Archive for month: July, 2017
More than coworkers – friends who were made for each other.
You know how sometimes you meet a person for the first time and you just click? That’s how it was for Erin Alesi and Josephine Corcoran. They met through a mutual friend when Erin started as a nurse at Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH). And even though they’ve never worked on the same unit together, they’ve built an amazing friendship over the years.
“One of the unique things about this hospital is that it’s not just a bunch of people working nine to five and going home. We’re family.”
–Erin Alesi, RN
Whether it’s scrubs or sweatpants, double-shift or day off, the best news of your life or the very worst, the people of SIUH are there for each other. They support and love one another through all the ups and downs of life. That’s why, when Josephine was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, they were devastated. This was their sister who was hurting and in trouble.
Josephine had a long, hard battle ahead of her. Everyone wanted to do something to keep her spirits up as she went through an incredibly challenging time in her life. Her good friend Erin, had an idea for a fun way to encourage Josephine that would simply tell her that she can beat this and that everyone was behind her all the way. No matter what…don’t stop believin’. The video above is the result of this labor of love.
With lots of inflatable guitars and microphones – literally “air guitars” – they all rocked out and acted silly as they tried to encourage, lift up and make Josephine smile. It was a blessing for her friends to be able to do this for her. And it was a joy to watch everyone be truly together to make it all happen.
“Sure, it was a bit corny and silly but we just wanted Josephine to be able to smile again, to laugh at us and know that we were thinking and praying for her.”
–Erin Alesi, RN
Josephine is doing well and continuing to fight. Because we know that every moment matters, we hope that in some small way, we were able to show Josephine the same kind of compassion she shows to all around her. If you’re looking for a place where you can truly be yourself, where your coworkers are your family and where even the smallest gestures can change a life, you were Made for this.
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Motivated to stay healthy – how our annual Wellness Challenges have benefited our employees
A healthy employee is a happy employee. Did you know that each year we have Wellness Challenges for our employees to keep track of their personal health? These challenges involve tracking your healthy and unhealthy habits, reducing stress, or simply encouraging you to move around more. Last year at our annual employee barbeque our President and CEO, Michael J. Dowling, awarded prizes to the challenge winners who were all secretly hoping to win the grand prize, a trip to any one of our seven destination options, ranging from Peru to China to Thailand.
Last year alone, Mr. Dowling handed out 14 prizes to employees who completed all 3 challenges. One winner, Imee Sarmiento, recently took her trip to Rome with her husband. Wanting to get in on the fun, Imee’s sister Lulette (who also works for the health system) decided to plan a trip at the same time.
Throughout their trip, they got to visit many famous cities such as Florence and Siena, but one sight they didn’t expect to see under the Tuscan sun was former United States President Barak Obama and the Air Force One Leaving the Rome Airport.
“Winning this trip was an incredible experience! It was an enticing incentive for employees to promote health and wellness as well as encourage camaraderie amongst its employees,” said Imee. These sisters have been a part of our nursing family for 14 and 20 years respectively.
“We don’t really know any company that granted their employees any wellness challenges and incentives such as the experience we just had. It’s amazing and totally reinforced Northwell Health’s dedication to be a forefront in leading and promoting employee satisfaction,” said Lulette.
Here at Northwell Health, we are always looking out for the health of our employees. Our wellness initiatives not only allow our employees to maintain their health outside the workplace, but while working as well. Over the past few years, we have continued to put the health of our employees first by providing healthy food options at the cafeterias throughout our facilities and snack options in our vending machines. So far these challenges have helped hundreds of employees lose weight and change their lifestyle.
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Top 5 Questions Employers Ask
Written by: Marisol Antunez
I get this question a lot: “What do you think they are going to ask me?” Well, that all depends on the type of position you are applying for. Different positions entail different questions. But to speak in general terms, most employers do have one thing in common, they want to get to know you and determine if you have the qualities they need to fill this position. There are certain questions that are specifically targeted for this; below are the Top 5:
1. Tell me about yourself– I can guarantee you that this is the first question they will ask you so be prepared. This stumps a lot of people even though it’s a very simple question. A lot of job seekers think this means they want to know your life story, favorite sport, foods, or what your ideal date would look like On the contrary, there are two main reasons why they ask this. 1) They want to know what you think is important to offer that is relative to the position, and 2) this question is designed to know you on a professional level and what you can bring to the table.
The best way to answer this question is to keep your answer direct and to the point. You want to talk about where you are professionally now and what your past experiences have taught you in your development. Do some research on the company and find out what they value most and incorporate that into your answer. For example, if the company you are interviewing for strives for exceptional customer service, you want to answer this question by highlighting that skill set. Give them a success story that you are proud of that can give them an idea of your work ethic. Wrap it up by circling back to where you are now and what you hope to accomplish with this position.
