Ep. 27 | Shug Pleas, RN, Nurse Residency Program Manager, SGMC Health

Transcript

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- Welcome to another episode of What Brings You

- In today. I'm Erika Bennett. And I'm Taylor Fisher. And we would like to thank all of our viewers and listeners for tuning in to our podcast. And if you haven't already, please like and subscribe

- And if you have any questions you would like to hear our experts talk about or talk, you would like to hear them cover, you can submit those at sgmc.org/podcast.

- Alright, well today we're here with Shug Posas who is a registered nurse and our nurse residency program manager here at SGMC Health. So Shug, what brings you in today?

- Well, I am here to talk SGMC Health nursing and just all things in nursing in general.

- Very good. So typically we have had a lot of physicians on our podcast, but we know that the two major roles in a hospital or healthcare system are doctors and our nurses. Yes, yes. Big, I mean, what they make up I think like 80% of our workforce. Right?

- Probably.

- So. So play a huge role. So tell us a little bit, get us started by, tell us what made you wanna become a nurse and then kind of how your career has unfolded.

- Okay. I like to say that I'm just a helper. You know, like some people just have natural gifts and I just have always been a helper. Ironically, I actually started off thinking I wanted to be, I was a sports medicine major. I was always athletic, you know, okay, yes, I wanna travel with the teams and do all the things and closer I got to like deciding. I was like, you know, maybe I want a more controlled environment. Do I really wanna be outside and traveling? And anyway, so then after talking to my advisor kind of led me into nursing. But I've just always been led to the geriatric population. Did a lot of nursing home things with the church. So it was just always kind of natural, more of the older population for myself. But just being a helper. And then I just transitioned from sports med to nursing at VSU and have loved it ever since. Since I've got here. I started as a baby nurse. What year did you start here? I started in 2011.

- Okay.

- January of

- 2011. So you were right before, I think I started in 2012. Okay, so you we were up right there. Yeah.

- Say 12. Yeah. So I don't know. I started on the unit that I precepted on, which was Five West and which was like a medical surgical med surge oncology. Okay. And I did that. I started off working three to 11. We still had seven on seven off back then worked seven days off, seven days. And then I did that for probably about three years. And then transitioned to day shift charge nurse. I did that for probably about three years too. And then we did, I did something called clinical team leader, which was similar to nurse manager, assistant manager and educator, like a mixture role. 'cause I still worked on the floor, but I started doing some administrative duties. And that was right when Epic was about to go live. So that was like 2017 I believe. And then we, I transitioned into just some band on five West and during this time I, I did go back to school, got my master's in nursing education. And when the nurse residency idea was brought about, I was like, dang, this might be something. 'cause I wasn't quite ready to leave the hospital to go like teach fulltime, but it was a good bridge. And so I applied for that and I've been doing that. This will be my fifth year for sure. So

- Let's tell about nurse residency. Most people probably don't even know what that is, what a residency program is and how that helps. What, what, what role does that play in

- A nurse's career? All right, good question. Nurse intern. So this, just like any other, I feel like we we're more accustomed to hearing internship in like a provider setting. Right? Right. And so within the nursing field we, there was studies showing that nurses were starting to leave the profession because it was just too hard. Almost like a culture shock. Like okay, I went to school and now I'm working and this is like not school and this is overwhelming. And so this is, ours is a 20, no, excuse me, 12 month residency. And so it's really designed to be a professional development and support system for all of our new grad nurses during that first year after nursing school. Because it is just, it really is a BA culture shock. And so it is designed to really adapt, allow the nurses to adapt to SGMC health specific things, right? Our policies, our procedures, these different names of people in roles and it's like, who are you? But you, I connect them with faces and data and just understanding how every action that they take or don't take is affecting something. Maybe it's length of stay, maybe it's infection control. And just trying to develop leaders sooner. Because I know when I first started at bedside I did not understand how important me forgetting to document one thing affected four or five other departments, if that made sense. So really trying to bridge the connection from leadership to the bedside so that we help the organization but also support those nurses and retain them so that they also get to see what other opportunities are within the system.

- Yeah. 'cause I imagine in nursing school they teach you how to be a nurse. Yes. They teach you what to do to take care of a patient, but they don't teach you all the ins and outs of a hospital and how it runs and the different ways. Everything is interconnected, all the different departments. And I, and I mean it's a big business. Like it's a big, I mean it's, that is interconnected on so many different areas. Correct. So that's very cool that you're there to help them. 'cause I imagine that's, you know, aside from now patients' lives being in your hands, you also have all the various dynamics. Yeah. So how do people apply? Is it application process? How do new nurses get into the residency? Or is it everyone that comes through?

