What made you choose the profession you
chose? It's not a riddle, but a basic question we've all been
asked at some time in our lives. It usually requires some
reflection. For Pam Geiger, a critical care nurse at Kaiser
Santa Rosa for almost seven years, it required little.
"I wanted to be a good caregiver," said Geiger.
"As a medical assistant, I worked with some good nurses
that inspired me."
Geiger likes the flexibility of being a nurse at Kaiser Permanente.
For her, this flexibility extends beyond the hours she works
and into the number of different settings she can potentially
work in.
"You can move around more than in other careers,"
said Geiger. She credits access to education at Kaiser Permanente
for giving her the opportunity to transfer to new areas. Pam
enjoys working in critical care the most though, her home
for the last several years.
"Pam is an excellent critical care nurse," said
her critical care manager, Jan Kiely. "Years ago she
(Pam) took advantage of a Kaiser Critical Care Training program
and learned critical care on the night shift."
Working along with their manager Kiely, Pam and her colleague's
recently helped precept eight new critical care nurses. Pam
credits her success as a Preceptor to using a preceptoring
style that is structured around making the preceptee feel
comfortable.
"They (preceptee's) like working with a Preceptor that
is nurturing, available to them, (can) help them with any
situation, and coach them through scenarios," she said.
Kiely also believes Pam's success' stems from her preceptoring
style. "Pam was able to step back and let the preceptee
work to the level of their ability, but she stayed close by
in case the preceptee needed her help. Pam used a mixture
of strength, compassion, and humor to teach the skills needed
for patient safety and quality of care."
Geiger found preceptoring to be more of a challenge than
she thought it would be when Kiely first asked her, but she
still felt it was a valuable experience. Geiger believes with
preceptoring, learning can actually go both ways.
"They remind you to not forget the basics," said
Geiger. Sometimes people put blinders on and they (new graduates)
remind you to always investigate every possibility. Working
in Critical Care is team work and we take into consideration
everyone's input."
Ultimately, it is Pam's input to her team that may be the
best way to measure her success as a preceptor.
"Her preceptee progressed very well with her training,"
said Kiely, "and has been a star performer in the unit
since she completed her training."
Star performers like Pam Geiger have helped make Kaiser
a model healthcare organization.
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