Internship Reflection

Introduction

My name is Isabel King, and I am a Senior Public Health Major at Georgia College &

State University. This summer, I had the pleasure of interning with the Infection Prevention

department at Emory Johns Creek Hospital (EJCH). Emory Johns Creek is a not-for-profit, 150-

bed acute care comprehensive, full-service hospital staffed by 398 Emory faculty, 399 private

practice physicians, and 59 Emory Specialty Associate physicians making it nearly a thousand-

person staff. Emory Johns Creek began as a 50/50 venture with the Hospital Corporation of

America, turning the Dunwoody Medical Center into the Emory Dunwoody Medical Center in

1998. In 2007 it was relocated to Johns Creek with the addition of a Medical Office Building. In

2010 Emory assumed full ownership of the hospital. In 2018 radiology observation care unit

(ROCU), critical care unit (CDU), a 2nd MRI, and oncology were added on. In 2019 Emory

Johns Creek became a Magnet® recognized hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing

Center. In 2019 EJCH had 8,400 admissions (including 1,217 deliveries) and 89,071 outpatient

service visits. Emory Johns Creek serves Johns Creek and surrounding communities.

Description of Experiences

My role at Emory Johns Creek Hospital was to help develop standards of work for the

Environmental Services (EVS) department of the hospital. Environmental Services are the

people who maintain the cleanliness of the hospital. At EJCH, their Environmental Services had

no standard of work which is a large oversite and significant barrier for the hospital. The hospital

was struggling to keep patient satisfaction of hospital environment scores at or above goal score.

Through my work, I have helped create new training checklists for daily and terminal cleans of

in-patient rooms. I also developed a new standard of work for proper designation of who is
responsible for cleaning which equipment and when for EVS, nursing, and technicians. I also

created an additional standard of work for room readiness at discharge for nursing and

technicians. A room readiness standard of work would help nurses and technicians be

accountable for removing, cleaning, and discarding certain items. The certain things they're

responsible for would range anywhere from wiping down the IV pump to cleaning up large

messes of feces left by patients at discharge.

What I found to be most challenging about my internship was having many different

responsibilities within my project and needing to balance them. I had my main A3

Environmental Services Collaboration Project, which included creating a new standard of work

for EVS while also researching and creating a spreadsheet for the proper cleaning of hospital

equipment. Along with the new standard of work for EVS and the cleaning spreadsheet, I also

had to create a 'Who Cleans What' standard of work checklist for nursing and technicians. I was

developing and researching all these things while also performing Vericlean audits for discharge

cleans. It was definitely a challenge being able to juggle all the moving parts within my

internship. Although it was challenging, the most rewarding part of my internship was knowing

that all the challenging work I was doing was genuinely helping and making a positive change. It

was reassuring having people in leadership at the hospital telling me that I'm doing a great job

and that they appreciate what I am doing. What I also found rewarding were some of the patient

interactions I had where I helped them with something small like getting them water or helping

them if they were lost. During my internship, I wish I could have done more to help with the

overall issues I was working on. I did as much as I could with the position I had. I just wish that I

had more say in order to advocate for the hospital within the Emory system properly. I also wish
I could have done more educational work with the staff; making them aware of new information

and bringing their attention to issues is something I thoroughly enjoyed.

Perception and Evaluation of the Internship

My personal expectation for my interview was actually exceeded. I expected to have a

project, but I never expected it to involve as much as it did. I never expected to be developing

official training materials and standards of work that will be used by the hospital into the future.

Over half of what I've done during this internship was never what I expected. My supervisors

and other leadership within Emory Johns Creek were always listened and were open to my ideas.

I brought attention to the issues happening prior to EVS discharge cleans and asked the critical

question of whether or not nurses and technicians had a standard of work specific to this issue. It

was discovered that there was no standard of work. I suggested that we create a checklist, and

they gladly agreed. I also suggested that the EVS have laminated Spanish and English

translations of all their training materials to keep in their carts, which was also accepted with

open arms. I never felt like my ideas went unrecognized.

I never once felt in the dark when it came to what I was doing. My supervisor was very

hands-on and always included me in what was going on and kept me on track with what I needed

to be doing. I also never felt as though I could not go to her with questions; she happily answered

any questions I had. I don't believe my experience could have been improved in any way; it was

a great experience interning at Emory Johns Creek. I would highly recommend this setting to

future interns from Georgia College. They would gain a lot of experience and knowledge from

interning at Emory Johns Creek. I really have my heart set on public health law, but I enjoyed

my time in the hospital and would consider a career in a hospital setting if I were not to pursue

the law career route.

