Tapping into Internal Talent to Achieve Goals
Tiffany Banks' Story
Tiffany Banks, an Assistant Department Manager and Registered Nurse who has been continually growing her career in Nursing Management, joined Kaiser in 2012. She works with nurses who provide direct patient care and the department manager to ensure quality, safety, and patient satisfaction. Seeking ways to expand her skillsets, Tiffany joined Stretch@KP to gain real-world knowledge. At the time, she was considering going back to school and wanted to work on a project that would specifically allow her to hone research skills. In 2018, Tiffany joined her first project as a participant, where she conducted research for a breastfeeding rooms initiative. Her work directly informed the current HR policy, which is an accomplishment she is proud of.
Subsequently, Tiffany made the decision to go back to school for her second graduate degree, a Masters of Science in Nursing and Leadership. Figuring out how to conduct research for her grad program, she scoured current Stretch Projects to find one to join that was similar to what she was trying to accomplish within her workplace. With encouragement from another community member, she realized she could utilize Stretch@KP for her own research by hosting a project. Tiffany admits she was intimidated at first and didn’t know where to start. However, she reached out to the Stretch@KP Team who eased her apprehensions by helping her scope her project.
There are people who want to work on these projects and you’re providing an opportunity for others to grow skills without having to change jobs.
Tiffany’s project consisted of conducting a research study to seek a better understanding of attendance of virtual meetings compared to mandatory in-person meetings. She was testing a hypothesis that virtual meetings could be more productive (pre-covid) to improve collaboration in adult patient care services per a request by her peers. She recruited a Senior IT Consultant and Business Systems Analyst,who analyzed virtual teams vs traditional teams, compiled data, interpreted it, and developed a graphic representation explaining the findings. “The participants I was able to recruit through Stretch@KP were just outstanding, extremely professional, and they just made things happen,” says Tiffany.
Through this project, Tiffany was introduced to a research consortium who inspired her to start practicing translating her research into papers for journal publication. She also met more expert nurses who provided mentorship and guidance to her. Tiffany explains that the project gave her something tangible to reach out to them with to start a dialogue. Also, while attending a volunteer event, Tiffany ran into someone being researched in her study and used the Stretch@KP project to spark up a conversation. “This Stretch Project opened up a world of connections - from experts in my field, to people that were outside of my scope of practice. That was helpful because it gives you a better connection with being in the Kaiser family.”
Stretch@KP benefits not only employees but also can lead to better care delivery for our patients.
Tiffany hopes more people in the clinical space can be aware that it’s a resource for them too. She is thankful that Stretch@KP benefits not only employees but also can lead to better care delivery for our patients. “Anybody can do it, and you can get help with anything! If there is something you want to get done, but you don’t have the skillset or don’t know anybody who can do it – somebody in Kaiser knows how to do it. There are people who want to work on these projects and you’re providing an opportunity for others to grow skills without having to change jobs. It's a great way to be innovative in your workplace and get important work done.”