snakes on.

00;18;38;03 - 00;18;57;13
Speaker 3
A diving board. I don't mind jumping off the diving board. It's climbing the ladder to get there that I can't stay in a fear of falling that way. And snakes. I don't know who would get out of there faster, my spouse or me. We don't do snakes in Texas, which is a problem, but I would say a fear of speaking up when I don't feel smart enough to speak up.

00;18;57;16 - 00;19;18;12
Speaker 3
And so I never saw myself as someone who was intellectual or super smart compared to the people that was around me. And, you know, I've been made fun of for the way I talk. I'm from Nashville and I drag it all out and there is some assumption that has come with that. Like I'm dumb because I have blond hair and I speak like that.

00;19;18;12 - 00;19;44;25
Speaker 3
And so I've had to get over that fear and be okay with who I am and be okay with saying, I don't know. And I actually think that has served me really, really well as a leader, because it's a matter of fact, this week someone said, I can see how authentic you are. And I think that gives them grace and comfort to be able to just speak up and and here's what I said to someone recently.

00;19;44;25 - 00;20;01;01
Speaker 3
I said, So what if they walk away and either think you're dumb or say you're dumb, you won't know it or you know. And so why did I get so wrapped up in that for so many years worrying about that? Because the truth is, we all know what we know and we don't know what we don't know. And it's okay.

00;20;01;01 - 00;20;20;28
Speaker 3
And I think that has served me well. And another thing that's helped me in that is I had a leader when I first came here and I was really nervous. I mean, I had been my whole nursing career had been at Vanderbilt. I'd been there 20 years. I built my reputation. I had wonderful, wonderful coaches, mentor sponsors all around me.

00;20;20;28 - 00;20;38;19
Speaker 3
And I come to a place where I don't know anyone and the job that they want me to really turn things around and make it better. And so I was I was nervous. I was a little more timid than I usually would be. And I remember going to speak to a group that was called our Advisory Board, and it's actually a group of patients, but they're also our donors.

00;20;38;21 - 00;20;51;21
Speaker 3
And they asked me to speak about nursing and a little bit about me and my history and where I'd come from. And when it was over, I went for feedback to this person who was one of my leaders and just said, okay, tell me what I need to know. How do I know? What do I need to do?

00;20;51;21 - 00;21;11;23
Speaker 3
And he said, You know, Susan, you don't need to try so hard to be likable. You're likable, you're going to be likable. But what you have to prove yourself on is being smart. Well, that's certainly back a little bit, because immediately I thought, oh, was that not smart? So then I have to go through that process of 24 hours of thinking through that.

00;21;11;23 - 00;21;26;06
Speaker 3
And then I thought, wow, that was really good advice because I need to push myself to let that to lead with that rather than being afraid to leave with what I know. Right. That's great. So it's been it's been very helpful to me. Good.

00;21;26;08 - 00;21;34;11
Speaker 2
Did you want to say something? I didn't ask my question yet, but did you had you ever done okay? Yes, I could tell. Sorry about that.

00;21;34;13 - 00;21;43;16
Speaker 1
But speaking of your Nashville accent, you know, on our way in from the parking lot, we had a discussion about a certain word. So how do you pronounce? Pronounce?

00;21;43;19 - 00;21;46;24
Speaker 2
Spell it. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. He.

00;21;46;27 - 00;21;53;01
Speaker 3
He plays a plaza, but it is not a plaza.

00;21;53;04 - 00;21;59;08
Speaker 2
So it's like, cause she didn't even say prior to that.

00;21;59;11 - 00;22;08;10
Speaker 3
They corrected me back to the plaza. So there are so many words like that. And even from Nashville to Dallas, there are so many words.

00;22;08;10 - 00;22;21;12
Speaker 2
But nobody says Plaza. Okay, that's what I believe that is. She has the editing ability to sing. Yeah, Yeah. I mean, you might lose on that one. I won't be there.

00;22;21;15 - 00;22;22;21
Speaker 3
Well, so you.

00;22;22;21 - 00;22;51;01
Speaker 1
Are over 5000 employees, right? 3500 of which are nurses and the rest of her medical techs. And it we know that medical professionals have long days, long hours, and sometimes that back to back shifts. And so you're working with with people who are physically drained and they can be emotionally drained or or, you know, they've used all their brainpower for the day.

00;22;51;03 - 00;23;02;11
Speaker 1
So how do you how do you encourage these employees? How do you keep their spirits up? How do you invest in them? So that and it's over two campuses. I forgot to say that. So how do you how do you do that?

00;23;02;13 - 00;23;22;09
Speaker 3
It's challenging because it is two campuses just on the hospital side. But then we also have people in clinics off the Dallas side and all over even in Fort Worth and lots of places. And so it is challenging. I think the one one thing I would say is lead by example, and I value my time away from here as much as I value my work.

00;23;22;12 - 00;23;46;12
Speaker 3
And a lot of leaders get there, they feel like their value is in how many hours I work. I don't believe in that. And I tell people that if you complain to me that you've worked your whole entire shift without stopping to the bathroom or have food, shame on you, shame on you. You have to own that. And you have to lead out by saying to your colleague who's right next to you, Hey, I need a break.

00;23;46;13 - 00;24;01;22
Speaker 3
Can you take care of my patients for a few minutes? They may say no, and you may have to go to someone else, but you have to own that. So I think that's one way is teaching people to own it for yourself and then to show that it's okay to do it. The other thing is we have lots of resources at UT Southwestern.

