RWJMS Employee of the Month

Natalie Czarnecki is an LPN who works in the outpatient practice of the Department of Medicine primarily for Jeff Carson. She has a practice cell phone and email that patients use to contact her. She manages his outpatient practice by answering phone calls, emails, text messages, and messages in Epic. She helps patients schedule appointments within the school and outside practices. She attends office hours and administers injections, performs ECG’s, and facilitates efficient and timely appointments. She assists the triage nurses when she is not busy with her own work.

Natalie deserves this important recognition for the following reasons:

1. She works extremely hard to provide excellent and timely care.
2. She has exceptional clinical judgement. She knows when to guide patients with straight forward advise (as appropriate for her level of training and experience) and when to seek consultation from the doctor.
3. She excels at getting patient appointments and procedures they need even when there is limited availability.
4. She is kind and communicates genuine empathy.
5. She has improved the Press-Gainey ratings of our practice.
6. Patients greatly appreciate her and frequently thank her during office hours and in Press-Gainey evaluations. “Natalie Czarnecki is amazing. No one could have a bad experience with her. She is on top of every issue.”

Jeffrey Carson, MD
Michael Steinberg, MD

I would like to nominate Lauren for her extraordinary effort to manage the cleanup efforts for the  recording studio at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School on the Busch campus. The space looks amazing and it was truly a heroic effort to clean out years of accumulated and now obsolete equipment and materials.

Her dedication and commitment to support the medical school in this effort is greatly appreciated. The space was filled with an accumulation of audiovisual equipment for over 20+ years and she made the task of managing this clean up look easy.

RWJMS Communications is fortunate to have Lauren on our team. She is always the first one to execute projects with skill, dedication, effort and always tact and grace. Everyone knows Lauren to be a kind and capable coworker and team member. She deserves recognition!

Beth Salamon, M.Ed.

I am writing to enthusiastically nominate Jamal Kassim for the Employee of the Month award. 

Over the past four months, Jamal Kassim, our medical school's Assistant Registrar, has been covering all the Registrar's duties and functions, while our Registrar has been out on leave. Jamal's dedication and outstanding performance in this role deserve special recognition.

From the moment Jamal assumed the role of Assistant Registrar, it was evident that they possessed the qualities of a true professional. Their commitment to excellence, promptness, and efficiency in all tasks undertaken have greatly contributed to the smooth operation of our office.

Jamal has consistently gone above and beyond the call of duty. He has not only met the expectations of their role but exceeded them in numerous ways. Some of their remarkable contributions include:

1. Efficient Record Management: Jamal Kassim has maintained a highly organized record-keeping system, ensuring that all important documents are readily accessible, which has significantly streamlined our office processes. Jamal was hired a year ago, and it has been impressive how promptly he effectively assumed all roles and responsibilities of the Registrar's office.

2. Exceptional Customer Service: Jamal consistently interacts with students, faculty, and staff in a professional and courteous manner. He has been instrumental in resolving inquiries and concerns promptly, enhancing our office's reputation.

3. Proactive Problem Solving: Jamal has demonstrated a remarkable ability to identify potential issues and take proactive measures to address them before they escalate, contributing to a more efficient workflow.

4. Team Collaboration: Jamal has proven to be an invaluable team player, readily assisting colleagues with their tasks when necessary and fostering a harmonious working environment.

5. Meeting Deadlines: Jamal consistently meets all deadlines, ensuring that critical tasks are completed on time and without compromising quality. He took on the responsibilities of the Registrar, during our busiest time of the year as we collect grades and ensure transcript and dean's letter uploads to the many application portals our fourth year students use to apply for residency positions. Jamal has ensured grades have posted in a timely fashion, reached out to faculty to obtain missing grades, and smoothly uploaded all documents before the deadline. His efforts during this busy time have been particularly valued by our fourth year medical students, whose future employment he has helped facilitate.

Jamal Kassim has truly exemplified professionalism, dedication, and a commitment to excellence throughout his tenure as Assistant Registrar. His work has not only improved our office's overall efficiency but also elevated the reputation of our department within the organization.
I believe that Jamal Kassim is not only deserving of the Employee of the Month award but also serves as a role model for all of us in the department. I wholeheartedly support his nomination and believe it would be a fitting recognition of their outstanding contributions.
Thank you for considering Jamal Kassim for this well-deserved honor. I look forward to seeing their dedication acknowledged and celebrated.

Sonia Laumbach

In today's 21st-century workplace, IT devices and software are essential tools. In some environments, even a few seconds of IT-related tool shutdown can lead to critical issues. That's why every organization has an IT department, providing indispensable support.

These IT professionals work quietly and humbly, often without seeking much recognition. Geovanny is no exception. Whenever I have had IT-related issues, he has voluntarily and devotedly assisted me. Not only Geovanny, but all the members of the IT department have always been helpful in the same manner. I would like to nominate all of them if possible, but this month, I'll nominate Geovanny as the staff member who has been of great help to me.

