 Okay, Building Bridges, the art of team building. Sharon Lee Parker, Director of Education, Advocacy, and Hospitality Training, welcome everyone. Before we begin, could you please write down three adjectives that describe you best and two things that we do not know about you? Then write down in a sentence, what you think the mission statement of the JTCC or any cancer center for that matter should be. If you had one idea that can prove your satisfaction at JTCC, what would it be? Working together is nothing new to our revered staff at the JTCC. We know that it takes a team of dedicated and passionate individuals to help our cancer patients achieve their best possible outcome. And there in the picture, you will see Helene Therer in the striped black and white jacket who gave us finances to help build this cancer center because she trusted the people here and what they could do for cancer patients in the garden state and in fact, all over the country. We know that it takes family members to help us when our patients are home or being transported to us or to the hospital for treatment. In the latest poll I wrote for the celebration of life and liberty. There is a phrase that says, unless you go through it, you just may not know that it takes a village to thrive and to grow. Did you ever think about what that really means? In short, people helping people, we all need to reach out and help each other. Look at this beautiful picture of families fighting for ovarian cancer. Notice that everyone has a smile on their faces offering hope for the generations that are before us. When a person is diagnosed with cancer, he or she is often unaware of what it is going to take to win the battle. But the number of people they will encounter from the moment they enter our beautiful center until they leave is a refreshing experience, hopefully rebuilding the rest of their lives. Every day with every patient, it is like starting all over again as if we were building a new house. Oftentimes, there was a designer or an architect, a developer, contractor, carpenters, supervisors, plumbers, electricians, landscapers. And most importantly, we can't forget the people who want the house built by others, working as a team to get the job done right. We all work side by side every day, often forgetting about ourselves and the need to take care of our needs so that we are able to perform consistently at the optimal level. Don't forget about you too. Sometimes we are rushed and have many different patients, medications and therapies to deal with. When it becomes overwhelming, do we feel free to reach out to our staff family to ask for help? Some of us do so readily, but others seem reticent. Don't be, reach out. If you need help, get it. It is an important fact to remember that we are all one family with one goal. We want the best possible outcome no matter what it takes or how much help we need. There's Dr. Gua with a patient. What a brilliant mind he is. How lucky the John Thurrock Cancer Center is to have him as one of the heads of a tremendous empire of people helping people, getting rid of cancer. Synergy among our entire team is crucial. We work together, help each other explore possibilities and come to conclusions that are in the best interest of the people who have put their trust in us. In order to build relationships, we have to trust each other and feel that we are all in this together so that listening to our concerns and resolving issues becomes a positive experience and a win-win for everyone involved. Smile or frown, up or down, positive or negative are choices we all have. Personally, it is my belief that the smile, the upward mobility and positivity are all the ingredients that can make for a much better day. How are we dealing with our supervisors? Well, in our world, we always have a boss, someone above us on a command chain who has the responsibility to oversee an area and make sure that everyone is productive and contributing to the department in the most positive way. Some of our staff find it easy to listen and converse with the boss, but others are more reticent, especially if they have an issue, a problem or a desire to have a day off for fear of reprisal or negative response. Maybe they even have a suggestion that they're afraid to share, but if you build trust, loyalty and communication into that relationship, your boss should be responsive to your ideas or personal issues. We are one family after all and a conscientious person who goes above and beyond should be verbally rewarded and listened to by his or her supervisor. Request for a vacation or a special event should be made as far out as possible because coverage in our cancer center is a huge responsibility and a necessity. We never want to be caught short or off guard when it comes to our patients. I often remark that cancer is not a nine to five Monday through Friday event. It rears its ugly head with complications whenever it feels the need, but we have to be ready to have an accomplished person handle any and all situations at the JTCC. Always be welcoming, respectful and inclusive. Every member of our hospital community contributes to both our successes and our failures. Let's all strive for improved climate, value diversity and building our wonderful community. WIT whatever