The purpose of this correspondence is to share the Orthopedic Faculty Clinic Shared Governance Committee members’ experience working as a team and encourage other UNMH staff via the Monitor to develop their Shared Governance Committees.

The team work productively and successfully in acquiring resources to develop an outdoor picnic / staff meeting area. With provider’s donations of $500.00 the OFC Shared Governance Committee members developed a pleasant outdoor staff meeting/ lunch area. The Orthopedic Faculty Clinic lunch room is too small to accommodate the staff to run effective meetings to generate useful member contributions and too small to accommodate staff during lunch. Consequently, prior to the new outdoor area, staff would have to sit on the ground while eating outside, or eat in their cars, or eat early or later in the day, or not eat. The OFC lunch room only accommodates six people and we have on an average of 20 staff members daily.

While working on this project we have discovered as a team that this as well as other SGC project optimizes the group value and use of all members’ diverse skills and experiences in a collaborative environment. Becoming skilled at doing more with others may be the single most important thing we can do to increase our value--regardless of your level of authority.

The group consisted of Nurses, Radiology Technologists, Orthopedic Technicians, Clerks, community volunteers, and providers. We concluded of this project with a celebration. There were 35 people that attended the celebration.

Presently, the members feel high morale within the team, loyalty to the team, and an identity that may be represented by a logo or name. We have also design our own and made available the logo “We Care” to all interest OFC SGC members.

Additional SGC projects included aluminum tab donations to the Ronald McDonald House of Charities.

We have designed a “Falling Star” signage which is the discreet way to alert staff and identify patients at high risk for falling. The signage is designed for use on the outer of the patient’s room. It will be attached onto the examination door by Velcro. This is to compliment the UHNM Humpty Dumpty initiative.

Replacing the loose brick entrance walkway into the clinic with cement to prevent falls. We have successfully convinced administration to install security cameras to improve patient and staff safety. These are a few activities we have performed and accomplished.

Reflection of Team Project

The Orthopedic Faculty Clinic Shared Governance Committee members were indeed determined to think conceptually and found this project challenging, enjoyable and, most importantly, a significant step in furthering our creativity and team work skills, and hope this is reflected visually through all our work via pictures. The project duration was over several months on the weekends by OFC staff volunteers. All the equipment was donated and the list includes: tables, grill, benches, canopy, umbrella, misting system, to name a few. The total cost of project including labor was $5600.00 of which $500 was provided by donation from various supportive OFC providers. The volunteer group consisted of 35 people comprising family and OFC staff. We discovered that the team members expedite and demanded a lot from each other. In so doing, we found this facilitated cooperation and improve employee morale. We have also discovered this approach created a climate that increases job satisfaction.

The motivating factor of the OFC SGC team very much relies on its work design. We discovered a higher degree of effort is achieved from our team only if the task we perform is found to be challenging, has a major impact on the organization and or its customers, is owned by the team and opens discussion that gives out regular feedback on the team member’s performance. We accepted all challenges as a team and our objective is stronger than ever and that is to take our team approach and offer the best orthopedic care and services for our community.

We like to thank the providers for their donations, Doctor Mercer, Doctor Miller, Doctor Benson, and Doctor Benally for your support and monitory donation.

The OFC Shared Governance Committee members include Ann Brooks, Lynette Gonzales, Alicia Garcia, Gaye Calvert, Stephanie Chino, Yvette Atencio, J.T. Woods, and Rose Ortiz.