Adventist GlenOaks recognizes emergency services director
Dressed in her scrubs, Marion Schneider, RN, walks the halls of the Adventist GlenOaks Hospital emergency department every day to check on her staff and patients.
One day, she noticed a chair in the wrong room and quickly rolled it back to where it belonged.
“I don’t wait for someone else to come along,” said Schneider, the hospital’s emergency services director. “If I can fix it quickly myself, I will.”
For her commitment to all the details, including Adventist Midwest Health’s mission of extending the healing ministry of Christ, Schneider was one of five Adventist Midwest Health leaders to receive the organization’s pillar award at the quarterly leadership development institute in October.
Schneider, who has more than 36 years of nursing experience, was hired to oversee the newly renovated 19-bed Adventist GlenOaks Hospital Emergency Department in April 2010.
Almost as soon as she started, Schneider began a fast-track initiative designed to enhance the patient experience while decreasing the amount of time spent in the emergency department. Nurses and hospital staff also started making discharge calls to all patients after their release from the hospital.
The hospital’s patient satisfaction scores have gone up every quarter since Schneider has been in charge of the Adventist GlenOaks Hospital Emergency Department.
“When we see patients leave our emergency room healthy and happy, I know we’ve done our job,” Schneider said. “Every day, I want my staff to create magic.”
That means being a good communicator, Schneider said. Whether it’s her daily huddles, weekly emails or notices tacked to one of the 10 bulletin boards hanging in the emergency department, Schneider is a pro at keeping her nurses and technicians informed.
“I follow up, I repeat myself,” Schneider said. “When I go to meetings, I walk right through the emergency department and tell people when I’ll be back. Everyone always knows I’m around.”
Instead of a business suit, Schneider wears scrubs — it’s another way to show her staff she’s part of the team.
Jackie Conrad, chief nursing officer and vice president of patient care services at Adventist GlenOaks Hospital, said Schneider is a motivated caregiver whose primary goal is to provide the best care to every patient.
“Marion has focused her team on excellence in serving our community,” Conrad said. “She expects the best, and she gets it. The patient satisfaction scores have shown increases every month since Marion joined our team.”
Prior to joining Adventist GlenOaks Hospital, Schneider worked as the director of the emergency department at another suburban hospital. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Lewis University in 1974 and a master’s degree in health care administration from Dominican University in 1980. Schneider lives in Fox River Grove with her husband, Allen, and has three sons and three grandchildren.
Pillar award nominations are solicited from Adventist Midwest Health’s senior leadership team. To be eligible, nominees must demonstrate commitment to the organization’s SHARE standards of behavior: Sense, Help, Acknowledge, Respect and Explain.
They must also demonstrate measurable results on the quarterly goals set for their departments. These goals are organized under the categories, or pillars, of spiritual life: people, clinical, service, community, growth and stewardship.