PACIFIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION
Case Study: Nielsen Healthcare Group Inc.
September 2013
Nurse leaderCarole Kulik had a job she loved when Bruce Nielsen, president of interim health care leader placement firm Nielsen Healthcare Group, handed her his business card at a professional meeting.
“That was when I was still gainfully employed,” she recalls. “But I said I’m going to hold onto this.”
Good thing she did. After a post-9/11 layoff and taking a stab at running a nurse practitioner practice, Kulik decided to give interim leader placements a try.
So shepulled out Nielsen’s card in 2003 and sent him her resume. Her first Nielsen placement was at a 140-bed community hospital in Connecticut. Her second placement was in 2007 at Stanford Hospital Clinics, where she remains today.That’s because after nine months as interim patient care manager of cardiac care and surveillance units in the 500-bed hospital, her boss asked her to stay.
A bit of explanation: Kulik had negotiated financial incentives for staying beyond her initial six-month assignment with Stanford, so she didn’t become a full-time employee until after two years with the hospital. All of NHCG’s candidates and clients negotiate directly with each other: the placement firm has no involvement in that part of the hiring process.
Now Kulik, director of Patient Care Services, Practice, Education and Quality at Stanford, calls Nielsen for interim leaders. Since 2001, NHG has placed nine interim leaders at Stanford, including Kulik, and 11 at its sister facility, the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.The placements have included leaders in outpatient and inpatient, clinical and non-clinical settings.
After having been on both sides of the NHG equation – as candidate and then client – Kulik says she knows about its “great customer service” and the “high caliber” of candidates the St. Louis firm has placed with hospitals, home health agencies, nursing care facilities, medical groups, and other health care clients nationwide for 22 years.
NHG’s standard is to provide a range of high-quality candidates for clients from its unmatched database of 18,000 candidates who have submitted resumes. Because the firm sets the bar high, NHG candidates start contributing to an organization’s success their first day on the job.
“We also assume some of the due diligence normally done by human resources personnel in vetting our candidates,” says Nielsen. “We ensure that all candidates presented for a client’s consideration have recently served elsewhere in the requested position and possess a minimum of three relevant, written managerial or professional references.”
In addition, the firmverifies a candidate’s education; licenses, registrations, and certifications; and checks for any sanctions from the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General.
As for why she uses interim leaders at all vs. leaving a position open until a suitable replacement is found, Kulik says Stanford’s organizational priority is to support patients and employees with continuous leadership, leaving no gaps in chances for success.
“Also, it better positions the new leader with a fresh start,” she says. “It’s also great for objective feedback on the organization’s strengths and weaknesses.”
Kulik’s confidence in NHGmay be bolstered by the knowledge that the firm is endorsed by Pacific Health Associationand the fact that the endorsement brings a 12 percent discount off NHG’s fee.