Do you ever feel like we are reverse sales reps inside our own organization? It seems like we are always trying to sell something to someone and hope they support what the organization has chosen to implement. CFOs and Finance Directors demand savings and may or may not agree that we have very limited control over the inputs to many of our process models. SPD and Central Supply are among the first to take FTE reductions, when JIT inventory models can be a wash in-terms of functional work load. Have you ever tried to convince Administration that our actual process volume is not census driven like Nursing and Clinical Operations?

So, what do we do as healthcare materials professionals to thrive and not simply survive in a complex environment? First, we must own one simple fact; our hospitals are not in business to run a Materials Management department. However, by us running an efficient, customer driven and productive Materials Department, life for the clinicians we serve is better and patient outcomes are better as well. We too, are a part of patient care, because without the supplies and services Materials Management provides, it would be very difficult for the physicians and clinicians to make our patients well.

Sometimes, simple answers to complex problems can be the only answer. We can’t change the behaviors and beliefs of others. Similarly, we can’t change the financial reality of delivering care and the only thing under our complete control is how we live with the reality of our professions. Living in the problem, not the solution causes unnecessary emotional turmoil for anyone. I read a lot of trade articles where authors are telling Materials Directors and Managers how important our profession is and to "stand tall." I agree whole heartedly, but it’s just part of the equation. I can’t demand respect from anyone, but I can earn their respect by the quality of my outcomes and the content of my character. I make the assumption when anyone is hired; they are academically and technically qualified to fill their roles. Intellect and technical skills are important, but we must really take them for granted as only part of us doing an outstanding job in our hospital.

To succeed as a hospital DMM, or MM, we must not only be technical experts in our chosen profession, we need to embrace the culture and mission of the hospital and healthcare itself. We need to model that we are here to serve our clinical customers in the same way they serve our patients. We need to be the Servant Leader of the Hospital, and model this behavior to our staff and everyone we engage with on a day-to-day basis.

Understanding healthcare and how to balance cost control with excellent patient care is our ultimate goal. In a past acute care position, I was the only Materials Director to be president of our Hospital Coordinating Council and I loved it! I worked with the Hospital Foundation and almost every committee we had to contribute to the culture and success of my institution. The Hospital COO called me the true "Servant Leader" of our hospital and it was the best compliment I’ve ever received.

But what really means most to me, are the intangibles of working in a hospital. Things like; walking patients to their appointment when they were lost in the hallway, genuine appreciation from clinical managers when I fix a problem, walking the floors and visiting the nursing stations, stopping in L&D to look at the new babies through the window and seeing the people I work with on committees running down the hall with a crash cart to save someone’s life. When I have a tough day and am wondering how the whole deal is ever going to work out, all I need to do is see a care giver use those supplies we work so hard to purchase and distribute to make someone well. At the end of the day, I have true respect for the healing and compassion care givers deliver to our patients day-in and day-out.

One specific attitude changing event is forever etched in my mind and memory. The Nurse Manager from our Oncology Unit came down to my office with a supply issue she was beside herself about. It was a normal crisis for Materials Management. There was a distributor back-order issue and the suitable sub was out of stock as well. I listened as she vented and instead of her waiting around for an answer, I told her I would handle it immediately and come see her myself with an answer. When I got to the Oncology floor, I started the walk to the other side of the unit to see the manager. A few doors down the hall, I couldn’t help but hear a very soothing and kind voice comforting someone. The very same Nurse Manager, who had "yelled" at me an hour earlier, was sitting on the edge of a terminal patient’s bed as she cried and whimpered in pain. She was stroking the hair over this woman’s ear, just like my mother did to me when I was a little boy and not feeling well. Her voice sounded like an angel, and she was telling her it would be ok and that she was there for her. Life and the profession I’ve chosen were put into perspective for me in that instant. She was in my office in advocacy for her patients and staff, not for anything selfish or self-seeking for herself. I decided then-and-there I was going to do the same thing for my clinical customers, as the Oncology Manager did for her patient. Being of service to others gets one "out of themselves" and leads to humility, peace and a sense of overall well being. I am not a care giver, but doing a great job supporting my patient care customers makes me feel like I am making a positive contribution to society.

The reason I wrote this article is because I lost site of The Servant Leader concept for awhile during some organizational financial turmoil in a past hospital position. I got so tired, that I returned a recruiter’s call and I left a position I loved to work outside of healthcare. I thought industry would be less stressful, more efficient and life would be easier. Well, I’m here to tell you, the problems were no different, but there were no babies to look at on the L&D floor when I had a bad day and no patients to escort to their appointments when I saw them lost in my hospital. There was a professional void for me that extended into my personal life as well and I didn’t even know it. Recently, I returned to a DMM role in a metropolitan hospital and it feels like coming home from a long, scary trip down the Amazon River in a plastic canoe. The problems are still here, but I’d rather solve them with the good people in healthcare, than be back on the industrial street doing something that has no meaning to me as a person.

In life itself, we can gain control by letting go. When we surrender to a hopeless problem, we can find strength and power. Reach out and let your clinical customers know you are there to serve them. Be a part of your hospital and not the grouchy person in the basement who subconsciously thinks we need to say "NO" all the time to cut costs. If you aren’t now, become "The Servant Leader" of your hospital. The process improvements, standardization and contract compliance is much easier to sell when you work in a true partnership with your customers. It’s really hard to push change, and outcomes are better when you pull change through with the support of other people. Like my mentor Norm always said, "It’s pretty hard to push a piece of rope."