June 8, 2021

Leading By Example

Central, Clinical Partners, Life@Work, Rural Health, Work Life

Jenn Tschida, director of Family Medicine in Melrose, has been a ringleader since she was 15 years old.

“I knew I wanted to be a nurse someday. I knew it in elementary school. That feeling of needing to take care of other people,” Tschida explained. “When I was 15, I wanted to work in healthcare but you had to be 16 to have a job. I went to the nursing home in Melrose and asked if they had a candy-striper program. They didn’t. So, I worked with the director of nursing there to create one. Then a bunch of my friends joined me.”

The journey

Her nurse journey would begin the next year when she enrolled in a CNA program while still in high school. That would lead to an LPN position at the nursing home and eventually the hospital in Melrose. Then, Dr. Patrick Heller asked her to join him as his nurse in the clinic. Along the way, he encouraged her to get her RN degree. So did Michele Fischer, who served as executive director, family medicine, before retiring in May 2021.

“We didn’t have RNs in the clinic back then, but Michele knew the clinics were soon to get an RN nurse manager,” Tschida said. “She really encouraged me to think about it.” Though at the time it had been 20 years since Tschida had been in school, she enrolled in a nursing program. Two years later she achieved her RN and became the nurse manager for Melrose Clinic. Eventually, she would go back to complete her four-year degree, focusing on leadership.

Being an example

“I really enjoy being a leader and like being an example for others. I just take things on and move. That’s what I do. It’s who I am,” she said.

Like many others, Bryan Bauck, executive director of the Western Region for the Rural Health division, noticed. “Jenn is exceptional,” said Bauck. “She’s always the first to step up when her community or patients need it. She’s innovative in her thinking and always assumes that change represents opportunity — even when we don’t have all the answers. She knows she will find the answers!”

COVID

Tschida became the Melrose clinic director just ahead of the pandemic in October 2019. “I’m a huge believer in the CentraCare culture. I believe how a leader represents themselves is how the team is going to show up,” she stated. “I like to take a situation and find the good in it.”

That perspective was about to be challenged by COVID-19.

“I remember the initial meetings,” she said. “We had to get ready for what was coming and get everybody on board.” While being a nurse is not necessary to be a successful clinic director, Tschida found that her nursing background helped her understand the new workflows which she called an “all hands on deck” kind of moment.

Communication

“I knew I needed to do everything I could to keep people updated with information, infection control updates, PPE details and changes happening,” said Tschida, “And I’m a huge believer in huddles because communication is number one.”

So she listened to every Incident Command meeting and read every IC Update. “I took it upon myself to make sure that every CMA, CNA, physician and APP in the clinic were always up-to-date on everything that was happening,” Tschida explained, “We developed a bond of trust. I was going to do everything I could to keep them safe.”

“We developed a bond of trust. I was going to do everything I could to keep them safe.”

Jenn Tschida, Director of family Medicine, Melrose

However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. There were doubts and frustrations. Some people didn’t want to wear a mask. Patience wore thin. “But COVID wasn’t going to go away, so I listened to their frustrations and I was out on the floor. I made sure everyone was fit tested. And when they needed a conversation, I listened.”

“Every staff member attended the huddle because they knew how important the updates were,” said Tschida. “We also started a daily provider huddle because there were so many updates. That’s where they stayed connected. We all needed our teams. We all needed each other through COVID.”

Testing

Everyone in the clinic was on the frontline of keeping the Melrose community safe. “When we had the opportunity to start the testing process—curbside specimen collection—we took on the new challenge,” she explained. “We didn’t know how we were going to do it, but we knew we would figure it out.”

Jenn recalls the first day they started curbside specimen collection. “We had a huddle that morning and decided we were going to test the process we had created, which involved a nurse in full PPE going outside, doing the swab specimen collection, then coming back in. The next morning, we met as a group and talked about what went well, what didn’t go well, and what changes needed to be made. That’s how we took things: step-by-step, try it out, then talk about it.”

Community needs

Together with other CentraCare colleagues, including Katy Kirchner, senior director of contracted community care, and Craig Henneman, director of surgery, Tschida helped put together a weekend testing event for Jennie-O workers with just two days preparation. Later, when the vaccine became available, Melrose became a model. “I’ve done enough flu clinics over the years to know pretty quickly what it needed to look like,” she said. “We tweaked some things slightly, but our vaccine clinics are running today like they did on the first day.”

The effort included administering 900+ COVID vaccines on one Wednesday alone as well as outreach to the LatinX community on a recent Saturday. “We wanted to get as many shots in the arms of people that we could. And we always had enough staff who offered to help,” she proudly stated.

The Why

“I’m a firm believer in rural health,” said Tschida. “You get to know your patients as people. They’re the same people you see at the grocery story, at church, or in a restaurant. We really develop relationships on a personal level. And I think because we know one another, patients have a different expectation.”

For Jenn Tschida, it’s the intimacy of relationships—staff and patients—that makes all the difference.