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Cassandra Dobson R.N.

Nurse Manager, Family Medicine
Moses Division Hospital

One of the secrets of the high-quality nursing at Montefiore Medical Center is the department’s history of promoting managers from within the ranks of its staff nurses. Cassandra Dobson is an excellent example of the wisdom of that policy and how it translates to better care for patients.

“As the administrative nurse manager of a unit, I’m in charge of 14 R.N.s and about 10 nurse’s aides, along with service associates and unit secretaries. It’s my job to ensure we work together as a team. Patients recognize cohesion. They know when the nursing team is cooperating. They know when the nurses and doctors are communicating. When patients ask why they need a certain test or medication, it’s important that the nurse can answer that question as well as the doctor. We want our patients to trust that we have the knowledge and skill to help them because we work together as a team.

“I started out working as a nurse’s aide and then went back to school to become a nurse. That background gives me a very valuable perspective as a manager. I understand the tasks involved. I work to help my aides as well as my nurses feel recognized and empowered. That motivates them to do their best and ensures our patients are well cared for. I am constantly impressed by how committed the nurses and aides are in my unit. They’re really devoted. They love caring for patients and they work very hard.

“Our patients represent a great deal of diversity and I’m proud of the understanding I see from my nurses.”

“Even as a nurse manager, I spend as much time with patients as I can. I make sure I know what’s happening with each patient—and not just the big issues but the small ones too. If I know a patient is not happy with the food, for example, I talk with the patient about what we can do to make his or her hospital stay more comfortable. Meeting patients’ needs is still the most satisfying part of my job.

“In the years I’ve worked at Montefiore, one of the most important changes I’ve seen is greater sensitivity to different cultures. Our patients represent a great deal of diversity and I’m proud of the understanding I see from my nurses. It has become second nature for them to recognize that there are cultural-specific customs and traditions connected with healing or death that we need to respect.

“There is a real striving for excellence from the nursing staff. The leadership of the nursing department sets the tone. It trickles down in the best sense. I feel it, and I encourage excellence from the nurses and all associates whom I directly supervise.”