- That's a good question. So here at our organization, you do not have to do a separate application as long as they apply to any specialty that they desire. Once HR recognizes that they're a new grad, they don't have any experience, then they're automatically enrolled into the nurse residency program. And we accept, or I start a new cohort, I should say, in normally March, July, and November. And that is been designed to cater to the different graduation times within the schools in our area.

- Right. Is that unique to SGMC or is it something that other hospitals have as well?

- I feel like other hospitals are adopting it. Some of them are using the same model that we have, which is under Vizient, but it just is varying. Some are like, yes, yes, yes. Some are like, we're slowly working in there. So I think there's, most facilities are going to it. It just may look a little bit different than us here at SGMC Hill.

- Yeah. And I, I think also it probably gives the nurses more confidence. And I mean, I imagine that that support is that they probably feel very grateful to have that support as they're just transitioning into that role. In nursing in general. It's a large field, right? There's so many different things that you can go into once you graduate from nursing, even just within the hospital setting. Can you talk a little bit about that? I know when we did, we've interviewed some nurses before, just in different video videos. And a common theme I saw is that if they went to a certain department, they'd maybe they just didn't feel that was their, you know, cup of tea. They'd transfer to a different one and kind of test that one out and then they're like, oh yeah, this is my home. What would you say some of the benefits of being in a career that yields that many options? I would

- Say opportunities are endless. And I would say, looking back at my younger self, I had no idea. I feel like when you're in school, the only thing you really think about as job options are a hospital, a nursing home, or a doctor's office. But even within, now that I've been working and meeting all these people, I mean, we have nurses everywhere, materials management, infection control, risk management, outpatient case management, epic. Epic. I mean, it is just, it's, it's endless. I can't even describe it. You could be in leadership education, there's just, it's, it is, you'll always have a job. Okay. That's not a reason to go into nursing. Right. But I just feel like once you find your passion, you'll be able to find a job to match that. Right. If that makes sense. Some people prefer to be in a home setting, like home health, end of life, hospice. I mean, there's just, it's just great. It is great if you're more of a data person. Epic. I don't know. It's just,

- Yeah. It's,

- It's - What are, what are some of the qualities that you, that you think make a good nurse for bedside nursing for a bedside? Because it does take a special person to, for, to have that calling to care for patients in a hospital.

- I would say compassion, empathy, and humility. Yeah. Nursing just has a way of humbling you. It's like, you know that life is precious, but when you just read h and Ps and see different patient situations and scenarios, it's just, it just always makes me grateful, but also reminds me of why I do what I do. It's just encouraging. I don't know, it's just, it's definitely, you have to be empathetic though. And you have to be non-judgmental and just unconditional in the, in the care that you're gonna give. Right. Yeah.

- Yeah. I would definitely agree that those are important qualities. What is your favorite part about getting to educate other nurses?

- Ah, I like to say I am like Auntie Shug. Okay. Because I'm still young, so I don't me miss Shug, but I always feel like I'm like a auntie. Like I'm a supportive person. I'm not always stern in my delivery, but I'm direct. But I feel like being able to see where someone starts when I first get them and they're all terrified and all nervous to about six months in, they're kinda like starting to get more chattery, a little more vocal. 'cause I'm finding myself to like month 10 when they're just really strong and advocating and connecting the dots. It's just like one, I don't know, it's almost like a flower. And I put the seed in, we're giving you some sunlight, we're giving you some water. And then by the a year it's like they're just a beautiful flower and it's blossomed. So it's just being able to see what they took from school, what they've learned through their work experiences, what we've provided to them as education. And like, it just all comes together. It's like a perfect picture or a painting. So yeah, just seeing the lights come

- On. You said you, like you said you like teaching, so that's a good I do. That's a good way to use that nursing and then helping develop our future nurses. What are we seeing in the realm of the, the amount of nurses that are, you know, in the field of nursing, you know, we had covid, which we all try to forget because that was terrible, not fun. But in the field in general, are we seeing people more hesitant to go into those roles? Or what are you kinda,

- I would say from my scope, I, I don't think we're necessarily seeing people hesitant to go into the role of nursing. I do feel like we're starting to see a decrease in longevity in one role. I feel like our newer nurses and just the newer generation are a lot more aware. There are a lot more opportunities that I do think somewhat exposed was exposed through covid. And so they're just a little bit more open to trying all the things. Yeah. To try to find

- Right.

