A bucket list.
For most, it’s a lofty list of things that one day in the future they would like to accomplish.
For nurses and staff at Oklahoma Heart Hospital, the bucket list is a way of life.
“One of the things Oklahoma Heart Hospital is exceptional with is fostering employee culture,” said Cindy Miller, RN, MSN, Director of Transformation for OHH. “We have several things in place that assure peoples’ opinion matters and nurses have the ability to make change.”
The bucket list was developed 18 years ago.
“It’s basically a tool that any nurse can put forth of suggestion, comment or complaint and it is reviewed by hospital executives every day. If possible, we make whatever the proposed change is,” Miller said. “If it’s not something that can be done we let people know why it can’t be done at this time and if there’s a possibility in the future.”
“Over the years it has evolved.” (story continues below)
From stocking banana popsicles to new patient safety initiatives, the bucket list has brought forth change throughout the halls of OHH.
“I think it’s just a marvelous tool for people giving feedback and knowing their opinion matters,” Miller said. “I think nurses want to take good care of patients. That’s why they went into the profession. They see they are able to take care of patients because they have input and they don’t have to tolerate what they might feel like are inappropriate policies and procedures that are a barrier to good patient care.”
This physician-owned hospital was designed by cardiologists to ensure that patients receive expert, individualized care with utmost comfort. OHH is the first of its kind in Oklahoma and the first all-digital hospital in the United States.
And nurses feel not only a sense of purpose but a sense of ownership.
“I do believe it is because they have a voice in patient care as well as in the workplace,” Miller said of the hospital’s retention rates. “The patient is the center and that’s important for nurses to know they are making a difference. We do have the best nurse-to-patient ratios probably in the nation. That’s a big commitment to allow for better patient care and job satisfaction on the part of nursing.”
A flexible work schedule is another bonus when it comes to advancing one’s degree at OHH. Tuition reimbursement and advanced certifications are two more bonuses.
“We celebrate achievement and progress throughout the profession academically,” Miller said. “We also hire many students who are working on their basics to get into a professional program or who are in a program. We have a very robust nurse extern program where we take a large number of nurse externs twice a year. We have a very high retention rate with those externs.
Quite simply, OHH is a place where nurses stay.
“Our mission is serving the state and leading the nation,” Miller said. “We are a small hospital but we serve every county in Oklahoma and many of the surrounding states. We’ve also had patients from other countries who have chosen our hospital. I think it goes without saying this is the place to work if you want to take good care of people.”
And most nurses want that on their bucket list.
For more information about Oklahoma Heart Hospital, visit:
https://careers.okheart.com.
