Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is known as the world leader in advancing personalized health. But what makes it a great place to work? Mindy Chandler, senior director, Business Service Operations in VUMC’s Office of Population Health, shares her ideas. She uses feedback from yearly surveys to keep her team engaged and connected.

In a recent interview, Jan Robinson, a director for Vanderbilt Eye Institute, discussed the importance of maintaining a positive work culture.  She oversees three clinics in Lebanon, Murfreesboro and Hendersonville. For this interview, she specifically focused on her Lebanon clinic, which employs around 25 staff members. 

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) wants to provide a workplace that is fair and welcoming to all employees. 

Open, honest and transparent communication is a key ingredient in make our workplace even better. The 2024 VUMC Culture Survey provides a great opportunity for leaders to measure progress in the areas that were highlighted for action in last year’s pulse survey.  In fact, about 80% of our leaders had action plans concentrated on team collaboration, open and honest communication, and effective work processes.

The VUMC Culture Survey begins next week on Thursday, May 2.

At Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), fostering a safety culture is essential for our patients and our employees. We have been assessing our safety culture for more than 15 years. It is considered a best practice by groups such as the Leapfrog Group and the Joint Commission for an organization to assess its culture of safety.

Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital is working hard to improve patient care and engagement in their hospital. Each year they use the VUMC Culture Survey to help make the workplace even better.  This year is especially important as the survey is a combination of three surveys — the engagement survey, the safety culture survey, and the nursing excellence survey. The addition of nursing excellence will allow nursing to collect valuable feedback to make nursing better across VUMC. 

In a department of 350 people, creating an environment that promotes engagement can be a challenging task. But for Jennifer Smith, administrative officer, and Morgan Heckman, lead program manager, it's a task they embrace with enthusiasm.  Their commitment to fostering connection among team members and promoting a positive work culture is evident in every step they take.

In a few weeks, you will be asked to participate in the VUMC Culture Survey. This year, the survey is a combination of three surveys — the engagement survey, the safety culture survey, and the nursing excellence survey. The survey should take between 5 and 20 minutes to complete depending on your role at VUMC. The survey will take place May 2 - May 16, 2024.