- My one thing rather than just sticking with that one thing and doing it for 30 years. Yeah. So I think that's the biggest difference is just it feels like we're not producing enough, but we are, it is just, there's so many options now,

- Right.

- That it's spread thin, you

- Know? And I think that's a generational thing, probably across many specialties too. So many fields realizing that they can go remote. Yes. And different things. But even in nursing, we have our virtual nursing that we've piloted on some floors or maybe already implemented on some floors. But it's interesting because that's been a unique aspect for some of our nurses that have been here for a long time. Maybe can't, you know, physically still be bedside, but has all that knowledge and the skillset to care of our patients and for them to be able to still play a role in the field. I think that's pretty unique and innovative. It

- Is. And I think that a lot of people like it. Yeah. I feel like technology can be scary, but I feel like if it's if, how do I wanna say it's

- Done the right way? Yes. If it's still, still gotta have that personal

- Touch there needs to, yes. Yes. There has to be humanity still within it to connect it. But I do feel like with the virtual nurse, it's not like the patient or family has to do anything. We're providing that. So it's just like, okay, hey.

- Yeah. So just to give some feedback for the, our listeners. 'cause virtual nursing, when I first heard it, I was like, what? Okay, our people are never gonna be down for that because we're usually a little bit slow to adapt technology here in South Georgia. We like things the way we like 'em and we like, you know, that one-on-one interaction. But the way we have used it in our organization is we have nurses that are on site. They don't have to be on site, but we do have them located on site and they're familiar with our organization, familiar with our teams, the nurses working on the floor and basically it's where they wheel a tablet with a screen computer kind of thing into a patient's room. And the nurse, you know, brings it in and says, Hey, this nurse is gonna do your intake or your discharge information. And while she's doing that, I'm gonna do, go do other things that only a bedside nurse can do. And so then the patient interacts with that nurse, they ask all the questions, they really take a lot of time with the patient because they don't feel as rushed to go get a million other things that nurses on bedside nurses have to do. So it does give a little bit more of that less rushed feeling. So you feel like you have a little bit more time, be more comprehensive with everything you're doing. So I mean, from what I've heard, the patients have received it very well and it's going good. But enjoying it, just knowing that, it makes me wonder like where we might be in 10 years or five years even when it comes

- To, yes. I think there's definitely gonna be an increase in the way that technology is used to try to offset, you know, some of those things like that. Yeah. Sometimes you just need that extra time to ask those questions. And for that virtual nurse to just be one-on-one, it just allows them to provide that. And I have had the pleasure of kinda like listening in kind of being next door and they love it. I mean, yeah. Yeah. They're very excited when they come on the camera and anyway, so

- Yeah. It doesn't get rid of the personal touch. No, because they, it, I almost feel like it probably facilitates more of it because you have that more time to get a connection with the pa. You know, you're just a little bit more relaxed in your interaction and I think that's pretty cool.

- Yeah. Well we obviously know nursing is a difficult, you know, emotional. It can be a, a tough job. So, and Erika mentioned Covid a minute ago. How do you think, or how would you say, you know, what are some good tips for nurses to kind of combat the burnout that they can experience? Or how have you seen that play out in your career?

- Hmm. I would say, and I try to stress to new nurses in particular, money's not everything. Right. Definitely having a good work ba work life balance and it sounds easy. Yeah, I'll do it, you know, but you just have to plan. You know, I've always, I've even told people, put on your schedule, I'm going to get a massage, I'm going to get a pedicure, I'm gonna read my book, whatever it is. Because it, most of the time if something's on my schedule I won't make, it's like, oh no, I can't do that. It's easier to say no or explain why I can't do whatever, whether it's work or personal. But you just have to be

- Intentional.

- Yes. I was gonna say specific, but intentional is a better word. And putting yourself first. And I always stress you can't pour from an empty cup. Absolutely. And this job is so selfless. We just give so much that you gotta have time to refuel. So I just always say, you know, like when I work seven on seven off, I would always take Monday, like, don't ask me to work on Monday. I'm not working on Monday. Monday is my day. So I think each person has to find what that is for them. I don't think it's like one magic recipe. Right. But I definitely feel like just being intentional about it being, being, being. Hmm. Okay. With taking care of yourself. Because as nursing sometimes you feel nurse guilt, like you feel like, oh, I need to do this one thing. Or I mean, I don't know, you just have this feeling of, I have to be there for everybody, but it's okay to, to be there for yourself. So I always try to tell people to schedule in whatever your thing is. Is it gardening or hiking or running or yoga, whatever it is. But make sure that you stir that in as far as on your schedule.

