Lessons from Mildred Sattler, DNP, RN, CCRN

Ulemu Luhanga: 00:03

Hello listeners, welcome to Educational Landscapes: Lessons From Leaders. On today's episode, we are going to learn from Mildred Sattler. Welcome to the show, Millie.

Millie Sattler: 00:14

Hello. Thank you. And thank you for having me.

Ulemu Luhanga: 00:17

Absolutely. To get us going, what is or are your educational leadership titles?

Millie Sattler: 00:25

So my educational leadership title is I'm the Corporate Director of Nurse Retention and Career Development Strategies for Emory Healthcare.

Ulemu Luhanga: 00:34

All right. What do you do in this role?

Millie Sattler: 00:38

Oh, I do so much. I assist nurses with nurse retention. I help them with career development. I help them with a peer mentor program. I teach leadership courses. We have a student nurse assistant program. I'm responsible for hiring and putting these student nurses on a career development path. We have a clinical ladder at Emory, and I'm the executive sponsor of that. And nursing recognition, I forgot. I'm responsible for all nursing recognition.

Ulemu Luhanga: 01:07

Oh, that is amazing. You play such a big role it sounds like for nurses in Emory Healthcare, the recognition, their growth in their roles, which is so important.

Millie Sattler: 01:20

It is. Go ahead.

Ulemu Luhanga: 01:24

What skills do you use to be able to do all of that?

Millie Sattler: 01:28

Well, I use, it's amazing, all the different skills. First of all, I start off with my assessment skills. I have to assess the situation, assess the nurse, assess what she needs to do, assess where these nurses are in their own professional development, because it goes anywhere from novice to experts. So I have to assess and see what their level of education is and what their needs are. I also have worked with my interview skills, my planning. I have to be creative. We do a lot of self-evaluation, so I'm always coming up with ideas and plans on how nurses can self-evaluate themselves. I do data analysis where I explore qualitative and quantitative. I implement all plans that we came up with. I teach nurses about journaling and ePortfolios, and I have to make sure that I have a good connection with them so that I have to build that trusting relationship.

Ulemu Luhanga: 02:33

Wow, that's a lot. How many nurses are you working with in general at a given time?

Millie Sattler: 02:39

I would say probably about 20 a week.

Ulemu Luhanga: 02:43

Oh, a week. Here I was thinking you were going to say a month or a year. Okay. That's a lot.

Millie Sattler: 02:48

Yeah, because I have nurses at all levels contact me. So I have new residents, I have leaders that want to develop, I have students that need a preceptor and a mentor, I have other leaders that just need to know some information, and then other stakeholders in the hospital. So I'd say about 20 a week.

Ulemu Luhanga: 03:09

Okay. Okay, 20 a week and across levels. That is a lot. So what was your journey that led to this current role?

Millie Sattler: 03:21

Well, it's interesting. I've been a nurse for 40 years this June. So I reflect back on that like, "Wow, that went fast." It really did. Anyways, I was a bedside nurse for many years. I was in critical care, ED, and supervision. Back then, I remember people would actually ask me, "How did you get to the emergency room? And then from the emergency room, how did you get into critical care?" So I kept taking some notes.

Millie Sattler: 03:46

I took this job up at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, which is in New Hampshire, and in that role I was a house supervisor and I had to do a project. I was completing my master's degree on decreasing length of stay. So my project led to a decrease of 2.7 days for the patient, which is a lot. So the CNO came up to me and she said, Well, now, that you fixed this," and she was joking around about it, "Can you go over to human resources and help them?"

Millie Sattler: 04:16

So when I went, I'm thinking, "Human resources?" So I went over there and then what I realized is that a lot of the recruiters didn't really understand what the nurses did. So I took a list of all the hospital floors and met with the leaders and said, "Tell me about your specialty." And I made a list for the recruiters. I was also able to teach the recruiters like, "Hey, this nurse did this. They can also do this," and connect the dots.

Millie Sattler: 04:42

And then when people heard that I was over in human resources, they called me and said, "Hey, I'm getting a little old at the bedside. Can you help me find another job?" So I was able to take their resume, start helping them build it up, and then transfer them into another role. So they stayed within Dartmouth, but they were also able to draw from their past experiences for a new role. I finished my doctorate and Emory recruited me to be their director of interventional radiology at St. Joe's. And my husband wanted to move south because it's cold up there. Okay? He was tired of the winters. So I said my husband, "Well, it has to be an academic medical center." Emory recruited me. Lo and behold, I took this job.

