I am Noemí Hernández, an Emergency Nurse since 1996. And I say “Emergency” because I believe that Emergency Nurses have that “something special or different” that makes us want a service that is not easy.
A little over 3 years ago, I was proposed to go to the Emergency Assistance Coordinator in the afternoon shift, I accepted without being sure where I was going. Currently, I am still in the same position, for the time being, and I can say that I do not regret the decision made.
Master in Critical Patient and Emergencies, Master in management and leadership, Post-Graduate Lean Practitioner (in project implementation phase)
I am proud to be part of the Emergency and Emergency Group of the Official College of Nurses of Barcelona together with my colleagues, all nurses in this area and with a long history recognizing and giving value to this part of Nursing, the of Emergencies and Emergencies.
1 What is humanization for you?
Humanization as a definition could be to give human traits to something that does not have them. Therefore, I think that if we refer to humanization when we talk about people, it seems to me that it is something redundant and that it should not be.
How are we going to humanize humans? Many times, day to day, routine, care burden … makes us lose some of those human traits that I commented at the beginning.
Features such as empathy, if we lose putting ourselves in the place of the other, we begin to dehumanize ourselves.
We cannot forget that we work with and for people, behind everything we do there are people, both professionals and patients.
2 Do you have any personal experience in the world of health humanization?
Those of us who work in the ER, know and recognize that it is a Service, that every day we work with care pressure, collapses, reduced space … The contact with the patient is almost always brief but at the same time, and in many occasions, intense. Many times, we wonder what happened to that patient who …
Last month I had the opportunity to gather in a patient day and emergency nurses. Patient who arrived in cardio-respiratory arrest and emergency nurses who collaborated, as he said on the day, “to save his life.” Besides that patient, he was a partner of our hospital. He put face to part of the team that was in the strike box that day, and they saw the patient who came out of the emergency room again.
3 How would you humanize the world of management?
Honesty, humility, assertiveness, transparency and empathy are adjectives that should always be linked to management, at whatever level. I think that all the decisions that are taken, whether they are right or not, have a direct impact on people.
That is why a key element in the humanization of management is that managers, managers, managers take into account that the way they exercise their leadership has a direct impact on the lives of the professionals in their care, and therefore on the attention We lend to patients.
In the society we live in, with very well prepared professionals, with a lot of experience behind them, I believe that vertical management policies do not work. Do not be afraid to be horizontal. A good leader of his team, is close, listens and is present. This is how that leader gains the trust and respect of professionals.
As a good follower of the LEAN methodology, I am a fan of the “GENCHI GENBUTSU” concept or what is the same, “go see it for yourself”. It is important, change the concept of management from the offices, have the position you have. It is necessary to speak with professionals, who are in contact with the patient, to listen to the problems, needs they have. We cannot forget that we always place the patient in the center, and that we work with people.
4 Do you think that values and ethics go hand in hand when re-humanizing the organization?
Of course they go hand in hand. The values of the organization must be known but they must also be put into practice. That is, values such as professionalism, humanism, commitment, empathy, education, respect, communication, honesty, teamwork, autonomy or excellence could perfectly be a list of values of an organization. Now, for them to fall at all levels of it, we must lead by example from the management or leadership that we exercise in our workplaces. Because if not, what is the use?
5 Where should humanization begin?
I think that the addresses of the organizations should bet on it. Professionals need us to be close and to respond to their problems or needs.
I also strongly believe that what you give, you receive. I have very little in management, compared to other colleagues of Cafes HUGES but with what I carry I can say that if you are next to your team, what I said before, being horizontal, the team responds to you. And the team is all of us.
The attention is multidisciplinary and to recognize the value of each one of the professionals or to recognize the daily work, it is our task. Everyone is important in that attention. It is necessary to take care of the caregiver. In everyday life, we always have to take people into account. It is very important, that they feel valued by their coordinator, who is heard, taken into account, motivating them to achieve the highest quality and excellence in care.
The organization must be based on participation, collaboration, transparency and empathy. Thus we will achieve the transformation towards humanization.
6 Do you know any historical person who was humanizing?
Reading other coffee companions HUGES could list several historical figures that were or are great humanizers: Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Vicente Ferrer or Gregorio Marañon, each in his own time and in his own way.
But I keep the day to day of the staff that works in the Emergency Services, that human capital that makes the difficult easy and hopefully, someday, make history. For me, they do it daily.
7 Because of your experience as a nurse manager, how do you think the HUGES Project should focus its activities?
The HUGES Project with its decalogue collects all the values and principles that organizations have to follow to humanize management. It is important to disseminate them and multidisciplinary participation. That is, participation also of professionals where they can explain what they expect from bosses. As well as conferences or training where experiences and knowledge can be shared.
“I would like to thank the invitation to HUGES coffee and that I can contribute my grain of sand to humanize the management. Congratulations on the project ”
“Leadership is not about being in charge, it is taking care of the people you are in charge of and treating them as what they are, people”
This translation has been done with Google Translate