At Wockhardt’s Bangalore hospital, Dr. Arshanapalai Malathi works with nurse managers.

HMI and Wockhardt team to develop network-wide nursing leadership program

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Wockhardt Hospitals has an aggressive growth strategy that is designed to take the health care network into new territory. Geographical expansion, new hospital development, and the implementation of new clinical programs and technology top the agenda for the longtime HMI partner. Wockhardt’s leadership team, however, is working with HMI to ensure that a key component of its ambitious plans does not go overlooked.

“Key to delivering high-quality patient care in an environment of such growth and development is a well structured, mature nursing service, which is nursing in its total state: leadership, education, clinical care, and research,” says Elizabeth Brown, MSN, RN, MBA, HMI Director of Clinical Services. “The senior administrative team of Wockhardt rightly recognize that an integral driver of a premier and comprehensive nursing service is a strong nursing leadership team.”

Brown is working with senior administrative and clinical leaders throughout the Wockhardt network on a year-long initiative designed to enhance nursing leadership. Wockhardt has instituted a four-part certification program that will provide a core group of nurse leaders with the skills necessary to become strategic decision-makers capable of building and nurturing effective clinical teams.

The certification program grew out of a pair of successful nursing leadership workshops held last year. Those workshops, held in both Bangalore and Mulund, were designed to bring a community of nursing leaders together to work towards developing a nurse manager competency model for the entire network. The model took shape in the ensuing months, with nursing leaders working closely with top administrators in human resources and HMI to craft the curriculum to support the model and the certification program. The program consists of four six-day sessions co-directed by HMI faculty and members of the Wockhardt team.

Bangalore was the setting for the first session, in March. Twenty-two nursing leaders from hospitals throughout the Wockhardt network gathered for a series of interactive case discussions and group activities. Brown facilitated workshops on developing individuals and team-building. Wockhardt team members led the group through activities focused on quality issues, customer service, human resource management, and other issues central to the nursing leader’s role.

This core group of nursing leaders will participate in each session over the next year, and the location will rotate, with workshops potentially being held in Mumbai, Rajkot, and Goa. Each participant has committed to identifying a leadership project to pursue over the next year. she would work on over the next year to improve her leadership capacity.

“The Wockhardt Team has developed an incredible initial foundational curriculum for the year long nursing leadership program,” said Brown.

Patricia Folcarelli, RN, PhD and Joanne Ayoub, both of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, will co-facilitate programs with Brown moving forward in this initiative. Both have been frequent contributors to HMI programs, including the successful nursing leadership initiative at Acibadem Healthcare Group.