it takes. It is obvious that everyone has different strengths and different weaknesses. Did you ever wonder what makes us different? Yet so much alike? The answer lies in our brain. We are all humans when some of us are left brain dominant while for others the right hemisphere takes the lead. Do you know which one you are? When you find out, you know the areas you need to strengthen and you also know when to ask for help. So never be afraid to do so. When you're working with a person who is statistical, exact and crosses every T and dots every I and rechecks for precision. Chances are you are with a person who is left brain dominant. In a nutshell, the left brain is more logical and verbal while the right is creative and intuitive. I know what I have. The left deals with analysis which breaks apart and analyzes the situation while the right synthesizes and puts things back together. Of course, we all use both sides of our brain but people are usually stronger in one side than the other and are often more comfortable staying with their dominant hemisphere. When I talk about wit or whatever it takes, I mean that we do whatever is necessary to aid and abet our patients in every way possible using the best part of our brain and our heart. That often includes talking to home caregivers and loved ones who are so often distressed, confused and somehow and sometimes overwhelmed and not sure of what to do or how to do it. Here is another time that we must listen to them, solve the issue if we can or refer them to whomever we believe can help them with whatever the concern may be. Communication is the key to unlocking our relationships with our peers, our patients and our supervisors. We have the power to evoke change, increase satisfaction, spread the best of what we offer every day and make others aware that we have the right instincts and desire to keep us right at the top. I've always said that you can go through life as a see and get by but if you have the intelligence and in a desire to be in A why not strive for it in every area that you can? What we do or say or achieve at the Cancer Center is not only paramount for our patients but also for us as individuals as we leave every day and yet are still ambassadors for this great facility. I've also found that what you do at the workplace transcends to your home life. If you are a positive proactive person at the JTCC or whichever cancer center you might be working at your smile goes home with you and you set an example for the family members that can't wait for you to open the door and give them a big hug. Of course, that is a simplification but as we become more adept at what we do every day learning new and better ways to accomplish our missions we may find an added bonus and our private lives as well. Stress and anxiety in the workplace, it is inevitable. We work hard every day and try our best. Somehow we are not feeling great. A cloud can come over us and make us less comfortable for a few moments or even for the day. Stress and anxiety can creep in slowly and build up until we absorb ourselves and can be less than pleasant to those who work with us and those who need our expertise on a daily basis. How can we better cope and address the stress? Is it fatigue or perhaps not enough nourishment during the day? Perhaps it is not moving enough to give our body some recharging. Let's take a moment and think about one thing you could do to lessen the stress at your life at work. If you could evoke change, maybe you can. I always come back to the supervisors and the bosses who have the responsibility of sometimes making hard choices. We all know that our adages, patients first and on that we can all agree. When you are approached by a supervisor for a conference or issue that might need to be resolved, remember that they have bosses too who want answers and that have high standards. Coverage is a supreme issue. We have to make sure that we are there for our patients, but bathroom, lunch and a quick timeout need to be addressed so that we are all on the same page. When you leave a meeting, you should feel better about discussing any issue. We are all one family after all and it is a given that an A plus performance is what we want to achieve. The key here is communicating in a constructive and positive way. No matter what, no matter where you are, you have to feel that whoever you speak to, the discussion is fair and balanced. Even if you hear something you disagree with, state your idea with conviction and understanding that interpretation may be different amongst various people, but share your concern or listen to the concerns of others. And in the end, try to ameliorate the situation so you can walk out on solid ground. Never be afraid to admit that you might have made a mistake, hopefully not one that is too serious. We're all human after all and an error could occur. The key to avoid such instances is to be prepared with any task you are given to the very best of your ability and never be afraid to take constructive criticism or more importantly and most importantly to ask for help. Thank you for choosing the JTCC as your home away from home. Working together, we are a formidable force that has become a leader in the cancer care community throughout the country and throughout our world.