Ulemu Luhanga: 05:32

Okay, now we/I can hear you. Your voice had faded a little.

Millie Sattler: 05:36

Okay. So anyways, I took this job and then Dr. Pappas was what... I went to a nursing leadership meeting and she said that she was looking for someone in this role. And I thought, "Oh, I did that, and I did that, and I did that." So I applied for it and sure enough I got the job. It was really innovative, so I was able to start building to see what we needed.

Ulemu Luhanga: 05:59

Oh, that's amazing. And I love hearing the connections that you've had throughout. You're a big connector.

Millie Sattler: 06:07

Yes, yes.

Ulemu Luhanga: 06:10

So as you think about that journey you've had in your current position, what do you wish you knew before stepping into the current role?

Millie Sattler: 06:23

I wish I knew a little bit more about technology and how to leverage it, because I am in a different generation. And so because I recognize that, in one of my leadership classes, I teach that about the different generations in nursing and why leaders need to pay attention to that. Because when you're doing projects at the bedside, really let's tap into our younger generation. They're going to make it much easier for us because of technology, but they do need us for our experience. So I wish I knew a little bit more about technology and I wish I knew a little bit more about how to use Excel because I keep great data. I'm working on my pivot tables right now, so I can just sort it better.

Ulemu Luhanga: 07:12

Oh, I'm with you. I'm still trying to learn how to use pivot tables.

Millie Sattler: 07:16

Okay. Okay, good. Because I keep saying to myself, "Am I missing something?" But yeah, so I think the more you use it, the better you get.

Ulemu Luhanga: 07:25

Absolutely. So both you and I need to work on keeping our skills up for pivot tables. So building on that, what continuing professional development do you do to keep up with the needs of your role?

Millie Sattler: 07:40

I read a lot, I really do. I can't get enough to not, I just read constantly. And then right now I'm studying for my certification in nursing professional development. I want to pass that. And then I took the WHEA [teaching] fellowship because I wanted to make sure that everything I was doing, I'm connecting all the dots and I have a formal structure for all the projects that I do.

Ulemu Luhanga: 08:10

That is fantastic. So the professional development certification, where is that? Is it out of Emory or is it a-

Millie Sattler: 08:21

Yeah, so it's under the ANCC, which is the American Nurse's Credentialing Center. They offer this certification test. It's 150 questions that range anywhere from mentoring, succession planning, curriculum building, evaluation, test taking, anything that can help a nurse be an expert in professional development.

Ulemu Luhanga: 08:44

That is amazing. I feel like I want to do that certification for just general educators. So thinking about that and what you've learned over the years with your different roles, what advice would you give to someone interested in doing the same type of leadership role that you currently have?

Millie Sattler: 09:08

I would definitely tell them to get involved in committees and start to join some different programs. Once they start out on the clinical ladder, our clinical ladder is designed that we collect all of your accomplishments and then each nurse is expected to do an evidence-based practice project. We have them on every single unit. So I want the nurse to learn how to do it and how to lead it. And then once they do that, I teach them how to put these portfolios together. And then I invite them... I actually, I have a student right now that she's on my committee and I'm teaching her to go over all of these portfolios because I review them. And once I review them, then we turn it into HR for compensation and they get recognized monetarily for it. So I'm teaching her that.

Millie Sattler: 10:01

And then I have them join some of the programs that I am to work on my council or my committee so they can actually learn everything. I encourage them to go back and get an advanced degree. And then once they get their advanced degree, they're going to be able to articulate and they'll be more poised and they'll have a presence. And I teach them presentation skills because I want them to be able, when I go to retire, I want someone to step right into my role.

Ulemu Luhanga: 10:29

Lovely. So, is there any additional things that you want to share? Because I can see you have a perspective around succession planning. So, can you talk a bit more about how you view succession planning?

Millie Sattler: 10:44

So in succession planning, I serve as a mentor and a preceptor. And so I ask them, "What do you know about this, and what do you want to know?" And then I start developing them. And then right now I do have someone that I'm grooming. She's in school. She writes her papers, I review them. I tell her how to write exactly using this mill plan, but at work. Okay? Because when you're in nursing school or you're in any school, even when maybe you were in school, sometime your ideas start going all over the place. So I teach her how to tighten it up. And then things that she's working on, she'll have personal goals for herself. I encourage her, give her the structure how to do it. And then I groom her to make sure that any student really, they meet their small goals. Because I figure that small goals make long-term wins.