Internship Preparedness

I believe I was sufficiently academically prepared for my internship placement with

EJCH. My time studying public health at Georgia College benefited me greatly and made me

best suited for my internship position with the Infection Prevention Department. A few areas I

felt most confident in were epidemiology/human disease, health promotion, and community

health. The Infection Prevention Department is the prevention of infectious human disease

within the hospital community, which includes patients and staff. Within infection prevention,

you have to contact trace and isolate patients when they acquire hospital-associated

diseases/infections (HAIs). As a hospital, Emory Johns Creek is constantly in the business of

promoting health. EJCH gives all its patients at discharge pamphlets about healthy living and

sometimes sends them home with a health advocate who helps promote to them new healthy

living habits at home. Emory Johns Creek is a community hospital meaning much of their

clientele is from the Johns Creek community. The hospital works with the community to put on

5Ks and helps the local health department put on public health programs within the community.

The areas I was most prepared for were also classes I took in my time at GCSU.

Epidemiology/Human Disease, Methods of Health Promotion, and Community Health.

Understanding public health terminology was an essential part of working in this position.

Having to read emails from professionals and decern what is being said to you would be

extremely difficult without knowledge of the terminology—knowing how the promotion of

health within the hospital helped me when creating protocols and standards of work for the

hospital. Knowledge of the way community health functions is important when it comes to

working in a community-based hospital, knowing the diversity of the community and everything

that goes into making everyone welcomed, i.e., translators and bilingual informational materials.
Internship Performance

I learned quite a lot during my time at Emory Johns Creek. I gained a new confidence

with daily professional communication with coworkers, whether it was through verbal or written

communication. Prior to my internship, I had minimal opportunities to communicate

professionally at such a level. I also learned new vocabulary and medical terminology I had no

previous knowledge of. I have also gained a repour with medical equipment to the point where I

was recently watching a Netflix show set in a hospital and identified an IV pump within a scene

as the same ones used at Emory Johns Creek. It's such an incredible feeling to have new

knowledge and connections that you can use in your professional and social life.

I was very satisfied with my performance during my internship. I created and developed

high-quality and in-depth work. I knew I was doing work that others at higher positions had no

time for or did not want to do, but I knew it was necessary work to better the hospital. The

people who come to the hospital are sick or hurting and just want the best care possible, so I

must ensure my work is of the best quality. I met deadlines on time and managed my time as

efficiently as possible. I would research topics until I was blue in the face to ensure I had the

most up-to-date and correct information, leaving no stone unturned.

Skills I believe that would help me be as successful as possible after graduation are

communication and Microsoft Office 365 appliances. In order for me to be more desirable and

successful, I need to hone and sharpen these two skills. You will crash and burn if you are not

proficient in using Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. These are vital to being successful in the

professional workforce. I would really enjoy bettering myself and honing my skills in using

Microsoft Office 365. When it comes to my communications skills, it's something I can always

approve upon. I usually am great at casual conversation, but when it comes to presenting ideas in
a professional manner it makes me extremely anxious, leading me to stumble and stutter over my

words. Although I am far more comfortable with professional communication than I was

initially, I definitely need to continue to sharpen and hone my communication skills.

Personal/Professional Insights/Benefits

My time at Emory Johns Creek has impacted my personal, professional, and academic

goals in more ways than one. I'm not quite sure how but by working my summer in this

internship, I have become a lot more outgoing and independent. I am not afraid to make new

friends and ask people for help. Before working here, I was more reserved when it came to

personal and social relationships. Working in a professional setting pushed me to want to make

something of myself and do well in my future academic endeavors. I also believe working an

unpaid position has driven me to have a job while receiving my dual JD/MPH. I will not be able

to make my own money with my dual degree for at least 4 to 5 years from now.

I will be forever thankful for the confidence that this internship gave me, professionally

and personally. Like I said before, I am now more outgoing and confident when it comes to

social situations. I have developed new skills I never knew I would develop in my time here at

EJCH. I had never previously worked or been in a hospital, and I only ever knew things from

what I saw on television. Working at Emory Johns Creek gave me insight into the fact that not

all hospital environments are the same; some are very community-based, and some are

corporate-based. Working community-based public health during my internship has taught me

that it's the kind of public health I want to be a part of and influence. Hopefully, through my

future career as a public health attorney, I can create real change at the community level. I am so

thankful for my time spent at Emory Johns Creek, and I will use the skills I developed here for

the rest of my personal and professional life.