Sang Hoon Kim, Neurosurgery

Rebeca Santiago is a critical asset to the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School - Anatomical Association Whole Body Donor Program. As the Anatomical Association’s Program Support Specialist, Rebeca Santiago touches so many lives throughout the NJ through her coordination of donations for cadaver study. Because of her work, NJ’s future and current healthcare professionals (such as doctors, dentists, physician assistants, and physical therapists) have access to human cadaver study.

Rebeca Santiago talks to individuals who want to donate their bodies upon death for the purpose of medical education. She shows care and kindness when donor families call after their loved one has passed. In addition to her work with the donor program, Rebeca Santiago works with medical students for our annual memorial service, which includes invitations to donor families to show appreciation for their generosity.

Rebeca Santiago is dedicated, professional, pays close attention to detail, and takes initiative to make things better. From securing an updated database to making our work environment beautiful with her decorations, the Anatomical Association is a so very blessed to have Rebeca Santiago.

Grace Pinhal-Enfield, PhD

Hannah is a pediatric Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at the Child Health Institute of New Jersey. It has been a year since she joined us and Hannah is already an integral part of our team, making an incredible impact on our clinic and the services we provide. Her depth of character, integrity, exceptional work ethic, and commitment to excellence inspires admiration and transformation in the lives of the patients she is reaching.

Patients often provide overwhelmingly positive feedback about Hannah’s genuine care for their needs, her kindness, attentiveness, understanding and professional responsiveness to their needs. She is truly gifted with a nuanced intuition for the needs and challenges we often see in our patient population. Hannah models the perfect balance of professionalism and humanity that any patient could hope for in a medical professional, and that any institution would be proud to count among their ranks.

In additional to all of her daily responsibilities, Hannah took the initiative to translate our existing patient education materials into Spanish, and very thoughtfully developed and translated many new materials to address any gaps in information communicated to patients. I see her working tirelessly to serve our Spanish-speaking patients – many of whom are among the most underserved populations here in New Brunswick.

In her role as a pediatric RD, she has also become a voice and advocate for the needs of those who are not able to speak up for themselves. Hannah’s passion for the most vulnerable in our community truly sets her apart. She implemented a screening tool in our clinical assessment process which helps identify families in need of assistance, and developed numerous resources to aid the families in search of local resources to help them combat the worsening crisis of food insecurity. In her personal time she developed a practical guide for clinicians and their role to help combat hunger (The Clinician’s Response to Food Insecurity).

Hannah challenges me daily to become a better clinician and a better person. As much as she is already doing, she is constantly looking to learn, grow, and do more to aid her patients and our team. Though she is just beginning her career, she carries herself with the humility, wisdom, and maturity of someone who has found their calling and serves with conviction. It is truly a joy to work with her and I am deeply honored to call her my colleague.

Melanie S. Lee

Do you know an RWJMS employee who:

• consistently exceeds the expectations of their job?

• finds better or more efficient ways to complete a task for the betterment of the department?

• volunteers to complete undesirable projects?

• anticipates problems before they occur and takes steps to avoid them?

• handles an emergency or difficult situation without being asked or offers a solution to a problem?

______________________________________________________________________________

The Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Staff Council is pleased to announce the kickoff of the Employee of the Month initiative, effective January, 2019.

The purpose of the Employee of the Month initiative is to recognize staff who have served RWJMS in an exceptional manner by exemplifying outstanding service through his or her work and exhibiting a positive and supportive attitude.

While anyone can make a nomination, nominations from chairs, division chiefs, faculty leaders and faculty convey a level of appreciation beyond peer-to-peer recognition.

Nominations will be due on the 5th of each month and the nominee will be announced by the 15th of each month (i.e, January nominees will be due by February 5 and announced by February 15).

The staff appreciation subcommittee will review all of the nominations and grade them on the criteria that has been established. They will submit their top three nominees to the school’s executive team who will select the finalist.

We are looking forward to this opportunity to recognize our staff and need your participation to make this possible.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at 732-235-7550 or Rhonda.smith@rutgers.edu.

A Nominee for Employee of the Month must be a permanent employee of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and must be approved by his or her supervisor (which will be verified) prior to being named as the recipient of the award.  Nominees should meet the following criteria when being considered for Employee of the Month:

Attitude and Commitment

• Dedicated to fulfilling job responsibilities
• Demonstrates good customer service skills
• Consistently dependable and is punctual in reporting to work
• Active involvement in committees, trainings, and other miscellaneous activities
• Serves as a role model to others
• Goes above and beyond the requirements of the job

Interpersonal Skills

• Displays a helpful, cooperative and positive attitude towards superiors and co-workers
• Consistently friendly and available to others
• Uses effective listening skills
• Has a team player attitude
• Voluntarily assists co-workers in order to complete important department projects

Work Performance

• Knowledgeable of RWJMS policy and procedure
• High overall quality of performance
• Accurately completes work assignments on time
• Controls high stress situations tactfully and calmly
• Takes initiative
• Requires little supervision
• Willingness to learn and take on new responsibilities
• Ability to train others and gladly willing to do so

Personal Traits

• Maintains an appropriate and neat personal appearance and dress
• Professional demeanor
• Conscientious, honest, hard-working
• Integrity, on and off the job