2013 Choice Employers, Employee of the Year: Vicki Good

2013 might be considered Vicki Good’s year of recognition on a national stage. In April, CoxHealth’s administrative director of patient safety was choosen by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of 50 leading experts in her field. The selection by her peers in the nonapplication process recognizes Good’s career awards, published articles and vocal and initiative leadership to reduce harm and ensure safety to patients.

Two months later, Good was elected president of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, a group representing 500,000 acute and critical care nurses among its 100,000 member organizations. With clinical roots in critical care nursing, Good is the national association’s 44th president.

“By maximizing this honor, I am able to represent CoxHealth and Springfield in many national meetings with key physicians, government authorities and educators, as well as share many of the wonderful things being done for patients in the Springfield community,” Good says.

At CoxHealth, Good serves as a liaison between the patients, caregivers and physicians, staff and management, and senior leaders and board members. She says it’s no mistake safety is listed first in the health system’s core values. Followed by compassion, respect and integrity, safety stands alone.

“It must be a cornerstone of all decisions made,” says Good.

Good’s eye is on patient safety as her role takes her from front-line clinician one day to a boardroom seat the next. She coordinates and monitors patient safety across the health system, taking up the torch of motivating the multidisciplinary teams and holding them accountable.

“The health care industry continues to grow away from hierarchal roots to team-based care,” Good says. “I must constantly be entrenched in the overall company operations while staying current with industry standards across the nation.”

On a daily basis, Good and her teammates make rounds to take notes from physicians and other staff members.

“This information is taken to key stakeholders to work on process improvements to remove the challenges the clinician and patients may be experiencing,” she says. “I interact with senior leaders and the board of directors, reporting and educating on key safety opportunities across the system (influencing) decisions that are both fiscally prudent while ensuring we are providing the highest level of quality and safety for our community.”

She boils down her job as bringing the concept of patient safety from the textbook to the fabric of CoxHealth’s culture.

“In the past year, my team has trained more than 500 leaders in the concepts of just culture and patient safety,” Good says. “Safety is no longer just in our textbook but in our everyday practice at CoxHealth.”[[In-content Ad]]