- Yeah, definitely. I mean, I'm not a nurse, but it is easy for things to take over your calendar and not, you not even mean to, unless you protect your time, which I've kind of tried to start doing this year is protect my time. So I've put on my calendar, I'm going to the gym, I'm doing yoga these times, so I don't put something else in that spot

- And have an accountability partner.

- Yeah. - I've, I always try to encourage the new nurses to get like a mentor and that can be like, sometimes I say work, wife, work, husband, but somebody that's gonna hold you accountable. Like somebody that's gonna say, okay, it's time to eat. No, take a break. You're gonna go eat today. Yeah. Or no, we're going for coffee or Yeah, we're going to the gym at five 30. Yep. All right. 15 minutes. Wrap it up. You know, so just having intention but also have an accountability, it kind of helps. It forces somebody to pull you out when you want to stay.

- Yeah. And how do you have fun? I mean, nurses, serious job, I mean, you've got patient's lives in your hands. How do you lighten that responsibility? Like how do you, or is it just something that you never, like in your mind, you know, to keep you from feeling like,

- Well - They decorate for every holiday. That's right.

- They

- Decorate on the floor. I feel like we, you develop a sense of, we always say nurse humor and so sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying.

- Yeah.

- But I don't think it's something that, I don't know, I just feel like it's learned. Yeah. You know, 'cause you never lose sight of the importance of what you're doing, if that makes sense. Right. But it's al almost like when your child does something bad and it's like, oh my god, I want it to really burst out laughing right now, but I'm not, you know, so sometimes it's those weird situations that you encounter. But I think just embracing each experience and learning from it too.

- Yeah. - It does kind of help lighten it, you know? Yeah. 'cause with each new experience, it's like you're adding to your backpack. Right. And so whenever I need to, all right, I got a similar patient, this happened. Okay, let me pull that out. What did I do here? Yeah. I just feel like it's a ever building journey.

- Yeah.

- But like I'm a nurse, but if you put me, I've always worked med surg pretty much oncology. Right. But if you threw me over in labor and delivery, okay, well I'd be like, well I need some help 'cause that ain't my backpack right here. Like, I can start iv, you know, I can do the fluids, but some of these things I'm gonna need to tag my partner in. So I think having other specialties is, is another great tool that we have. You know, if there's something we haven't experienced, we pick up the phone, we call 'em, Hey, can this charge nurse come over here? So definitely knowing that you got teamwork, that that really helps. Yeah. Lot of teamwork really. So it helps lighten level. That's

- Like a team sport. Yeah. Yeah. When you're on the floors and stuff, what is one, is there any particular experience that you recall from your career that just really impacted you and you like, wow, you know, it's so grateful or can't believe I was a part of that? Or you know, just a memorable,

- I have so many. I know and that's

- Very hard. 'cause

- I probably would say sometimes you, you in nursing, this is another thing for new nurses or anyone wanting to go into it, you don't always receive a thank you. Right. And so when I had transitioned from like direct care every day and had moved, I was kinda helping with all the med-surg at this point. But there was two oncology patients that no matter when they came in the hospital, they were gonna say, where is Shug? And you need tell her to come see me. And so it's just little, little things like that when you feel like I'm just doing my job. But to, to know that you had the impact that people don't forget about you, it's, it's very humbling. Motivating but also rewarding. Yeah. I would say. And I always love reading. It kind of reminds me of the daisies. I was just about that. It's like you're just doing your job or I'm just doing what I felt like that patient or that family needed in that moment. So to, for somebody to recognize me and for it to mean that much to them is just, that's always, I don't know, just this is why I do what I do. Yeah. You just need that pick me up sometimes.

