On any given day, Borca Dodson, RN, is walking into a new, yet familiar, work environment. Most of us have one first day on the job. With each new assignment, Borca faces that experience repeatedly. As a member on the Lovelace Resource Team, Borca rotates between Lovelace Medical Center, Lovelace Women’s Hospital and Lovelace Westside Hospital. Quickly, she becomes part of a new team with one goal in mind – deliver the best patient care possible. “I currently make frequent rotations to the medical-surgical floor, step-down unit, the intensive care unit (ICU) and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU),” Borca explains. She may be the perpetual new team member, but Borca doesn’t see it that way at all.
“I have always loved the opportunity to take someone ‘under my wing’ and show them the ins and outs of a position,” she adds of sharing her six years of nursing experience. “Whether you are a new nurse graduate or have been a nurse for many years and just new to Lovelace, there is always an opportunity to learn and grow. I look forward to playing a positive role in someone's future with Lovelace and helping them excel in their career here.”
Borca is taking on a new role this summer – buddy to new team members joining Lovelace. It is part of a new employee orientation program that launched in July. Buddies are peers from a different department, who are there to help new team members feel welcome and comfortable at Lovelace. Through a web-based portal, buddies connect with new team members even before their first day at work. From coffee breaks to tours of the hospital or clinic, buddies are an important resource to new team members throughout the first year of employment (and beyond).
“I know a new job can be confusing and frustrating at times,” shares Borca of joining Lovelace six months ago. “We're filled with so much information during orientation that it's sometimes impossible to retain it all. The buddy system is an amazing way to help take the confusion and frustration out of the new hire process so that new employees can focus on what they are here to do - patient care.”
Her compassion for co-workers stems from Borca’s own new team member experience at Lovelace. “Everyone has been so welcoming and supportive that I've always felt like I belong,” she says. “This is what I hope to pass on to other new team members - a sense of home where they can feel comfortable and excel at what they do.”
If you are a Lovelace employee interested being a buddy, contact your human resources department.