2. What are your greatest strengths/weaknesses? Let’s start with the easy one: strengths I recently read about a great tactic to answer this question: grab paper and a pen and write down your knowledge based skills ( software, IT skills), transferable skills ( what you bring to the table i.e communication, people, analytical, etc.), and your personal traits (more or less traits that highlight your work ethic i.e reliable, hardworking, punctual etc). Go ahead and choose the top skills from each column that match the employer’s requirements for the position and back them up with specific examples from your own history to demonstrate why you believe it to be a strength.
Now, the weakness. This is very tricky and you will read that there are a lot of ways to go around this question, but through my experience, being a recruiter for a living, I find that the best way to answer this is to focus on the positive and not the negative. What does that mean? Well, first it means to self-reflect on what you have once considered a weakness and how you overcame it. Was shyness a weakness? Public speaking? Turn it into a positive. For example, you can say “Being organized wasn’t my strongest point, but I implemented a time management system that really helped my organizational skills,” or “I’ve learned to make my perfectionism work to my advantage. I have become proficient at meeting deadlines, and with my attention to detail, I know my work is accurate.” See, negative to positive.
3. Why do you want to work for us? This question is designed to uncover your real intent on why you want this position. They are thinking, “Does this person know us? Do they share our core values or are they just looking for a job?” The best way to prepare for this question is to research the company and learn about their mission, goals, and values. When answering, you want to let the interviewer know that you’ve done your research and you also tie your own goals to the company’s goals. Here’s an example: “I am attracted to your culture and your company’s focus on team-based product development. I have often chafed at the constraints on traditional product development methodology, and I’m avid to learn more.”
4. Why did you leave your last job/are looking to leave? This question is also tricky because they want to know if you got along with your previous employer, did you leave on good terms or bad, does this candidate bad-mouth their previous employer, or what does that tell us about this person’s loyalty and respect for business? So the best way to answer this is to follow the # 1 rule: Never speak negatively or poorly about your previous or current employer. Being negative will reflect poorly on you and your job. Plus, industries can be very small; you never know who knows whom. Depending on your current situation, here are a couple of examples: “To be honest, I wasn’t considering a change, but a former colleague recommended this job to me and was intrigued by the position and the company. It sounds like an exciting opportunity and an ideal match for my qualifications.” Or “I am interested in a new challenge and an opportunity to use my skills and experience in a different capacity than I have in the past.”
5. Do you have any questions for me? Last, but definitely not least, are follow-up questions. This is actually a very pivotal part of the interview because it is designed to test your listening and communication skills, how much you have prepared for the interview, and how passionate are you about the position and company. Talk about pressure! Fear not because I am here to give you the most honest and best practice advice for this question which is – always have questions. I’ve listed some of the best questions I often tell candidates when prepping them for interviews:
- In your opinion, what is required for success in this position?
- What are the expectations of the person to whom I would report?
- What kind of person are you looking for to fill this position?
- What are the priorities of the position?
Well, there you have it. Remember to always practice your answers out loud and role play with a friend/family member, or even in front of the mirror. Good Luck!
Marisol joined Northwell Health in 2013 and brought with her over 15 years of recruiting experience. Her experience spans in sales, business development, social networking and full cycle recruiting. She is very passionate about recruiting and career counseling and is always open to connecting with people so she can understand their needs, and then recommend different solutions that best fit their career goals. She prides herself on being accessible at all times with any questions, advice, and guidance for your career goals.
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Healthcare Management Program Interns Take On NYC
At Northwell Health it’s not a normal 9-5, so that’s why we gave our 26 Healthcare Management Program (HMP) interns an opportunity to take a break from their day-to-day work and projects, and experience New York City through an educational experience with a team building and critical thinking twist.
First, they started at City Hall with a tour exploring New York City’s culture since over 50% of our HMP interns live outside New York State. What better way to experience that than starting from the beginning with George Washington?
After the tour, they sat down with Deborah Brown, Chief Health Strategy and Innovation Officer for the NYC Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services to talk about the ever-changing landscape of health care and how the government is helping to cultivate plans for value-based care and population health, insurance reimbursement and more. Ms. Brown also shared her career journey in law that led to her current role in the governor’s office and opened the floor for a Q&A session with the interns.
With a quick trip on the subway, our interns went to Lenox Health Greenwich Village (LHGV), Northwell Health’s free-standing emergency department, which is a division of Lenox Hill Hospital. Receiving a personalized tour from Alex Hellinger, Executive Director at LHGV, the interns were provided an overview of the history of health care delivery in this community and the successes and challenges faced by Northwell Health over the last several years. They also were given a preview of the new operating room suites and physician offices currently being built at the site.