- Yeah. So Shug mentioned daisies and so I'm sure most people listening don't understand what that is. But we do have a, a participate in award program called the DAISY Award for extraordinary Nurses. And so our team in particular gets a copy of all the nominations that are coming in. So we do get to see those and it's where a patient or a family member or physician or colleague for that matter can nominate a nurse for this award or this recognition just to based on something you know, that they did to impact their care or their experience here. And it's always nice to see those come through. And then we award one every month. We select a winner to get the award, but even those that aren't selected as the monthly winner still get a copy of their nomination. So they still get to hear that feedback. Which I think is important because like you said, a lot of times you're just going throughout your day and it means a lot when someone takes a moment just to say, Hey, admit thank you for what you did for me. And so, and

- They're powerful. I have cried reading some of the, which I'm kind of a crier, but I've cried reading some of those nominations. Especially if it's from a patient family member or a patient and you know, they're talking about, you know, how their nurse really impacted them. And it just, some of them get me every

- Time and like you said, they'll come back up here and they'll a lot of, so on those, a lot of times they'll come back to the DAISY award presentations. But then there's even, there's so many times that we don't know about or patients come back up to the floor and bring gifts, bring food. But I think that says a lot about what nurses mean to healthcare because I mean they're the ones that are just right by the patient side and helping the families navigate that stay. Because anyone in a hospital, I mean typically you're not wanting to be in a hospital. It's scary. It's very nerve wracking. So it takes a special person to show that empathy and respect that you had talked about earlier. It's a really cool field. It really cool. It takes a best special angels to do it. I always say, you know, I wasn't cut out for it. Glad that there are the people like you who are in our organization that can do that. Any advice you'd give to anyone thinking about becoming a nurse?

- Hmm. I would say if you have opportunity, I would say shadow. A lot of hospitals offer shadowing opportunities if they're, I know some of the high schools are starting to do health occupations programs and trying to get, you know, students that are interested in healthcare into the environment. I would highly encourage that. But sometimes what you think something is right, it's not that. And you would not want to, I'm big on don't waste time being precious with your time. So that'll help you kind of troubleshoot what may want to do. I would also say just know that it's selfless. Like I said, you're gonna pour out a lot emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually. Like it's a whole body give. And so just know that you may not always get a thank you, but you still matter. Study, study, study. And yeah, I would just say shadow, shadow, talk to someone that is in that profession. They could give you advice and just don't ever be afraid to ask questions.

- Yeah. And we have our summer volunteering program that is run through the foundation, so that's for high school students and they can end up on one of the floors. I've seen them, you know, volunteering and you know, that's a good way for them to learn over the summer, you know? Sure. Kind of what the role in nurse plays, but also they might discover another profession within the hospital that they hadn't thought of. True. So that would be through our foundation. I can put a link to that in the notes, but also a link to our careers page because we are always hiring nurses and we

- Have nursing interns. I say that too. We, and those are students that are currently enrolled in a nursing school, but they will have the opportunity to come in and work. We normally start up every summer and then that, that almost allows them to see, because sometimes when you're shadowing, not that that's not a bad thing, but when you're doing the internship you would work a 12 hour shift assigned to a nurse. So you get to see the whole day, you know, start to finish versus like a little snippet. Right. So I think that's a little bit more real life, but also gives them an opportunity to kind of connect that knowledge that they've been learning in nursing school and like, oh okay, this is it in real life. Like I learned about this too, but now I'm seeing it or

- Yeah.

- Yeah. So I think it, it helps with their skills as well.

- Cool.

- Yeah.

- Alright, well I have a question. I have one last question. It's not on here, but at the end of the podcast we usually ask what our guests favorite meal is in the spice or in the cafeteria. And I know you eat here. I do. So what is your favorite meal?

- My favorite meal? Oh, can I say two? Yeah, of course. Okay. They evolved the same meat. Okay. So smashburger with pepper jack cheese. Yes. Yeah. If sees me he knows pepper jacked cheese or if y'all have not tried, me and some other managers have made this our own thing. But a cheeseburger salad. Okay. So you feed y'all with those salad, you just go get you a burger, a smashburger, no bun and put it on there. Make sure you get extra pickles. I

- Used to do that with a Philly cheese steak.

- So good.

- Yeah. And it is good.

- Well I think we may have heard the burger but no one has said a burger salad before. No, that is a very interesting,

- You gotta get the pickles though. You have to get That'd be interesting. I never pickles burger a salad in salad. It's good. Oh my gosh. I love pickles.

- Yeah, I do too. So hey, well we thank you for joining us Shug. You welcome. You have been in our organization for as long as I have. I feel like I always know if I can, if I need a nurse that I can get information from and that's helpful and friendly, I always look to you. So I do thank you for taking time to join us. You're welcome. And for what you do. Thank you. Here at SGMC. So remember what we said, a thankless job. But I'm thanking you today for everything you do. So thank you for, we appreciate it. All right. And thank you for tuning in to all of our listeners. We hope you subscribe and like if you hadn't already.