Latest / Becker’s Healthcare -- Pediatric Leadership Podcast / Caroline Njau, Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at Children’s Minnesota

Transcript

Caroline Njau, Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at Children’s Minnesota · Becker’s Healthcare -- Pediatric Leadership Podcast

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  - Prepare to dive into the forefront
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  of healthcare innovation at our 14th annual meeting coming
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  up on April 8th
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  through 11th at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, with thousands
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  of industry leaders converging over four dynamic days
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  of discussions on crucial topics from health IT
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  to executive leadership.
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  It's where the future of healthcare takes shape.
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  We can't wait to connect with you in person
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  and engage in these important conversations.
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  - This is Laura Dedo with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
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  I'm thrilled today to be joined by Caroline Jao,
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  senior Vice President of Patient Care Services
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  and Chief Nursing Officer at Children's Minnesota.
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  Caroline is a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
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  - Thank you for having me, Laura. I'm excited to be here.
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  - Now, I know we have a lot to talk about,
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  and I'm certainly looking forward to learning more about
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  what you're doing at Children's Minnesota.
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  But before we dive into my broader questions,
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  can you tell me a little bit more
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  about yourself and your background?
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  - Absolutely. So as you mentioned, my name is Caroline,
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  and I started my career as a nurse almost 18 years ago
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  and have evolved, evolved in following my passion
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  for nursing leadership.
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  That has also led me into executive leadership
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  for the last three years at Children Minnesota.
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  Um, I've had the honor of receiving several leadership
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  and impact awards, um, over the last several years,
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  including the modern healthcare
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  top 25 emerging leaders in 22.
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  Um, also a rising star in healthcare
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  by Becker Hospital Review.
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  And then most recently,
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  the Twin Cities notable Bipoc executives.
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  Uh, it's an honor in, um, for me to be responsible
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  for leading patient care services
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  and operations, which include nursing, child
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  and family services, support operations
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  and pharmacy here at Children's Minnesota.
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  And then, uh, in addition to
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  that is the chief nursing officer.
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  I lead nursing strategy, education,
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  and professional development for one
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  of the largest pediatric healthcare systems in the country.
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  I'm also proud to say
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  that Children's Minnesota is a magnet designated system
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  for delivering the highest quality care
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  for nursing excellence.
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  So that's a little bit about me.
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  - Fantastic. And you know, it's great to hear
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  that you've had such a great achievements
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  and accomplishments throughout your career.
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  I can imagine it's such a rewarding role, um, you know, to,
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  to be helping the children on a daily basis
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  and then to, um, to be recognized is really cool.
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  So I'm wondering, what are some of the biggest issues
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  that you're following in healthcare for this year?
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  - Question, uh, Laura. Uh, I think, uh, I would start
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  with workforce pressures
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  that are definitely impacting staffing,
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  especially in nursing and support operations.
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  Um, and these pressures have also inspired innovation
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  and short term and long term strategies that have been one
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  of my focuses, uh, in my role
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  as a guidance support recruitment of nurses in a very,
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  very tight and competitive labor market.
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  Of course, I'm able to do this in partnership
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  with our amazing nursing teams and our recruitment teams.
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  Um, so that's, uh, one of our biggest challenges.
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  And, um, I'll also say that, you know, we have
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  to think about, you know, what are we gonna do about this?
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  And so one of my commitments has been in expanding
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  our transition to practice programs for new licensed nurses.
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  Um, and this is a program that, um, bridges the gap
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  between academic preparation and clinical practice.
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  This year alone, we'll have four cohorts.
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  Last year we five cohorts.
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  Uh, in addition to that, um, innovating, uh,
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  in thinking of different ways to recruit nurses, um,
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  especially for children's Minnesota.
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  We serve a very diverse community.
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  So, uh, we looked at different ways, uh,
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  of diversifying the nursing workforce.
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  Um, and just in 22, we have a 22%, um, rate
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  of new nurses hired of color across the organization.
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  Um, it's a joy to work with kids.
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  And so, um, as I think about, you know, talent,
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  the challenges we face, I'm also thinking about
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  what a joy working with kids brings to many,
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  especially those who are passionate like our kid experts
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  and we, and honor to support an organization
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  that has been here for a hundred years, um,
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  as the key experts in our region.
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  So those are, you know,
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  workforce challenges are a big one for me, for sure.
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  Um, and we'll continue to be this year,
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  but I'm proud of the work that we have done
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  and what we continue to do.
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  Lastly, um, health inequities
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  and healthcare outcomes across the nation are a challenge
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  for all of us, myself, including, um, which, um,
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  as you can imagine, this inequities are driven
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  by many factors, including social determinants of health.
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  And so I'm also looking at ways in these,
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  our organization can address those issues in 2024.
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  So those are couple of my challenges.
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  Laura, I hope that's helpful.
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  - Yeah, I, I, you know, I think that, uh, is really helpful
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  to know and understand, to think through the, um, you know,
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  really results driven way that you've looked at kind
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  of improving patient care as well
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  as looking at the nursing team.
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  The retention rate in building more diverse teams is really,
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  um, impressive to see.
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  When you look ahead, what are you most excited
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  about and what makes you nervous?
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  - Um, good question. I think my current excitement
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  and which will be for the next few years, is in my role
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  as I think about supporting our patients in our communities,
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  the recruitment and, uh, of nurses and our support staff.
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  Um, I think that's what gives me so much joy right now.
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  And every other week I get a chance
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  to welcome new hired people, um, employees and nurses.
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  The story of why they get into, uh, nursing and healthcare
