In this manager profile, Clint Morris describes his responsibilities as an assistant director of nursing at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and shares best practices on employee engagement.

Tell me about your current responsibilities as the assistant director of nursing for anesthesiology and critical care medicine.

My role is basically one of support. I have the privilege of working with Laurie Saletnik, senior director of nursing for perioperative services, and helping her support the nurse managers of the adult pre- and postanesthesia care unit so that their respective teams of over 170 employees can deliver the best patient care and experience.

How about your background in nursing?

I started my career about 24 years ago in the cardiothoracic intensive care and postanesthesia care units at University of Maryland. I then did a seven-year stint as an agency nurse where I worked in more than 50 units across 22 different hospitals in the local area. This experience helped me determine which hospital I’d like to eventually make my home. I worked in 10 different units at The Johns Hopkins Hospital during my time as an agency nurse, and these experiences made my decision to become a full-time employee a no-brainer.

I loved the culture here. It was very collaborative, professional and nurse friendly — much more than any other hospital where I had worked. I felt respected for the contributions I made to the patients and hospital.

I settled down at Johns Hopkins in 2003 as the nurse of the gamma knife program in radiation oncology. I then became the nurse manager of general radiology in 2010 and moved into my current position in 2017. 

You recently shared best practice techniques on employee engagement. Could you describe what these best practices are?

The key is to make engagement a priority every single day — not just during the period prior to the Gallup survey. It needs to be woven into the fabric of how we operate.  

• One of the simplest strategies is crafting an easy-to-memorize mission statement for your department. Ours is “The perianesthesia team works collaboratively with our colleagues to deliver the highest quality care and the ultimate patient experience.” We use this to set expectations, hold staff accountable and recognize quality work. 
• Another important tool is “stay” interviews. We all know what exit interviews are, but instead of waiting until someone leaves to find out what they liked or disliked, we wanted to find out what makes people want to stay. We want to create a sense of ownership in employees so they recognize that the success of the team depends on them. We also try to bake fun and positivity into everything we do.
• One thing we do for positivity is gratitude huddles. Every shift, employees will take two to three minutes to gather together and mention one person that they’re grateful for and why. We do it later in the shift so they look for the good that happens during their day instead of the challenges. It helps them see a different perspective.

Why are these best practices important for Johns Hopkins Medicine?

I have found over the years that engagement is the secret to excellence. Everything is a little easier, quicker and more likely to succeed when a team is fully engaged. It makes our jobs more productive, improves employee retention and helps attract even more talented people. Most importantly, patients are extremely satisfied with the care they receive!

I’ve been very fortunate throughout my career to work with so many great people — no place more so than here at Johns Hopkins.