C.: d.c., I need some advice. I’m up for a promotion, but it may depend on my kittens as to whether or not I get it, since I was their trainer and supervisor now.
d.: I can see how that may be a problem, Cal.E. What’s the question, though?
C.: Well, my big boss wants to meet with my crew and me before our shift. He said to come in thirty minutes early, and bring my whole crew. My kittens usually barely make it to work before being tardy. If I ask them to come in thirty minutes early, they may get to work on time, but not early.
I always try to be at work fifteen minutes early, after listening to Hush Limberger. He says that impresses your superiors. Since I started doing that, I’ve been promoted twice, so I think he’s right. How do I get my kittens to come in early tonight?
d.: Tell them to be there at nine, and that they’ll get paid for an extra hour if they get there on time. When they show up at nine-thirty, tell them the offer was only good for a whole hour, not one-half hour; so they won’t get paid any extra. It’s a little dishonest, but they will be there on time, and it may teach them a lesson about being on time as well.
C.: That’s a good idea. Since you seem to be a good source of information, maybe you could give me some advice about my interview with the big boss. Everyone claims to be a “problem solver” now. I need to come up with something original to say when he asks me the inevitable question “why should I hire you for this position?” This is an importatnt interview. I may be promoted to a coporate postion if I do well.
d.: Tell him that you’re a “problem preventer.”
C.: ???!!!
d.: A problem solver solves problems after they happen. A problem preventer sees potential problems and tries to find ways to avoid them. A good example from my career involves diabetic care. When I was training at my first unit there were a lot of juvenile or type I diabetics. These people have a lot of trouble with their blood sugar going up and down. A lot of times, this will happen while they’re asleep, so they don’t know what’s happening. It could be life-threatening if not treated in a timely manner, though.
At the first unit where I worked, there were about three people whose blood sugar was unpredictable due to type I diabetes. What my charge nurse decided to do was to have those three guys come to medical right before they turned in for the night and do a fingerstick blood sugar. Since these guys had been dealing with this situation since they were kids, they knew if their blood sugar would be out of range by the time they woke up by what it read right before they went to bed. If it was too low, we gave them some gel to bring it up. If it was too high, we would obtain an order from the on-call provider to give them enough regular insulin to keep their blood sugar in an acceptable range. It worked well.
When I came to my new unit, one type one diabetic kept having trouble with his blood sugar at night. It would spike, and then crash. I suggested that we do the same thing we did with the three type one diabetics at my old unit: have him come in right before lights out and check his blood sugar. It wasn’t the perfect solution, but it did prevent many trips to his dorm to pick him up and give him something to raise or lower his blood sugar.
My first charge nurse was a problem preventer. We were so busy at that unit that she wanted to prevent as many problems as she could before they happened. Being a problem preventer also saves your employer money, so they like employees who are problem preventers.
C.: Thanks for the advice, d.c. I’m sure that it will come in handy tonight…Meow Z. Tongue, why are you calling me now?!!!
Tune in tomorrow, folks, and see why the supreme ruler of the cat galaxy is contacting Cal.E. just before she goes for her big interview.