Ulemu Luhanga: 11:43

Absolutely. So as you think about all of that amazing stuff you've been doing so far, what contributed to your biggest successes?

Millie Sattler: 11:56

So my biggest successes, oh, I guess it would be family support and just encouragement because I have five kids. I was a single mom and I wanted to lead by example so I said, "When my kids are in school, when they're doing homework, I want to be doing homework as well." But I actually learned that I needed my kids to help me with technology. All right? So they did. My biggest successes really are raising my kids to be responsible adults. All five of them have a college degree and they're very successful. And my son, he's a major in the Marines at the Pentagon. And I'm so proud, I'm proud of all my kids, but that's my biggest success.

Ulemu Luhanga: 12:47

Oh, big congratulations to you. You definitely must have been an amazing inspiration to them.

Millie Sattler: 12:56

Well, thank you.

Ulemu Luhanga: 12:58

What has been one of your greatest successes thus far in terms of your work?

Millie Sattler: 13:05

My work? Oh, our clinical ladder. So our clinical ladder, when I first took this job, we had this clinical ladder, it's called clinical lattice. It's called the plan, Professional Lattice Advancing Nurses. It's a lattice because a nurse can go up and down and over. She doesn't have to stay in her role. But when I first came on and I would go to the plan council meetings, I felt like we weren't getting a lot done. I felt also that they were thinking of reasons not to advance the nurse versus reasons to advance the nurse. So I had to change the culture, and I did. We started looking at everything as like, "Well, let's talk about what they did do." So we did a reevaluation of our entire plan during COVID, and it was a huge success.

Millie Sattler: 13:54

We even won an award. We turned it into the American Nurses Association. It was called All Professional Nursing Team. They put a campaign out to call for, what did nurses do during COVID? They wanted to award them. So they had three places. We won third place. Emory, our plan council won about all the work that we did to streamline our processes and create more electives. We made toolkits and they had this thing called worksheets. We turned them into checklists, because that's a terminology that nurses know is a checklist. So they go over and they just check things off.

Millie Sattler: 14:32

Now, we even have an advancement program for our patient care techs, the LPNs, and the medical assistants. It's really contagious. We provide education, and workshops, and retreats. And so now everybody's on the PLAN. And there is evidence that shows that nurses that are continually professionally development, there's A, better patient outcomes. And B, it definitely works with nurse retention. That's my biggest success.

Ulemu Luhanga: 15:02

That is a huge success. Congratulations.

Millie Sattler: 15:05

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Ulemu Luhanga: 15:08

So as you think about all of that, what are or were your biggest growth opportunities?

Millie Sattler: 15:17

Let me see... My biggest growth opportunities was really, it wasn't putting the PLAN together because the structure was there. I just had to learn different people and learn who the players were. Really, I had to learn to understand what they were thinking because I didn't want to insult anyone, because you have to tread lightly because you don't know what anyone knows. And I wanted to pull out their strengths. Learning how to read people was probably one, a really good growth opportunity for me. But I'm really good at it now.

Ulemu Luhanga: 15:55

Very nice. Would you say that's something that you just learned from interacting with different people or did you have to do some type of training to help you?

Millie Sattler: 16:06

Well, actually, I started reading a lot about, because there's all these different cultures, especially at Emory. We have multi-cultures. And I wanted to ask questions because to me, everybody wants to know about different cultures. I think people just don't know how to ask the question. So I did a lot of reading on how to be genuine but ask a question like, "Hey, how do you celebrate Christmas?" To me, I just want to know what recipes, where did that stem from?

Millie Sattler: 16:35

So when you start getting to know the person as an individual, then they start sharing more and more. And then you actually form these lifelong bonds. Basically everybody has in nursing, I've noticed, they all have the same values. It's about caring for others and they're empathetic and they're warm. And so my, mine was learning how to communicate better.

Ulemu Luhanga: 17:03

That is amazing. Just thinking about the humanistic skills and how you use them to connect with people at a personal level, but also helps you with that professional piece.

Millie Sattler: 17:19

Yeah, because you don't really know. Seriously, you don't. And get this one. If someone doesn't know how to do something, it's because they weren't taught. Because no one goes into nursing wanting to do something wrong. They want to do what's right. So I just look at it like, "How can I teach them to do it the correct way?" And I ask for feedback. We ask a lot of our nurses, "What do you think? Be straight with me. Tell." And they'll like, "Hey, have you considered this? Have you considered that?" So I actually like to bring everybody together as a team and it's really effective. I love all the different ideas.