Last activity of the day, a surprise scavenger hunt in Greenwich Village park. Each team had to find a way to take unique pictures working together, thinking creatively, how to solve the tasks at hand. From getting a tattoo (not a real one.. or maybe?), treating someone in uniform with respect to somehow doubling your team size, the teams put their heads together to solve the mission at hand. The scavenger hunt reinforced Northwell Health’s company values of Truly Compassionate, Truly Innovative, Truly Ambitious, Truly Together and Truly Ourselves. One team came out victorious, receiving the most points for their creative pictures and earned gold medals for their triumph.
Although this was a fun day, these 26 individuals are hard at work at over 12 hospitals and service lines, taking on projects like reviewing financials for new hospital units, determining the most effective way to reduce readmission rates in population health, researching new tools in telehealth to implement, preparing for our annual philanthropy Foundation concert and more. The day after their teambuilding session, they were back to work where some of the HMP interns had the opportunity to take a selfie with our President and CEO, Michael J. Dowling during a session with Senator Elaine Phillips where she thanked thank our nurses for all they do in delivering care and to present Maureen White, chief nursing executive, with a state proclamation.
Does this sound like something you’re made for? Learn more and sign up for notifications about next summer’s program here.
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We’re looking for stars to come out at night
The Top Ten Reasons to Work Nights
If you’re a nurse looking to hone your skills, get a unique educational experience, or just get your career off to a start in an environment where you can get extra support and guidance, working nights could be the wake up call you need. We asked our own nurses at Lenox Hill Hospital their favorite reasons for working the night shift, and here are the top ten:
#1 – Get in your zone.
For many nurses, the night shift provides an ideal setting for focusing on delivering exceptional care.
#2 – Cut the red tape.
Because your patients are likely to remain throughout your shift, you’ll enjoy more patient work and less paperwork.
#3 – We’ll show you the money.
With generous shift differentials for working nights, nurses are rewarded for taking on this important role.
#4 – Get your career off to a great start.
Night shifts are a great way to start your career. There’s no better environment for the hands-on opportunities you’re looking for when getting to know your unit, the doctors and the overall processes.
#5 – Reduce the chaos.
With more stability during the night shift, there’s less relocating of patients, reducing the physical tasks associated with it. Whether or not you are new to a unit, you’ll appreciate the change of pace.
#6 – Want great leadership? We have you covered.
Our excellent leadership coverage on night shifts provides the support and guidance our nurses need to be at their best.
#7 – Our team really comes together at night.
We have many activities and initiatives to keep our team engaged at night, like our town hall meetings, nurse council and nightly huddles.
#8 – Welcome to night school.
We have nurse educators specifically for the night shift. This is unique among hospital systems, and is an especially beneficial resource for new grads or nurses who are new to the unit.
#9 – Improve your balance.
Working night shifts can help you achieve a better work-life balance and spend time with your family.
#10 – Take a chill pill.
Even with less chaos and bureaucracy, there will still be times when you’ll appreciate such stress relief activities as our spa nights.
So, think the night shift might be made for you? If so, you might be Made for this!
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We’re completely redefining how exceptional patient care is delivered. Are you Made for this?
At Northwell Health, we are the pioneers searching for innovation in everything we do. You’ll see this visionary spirit come to life at Health Solutions. As Northwell Health’s care management organization, Health Solutions is helping to lead the organization to success in value-based care and population health. Take a look at all Health Solutions is achieving:
Join our talent community to explore career opportunities with Northwell Health Solutions!
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If you are an individual with a disability requesting an accommodation for the application process, please click the contact us link above to request assistance.
Learn more about our hiring experience.
Read answers to common questions about the application process.
© 2021 - Northwell Health
Click here to view the “EEO is the law” poster.
If you are an individual with a disability requesting an accommodation for the application process, please click the contact us link above to request assistance.
Learn more about our hiring experience.
Read answers to common questions about the application process.
© 2021 - Northwell Health
Click here to view the “EEO is the law” poster.
It is Northwell Health’s policy to provide equal employment opportunity and treat all applicants and employees equally regardless of their age, race, creed/religion, color, national origin, immigration status or citizenship status, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, sex/gender, gender identity, gender expression, disability, pregnancy, genetic information or genetic predisposition or carrier status, marital or familial status, partnership status, victim of domestic violence, sexual or other reproductive health decisions, or other characteristics protected by applicable law.
Northwell Health reserves the right to amend all terms of employment.