00;24;01;22 - 00;24;25;10
Speaker 3
We're really fortunate about that. And so I encourage people to use them and to talk about them. Sometimes people in health care, particularly we nurses, are hesitant to just admit we need help. And you cannot do that. You can't make it through life, much less these jobs if you don't ask for help when you need help. And the other thing is we have to be witness to others.

00;24;25;14 - 00;24;47;21
Speaker 3
Watch people. You can see when I'm tired and worn out, so pick me up. And we have to be able to do that with each other too. We have a program here that's really around peer to peer support for moral distress that we created after I arrived. And it is where if you have had I'll just talk about some of our oncology patients.

00;24;47;21 - 00;25;08;19
Speaker 3
So, you know, we have a lot of loss sometimes in our inpatient cancer unit and that can build up on people and sometimes they just need to talk about how it makes them feel. So this is a program, not the leaders, but others who've been willing to get trained up, come in and facilitate open dialog about how it makes them feel to go through that and people will lay it out there.

00;25;08;26 - 00;25;27;20
Speaker 3
I mean, we can do the same thing if you have a big, what we call a code in an intensive care unit, those are intense, They are scary. They can be messy. I mean, there are all kinds of things that go with that. So if you think about all of those who are impacted, it's not just the doctor and the nurse in the room.

00;25;27;22 - 00;25;43;03
Speaker 3
It's the respiratory therapist, it's the environmental services person who has to come in and clean up, who may have known that patient the whole entire time they've been here. And they may come out okay and they may not. It's all those folks. So we put together that program where people can just sit down and talk about how it made them feel.

00;25;43;05 - 00;26;05;19
Speaker 3
It could be where you have a moral or an ethical dilemma. We have those in health care. I mean, we serve all and we make that commitment to serve all, even with our core values still being inside us. And I was thinking about that. And so we allow people that opportunity to just have those open discussions. And in safe spaces to get it out.

00;26;05;22 - 00;26;23;09
Speaker 3
But the most important thing is lead by example and encourage people to take ownership, because I can't do that for them. I can't, you know, come feed you every shift. I can't go to the bathroom for you every shift. And those are basic needs that I think people use to pride themselves on. And they don't do that. You can't do that.

00;26;23;11 - 00;26;43;04
Speaker 3
It's too hard. The work's too hard. And I think we really lose people in the profession because they won't just stop and take stock of what's going on in their own lives because it's not just work. I mean, think about this. You're the you're the single mom that lives an hour away that doesn't have family or a tight knit support system.

00;26;43;11 - 00;27;04;02
Speaker 3
And you've got to make it to work every day just to pay the bills for your child care or whatever it is. There are all kinds of things that play into that that I may not know about. And also we as a leadership team, not be I may not be able to control or help or support if we don't give you resources to reach for your own.

00;27;04;04 - 00;27;32;04
Speaker 2
So we saw that during COVID, you had 846 applicants for nursing residency, but you only took 118. So I think that's great for our students to be able to see in the know that competition is fierce. It is. What are you looking for beyond just the book knowledge or maybe even the how to one of the other skills you're looking for that that I guess make one of those 118 separate from the 846?

00;27;32;07 - 00;27;57;06
Speaker 3
Well, first of all, for the students, we had over 1500 applicants this last class. So it is getting more and more competitive. So just put that out there. I want someone who has a service mind and who understands simple human kindness, period. I can teach you the tasks. I can teach you every task out there with. If it's not my expertise, it's someone else.

00;27;57;06 - 00;28;38;10
Speaker 3
On the team's expertise. I can't necessarily teach you to to be a good human and to show how that looks. And so that's what I look for. I also look for a good fit for our environment. Health care is not for everyone. Nursing is not for everyone. And you see, Southwestern is not for everyone. And that's okay. So I want people to find their fit and and you can start that early in your career by getting engaged and getting involved in activities that place you in teams or place you in a health care environment to do mission work, something where you're engaging and you are a little bit out of your comfort zone or learning

00;28;38;10 - 00;29;03;08
Speaker 3
something that will serve you later. We do have if you are thinking about our residency and this is not just at UT Southwestern, it's at lots of places. We look for community service. We we do look at grade point average. So you've got to study, you've got to get those grades. But we we look at you. How well-rounded are you and what are the things you've engaged in throughout your high school and college career?

00;29;03;08 - 00;29;07;06
Speaker 3
We would want to know some of those things and how you give back.

00;29;07;08 - 00;29;31;14
Speaker 2
So speaking of COVID, we definitely all heard in hospitals say that was a difficult time, kind of a gloomy time for nurses, especially, I would think, what were some you know, what was the atmosphere really like? You may not want to think too much about it. How did you how did how did we come through it to be in this place where you are now that you have so many people still wanting to be in the profession?

00;29;31;16 - 00;29;51;04
Speaker 3
It was scary. I'll just call it what it is. As a leader. It was really scary to me to think that I was making decisions with the best information I had, but we didn't know what was going on and we could be putting ourselves and others at risk. And so that was a huge level of responsibility that was really difficult.

00;29;51;06 - 00;47;42;04
Speaker 3
At the staff nurse level. We had lots of conversations about this because what people may should know, but maybe not when no one was allowed to go into the rooms, the nurse was including the doctors. It was the nurse going in and getting feedback from outside the room to help get done whatever needed to be done with this patient population at a time where there was.