Linda Bouman (51) has been an emergency room doctor for seventeen years. She has been working in the LangeLand Hospitalwhere she is also a department manager. She enjoys it so much that she never wants to work anywhere else. She tells what makes her work and workplace so special.
“As soon as you step in here, you feel the friendliness of the hospital. My mother is a patient here herself, and says: ‘I will never go to another hospital again.’ In a large hospital – where I worked before – you can quickly feel a bit alone. The LangeLand is really like a warm blanket. I’ve seen a lot of hospitals in the area, but of this one I say, ‘This is my hospital’. I plan to stay here until I retire.”
Everybody knows each other
“The lines are short at the LangeLand Hospital. We all know each other and everyone is very approachable. The way the rest of the hospital works together with the ER here is really great. Everyone knows where to find our department and communication is easily accessible. I chat with everyone in the hallway. It is not ‘us and them’ but very much ‘us all for the LongLand’. Because we are so well attuned to each other, everything runs smoothly.”
Not only rambling, but also being human
“After severe CPR or something else that’s really acute, we always take the time to come back to it together. We have an eye for the fact that we don’t just keep on going, but that we are also human. We speak to each other in the corridors or over a cup of coffee, and we also have people in the house to talk to if something has touched you very much. Everything to prevent you sitting around potting it up at home.”
Pace and variety
“I never know what to expect when I start my shift, but it’s always exciting. Working at an outpatient clinic is not for me; I like the pace and the variety. It is a continuous switch between different syndromes, pace and approach – a child needs a different approach than an older patient with dementia.”
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See every patient for yourself
“In other hospitals there are often training assistants on the ward and the ‘nice’ things go to them. Here we see every patient who comes in for themselves – without having to compete. There is always room for your own ideas. Think of really going through ultrasound in the emergency room, or sedation if you have to straighten an arm or leg. Those kinds of things are really set up by us.”
Full steam ahead
“It was annoying that we had to close during the week due to a staff shortage, but we certainly didn’t sit still in those two months. In the meantime, we have made a lot of plans and followed training courses, so that we have made a significant improvement in quality. Since 1 October we are open again seven days a week, and with full confidence. Everyone is completely enthusiastic, because everyone is so crazy about their work. Everything will be all right, and soon even more doctors and nurses it just gets even more beautiful!”
Does the Emergency Department of the LangeLand Hospital also seem like a nice place to work, as a doctor or nurse? Read more about working at LangeLand here and view the vacancies.