Eulix and his preceptor, Edward.
FACES South Alameda County health scholar, Eulix Chiu, shares his reflection on day 4 of his internship in the Environmental Services Department at Alameda Hospital. Eulix is a senior at Alameda High School and this is his first clinical rotation within the program.
Read his experience:
“In my fourth day of the FACES internship, Edward (preceptor) wanted to focus the day’s plan teaching me about quality of care and connections/relationships over quality. What he means by connections over quality is that sometimes people tend to rate and praise people better not because of their quality of work, but for their personality and character. For example, a part of me and Edward’s day was to tour the hospital in search of employees ( preferably managers or S.O of a unit) and have them answer a quick survey. This survey is to see how well the Environmental Service workers perform based off their peers and like I was saying before, some people rated others higher because they were more friendly and courteous. This is where Edwards taught me two important principle of managing: “Trust but Verify” and “Manage Up or Manage Out.” Basically, Edward is trusting that his co-workers are doing their duties but he told me that he will, on occasion, checkup during different shifts to “verify”. If the quality of work is not up to par, then this is where he will “manage up” and try to elevate the workers up to the expected level of work. If the level of work does not improve, then this is where Edward would “manage out” and find someone who could meet expectations.
Eulix in a protective hazmat suit.
Quality is highly looked upon and Edward wants to make sure everyone is going “above and beyond” so other co-workers can better perform their duties. There is definitely always room for improvement and there is always work to be done.
Aside from giving out surveys, we also were able to meet up with the physical therapy mentor ( Mike Yep). Mike was able to give us a quick run-down on modalities such as the electric stimulator machine. We learned that the machine sends slight electricity through the body to help the patients circulate their blood, reduce soreness and reduce swelling. Following that was the end of our day. Before Edward dropped me off, he mentioned that everything he taught me from day 1 up to now was what he would do every day as part of his job, so all the surveying, room inspections and talking to coworkers was his day job. It gave me a perspective into his type of job and how he does it day in and day out and I now have a newfound respect for Edward and his profession.”