Moving On

my High School Yearbook photo

I guess I am at that time of my life where a lot of people I know are retiring or "fixing to" retire.  Seems like every week at work someone else is having a retirement party.   This weekend my high school class is having a social media event where they asked everyone to change their profile picture to their high school yearbook photo.  Made me think, all these people are turning/or did turn 60 this year.  Many of them posted how many days they plan to work until retirement.  I changed my photo and then I started thinking about my friends from nursing school.  I graduated from a diploma nursing school in 1977.  Holy crap, I am going to celebrate my 40th nursing school reunion this year too!  How did this happen?

A few years ago at my hospital we went through the process and applied for the Governor's Sterling Award.  This is a rigorous process and in part of the project we had to examine if we had succession planning at our hospital.  Basically, we did not.   This started the process of developing a succession plan for us at our campus.  Leaders began to think about who would be able to step into our role if we left.  We started to develop the people we thought would be good at being our successors.

Our Hospital Team accepting the Florida Governor's Sterling Award

I have been at my present role for the last 16+ years.  One of my director friends, Joany Odorizzi,  and I had many discussions about providing the best patient and family centered care available over the years.  We talked about the Planetree model and had put many things into practice on our own units.  A new chief administrative officer introduced us to the Samueli Institute's Optimal Healing Environment framework.   This was something that we could really rally around.  Our hospital adopted this framework five years ago and we were on our way.  Joany left her nursing department and became the Optimal Healing Environment Business Partner. 

Joany Odorizzi

 http://www.samueliinstitute.org/research-areas/optimal-healing-environments/ohe-framework.html   

The Optimal Healing Environment became our rallying point!  We were off and running full speed ahead.  Not just the two of us but the whole hospital!  Many great things have happened over the last five years.  We have  much to show in our environment that demonstrates how we support the Optimal Healing Environment framework.   Things are going great!

But alas, even Optimal Healing Environment Business Partners have to have succession plans and Joany had decided that I would be capable to take on her role.  She began to share more with me over the last 18 months or so and tell me what she was doing and how she did her job duties.  Mentoring.   This mentoring has gotten more intense over the last six months. It is coming up this month that she will retire and I will take over some of her duties.  

"Wait a minute.... I am not ready for this...."
"Yes you are...You can and you will do it."

So, as you retire from your dream job Joany, I will strive to make you proud and so that we will be one of the first success stories in the succession planning process for our hospital.  I have big shoes to fill, but know I will do it because you have prepared me.  I will miss you and our talks so very much.  You are and will always be OHE to me!