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  and why they want to work at Children's Minnesota is
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  so inspiring and gives me lots of excitement
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  to continue supporting all of our teams
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  and our patients, um, as they dedicate their life
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  and careers to delivering expert pediatric care.
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  My other excitement is around our organization, been around
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  for a hundred years, Laura, and that's exciting.
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  It's solidified our expertise in pediatrics
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  and we're truly the key experts, um, in our region,
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  I would argue across the nation.
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  Um, this also brings a lot of stability to the organization.
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  So those two things are continuing
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  to support our patients and our meeting members.
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  And, um, and also continuing to celebrate a solid,
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  solid expertise with a hundred, um,
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  hundredth year anniversary bring me the most joy.
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  - You know, it's so impressive to have that type
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  of legacy a hundred years, um, you know, to
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  of being served the same community
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  and really grow with the families that live there
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  and work there to make the community great.
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  And then too, as you mentioned, just, you know,
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  the excitement of, of new employees
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  and new team members coming on.
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  Um, you know, that seems like it'll be really rewarding.
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  Um, but you know, I,
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  I know the flip side I asked about too, Yeah.
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  Some things that makes you nervous.
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  And I can imagine, you know, there might be one
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  or two things that are on your mind there too.
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  - Uh, absolutely. Yeah.
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  No, I think, um, and, and makes me nervous.
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  I is really thinking about, um, as healthcare leaders,
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  myself included, we are challenged with being able to find
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  and implement, um, sustainable solutions
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  that are addressing health outcome inequities, especially
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  for diverse communities.
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  It makes me nervous, but it also gives me a passion.
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  And so when I think about yet Children's Minnesota,
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  what we are doing, um, that makes me so proud, uh,
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  in the way we are addressing disparities
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  and social determin health.
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  However, I'm nervous about sustainability
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  for our healthcare system in being able to, um,
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  close these disparities
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  because we live in communities of many, um, people
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  who bring very diverse backgrounds.
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  So, uh, I'm nervous about can we sustain,
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  can we find sustainable ways of healthcare
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  to really close this task?
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  I think we can, I'm motivated to,
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  but it also makes me nervous.
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  - I, I think that's such a great point.
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  And certainly, you know, it takes, um, time and effort
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  and resources to make progress, especially, um, in,
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  in those gaps of care.
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  And I can imagine there's a lot of different, um,
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  access points or, or areas that you could focus on.
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  Is there anything right now, any projects
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  or initiatives that, um, you know, you're zeroing in on or,
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  or any segments of, um, whether it's diseases or,
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  or populations that, you know,
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  you're really focused on when
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  you're thinking about health equity?
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  - Um, as a pediatric system?
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  Um, I think, you know, we look at, you know,
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  we talked about access.
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  Uh, we also look at outcomes
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  and uh, right now we're looking at immunizations for kids.
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  Um, and our teams have done a fantastic job
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  of trying new ways to immunize kids
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  because we know when we help raise healthier children,
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  we help our community, we help the next generation.
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  So, um, I think we look at access and we should,
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  but immunizations are a big focus for us right now,
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  and we continue to look at other ways as well.
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  So, um, and our work here at Children's Minnesota is
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  building a community collaborative that allows us to know
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  how we can partner to close this gap.
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  So we're not doing it alone.
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  And we have our community teams working with our community,
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  advising us on how, what we can do best.
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  So those are my two immunizations collaborations, um,
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  making sure we're providing access
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  amongst the list of many other things.
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  - That's amazing to hear.
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  Well, before I wrap up here, Caroline, I was wondering,
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  could you talk about what the most effective healthcare
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  leaders will need in order
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  to be successful in the next two to three years or so?
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  Especially as we think about how healthcare is changing
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  and some of the new opportunities
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  that are coming up in the space?
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  - Yes, thank you.
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  I'll share the, what I also remind myself of
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  what makes an effective leader one, uh, is the willingness
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  to be nimble and to try something different, um,
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  to innovation in order to solve complex problems.
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  Um, and, you know, workforce health inequities,
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  those are complex problems.
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  I also, you know, um, think that to be an effective leader,
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  we cannot rely on playbooks of the past, um, as the only way
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  to solve this issue.
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  So thinking of different ways in
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  the next two to three years.
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  Secondly, as a leader, it's important to center yourself
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  around, uh, your why or your life's calling.
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  Leadership is a noble responsibility.
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  When it gets tough, we'll keep you grounded and committed.
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  I remind myself of my why often.
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  And then lastly, can do this alone.
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  Partnerships, relationships.
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  It is impossible to address healthcare. Challeng alone.
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  Find like-minded leaders like you who can be your mentors,
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  resources, help partners or coaches.
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  I look for this individual every single day
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  because I believe that, um, together we are stronger
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  and we can overcome the challenges that we're facing.
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  So that would be my advice
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  for effective leadership over the next few years.
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  - That's amazing advice and,
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  and certainly so helpful to know and think about.
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  Caroline, thank you so much for joining us
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  on the podcast today.
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  This has been such a fun conversation.
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  Um, I really can hear the joy that you bring
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  to your job every day and passion for what you do.
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  So I appreciate your time today,
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  and I look forward to connecting with you again soon.
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  - All right. Thank you very much, Laura, for having me.
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  It's been an honest, be part of the podcast.