Ulemu Luhanga: 17:53

That's great. Great, great. Thank you. So as you think about all the people you interact with, all the things that you do, what do you love most about your work and what you do?

Millie Sattler: 18:07

What do I love the most about it? Oh, I just love helping people, seriously. When a resident calls me and she's not doing well on a unit and her manager's calling and saying, "This isn't the right fit." They're really upset. I just like to say, "It's okay. You're not the first new resident and you're not the last. I'm going to help you." Okay?

Millie Sattler: 18:29

And then there's that nurse who's a little burned out, right? So she's coming to me because she wants to do something different. But when we start digging deep to find out what she likes, it's so nice to see them blossom and wanting to do projects and wanting to learn more and building their resume. And when we build their resume, they're like, "I did all that?" And I'm like, "Well, yeah." So they get recognized because now they can see it on a piece of paper. I really like helping people. And you know what else? A lot of these people pray like, "I prayed for someone to help me." And so then I know that I'm being used. I'm like a tool for God, so I like that, too.

Ulemu Luhanga: 19:06

Oh, that is powerful. Powerful. So overall, reflecting on your experiences to date, how would you describe what your passions are around education?

Millie Sattler: 19:23

Overall, my passions around education is the more you know, the more you grow. And I can't take credit for that. I that's from TV. They put that on Saturday mornings for kids. I can't own that, but it's the truth. The more you know, the more you grow. And so the more opportunities that I can give people, the happier I am, and then they can run with it.

Ulemu Luhanga: 19:50

I love that. Thank you. The more you know, the more you grow. I like that. I love when things can touch multiple generations and it's as meaningful for toddlers as it is for us as we continue to grow.

Millie Sattler: 20:10

It is the truth, too. I mean, think about it, think about your own success path. The more you know, the more you grow. And then you want more, right?

Ulemu Luhanga: 20:19

Yes. I am, similar to you, constantly learning.

Millie Sattler: 20:25

You just want more. I like that.

Ulemu Luhanga: 20:27

Yeah. Yep. So recognizing you are more than your work, you are a person with a, I'm sure, multidimensional life. So, what are some things you do outside of work to help you maintain joy in life and practice?

Millie Sattler: 20:45

Well, some of the things I like to do, I really like to garden. Gardening is like, I just love it because I love to see something start from a seed and just blossom into something huge. Right now, I just got done growing an amaryllis that it's just beautiful. And to see, I thought it was going to take a year, but it took six months, but it just grew to this beautiful plant. Now, I have a couple lemon trees. I want to do two lemon trees. I want to see how they grow. So I like that. I enjoy boating, and I like to meditate and pray because that's important. And then I also like, I like music. And I like American history. So it's interesting how I like to put the music with the times because it lines up. But I would say the '60s and the '70s probably my favorite because it really had an impact on the culture, and so I like that. And the Rolling Stones, they're my favorite.

Ulemu Luhanga: 21:56

Oh, awesome. I grew up, my dad was very into music. And so when you mentioned '60s and '70s, I was like, "Yes, I actually know the style of music you mean."

Millie Sattler: 22:08

Isn't it the truth, though? And think about how I was a little kid then, but I remember watching the news with my dad, and wow, there was a lot of stuff going on.

Ulemu Luhanga: 22:22

So those were the core questions I had for you. And so as we wrap up, are there any last comments, thoughts, things that you want to share with aspiring leaders who listen to this episode?

Millie Sattler: 22:38

Yes. So thank you, number one, for listening, jumping on. Always invest in yourself first. Okay? Because when you invest in yourself, you are in internally investing in others. So as a leader, if you're going to invest, take some leadership classes, go back to school. And even if you can't take a full-time go to school, take one class at a time, and then maybe eventually you're going to get your master's degree or your doctorate degree. That's up to you. Look in your organization and see what leadership classes they have. Go ahead and start taking them. I know at Emory we have a nurse leader academy, and that's for unit directors or specialty directors. We have a course called LEAP that's for charge nurses, and shift nurse managers, and unit educators. Because having those skills of leadership excellence, accountability and professionalism really opens their eyes to how to lead other people. And then from there, like I said, "The more you know, the more you grow." They're going to want to know even more. So it's a little bit and planting that seed and moving forward.

Ulemu Luhanga: 23:50

Thank you. I think that's a perfect ending to our session because it has looped right back to "the more you know, the more you grow".

Millie Sattler: 24:01

Yes, yes. Thank you so much.

Ulemu Luhanga: 24:04

Thank you.