Since September 2024, Emőke Sevella-Tóth has been Clinical Head Nurse at the Department of Traumatology, having previously worked for four years at the National Medical Rehabilitation Institute (OORI), which was also merged into Semmelweis University last year as the Rehabilitation Clinic, so she has gained experience in the university’s operations. Quality management is a field that is very attractive to her as it complements her nursing and management responsibilities, so last year she completed Semmelweis University’s Advanced Training in Quality and Patient Safety Management.
Due to the wide range of tasks, the Department of Traumatology is divided into several sections (outpatient’s surgery, as well as preoperative, postoperative, septic, and neurotraumatology wards or operating rooms) and patient care processes are organized accordingly. One of the first actions taken by Emőke Sevella-Tóth as clinical head nurse was to assess, reorganize, and coordinate the workflow of allied health professionals, to strengthen the positions of section head nurses and team leaders, and to appoint new section heads in order to ensure more efficient work. She attaches great importance to improving the knowledge of allied health professionals, so she organizes continuous internal training courses with external consultants and her own staff, on topics such as nutritional therapy, the use of patient monitors, or epidural analgesia. Among her goals, she mentioned staff retention, the professional development of existing human resources, and support for participation in training and even in postsecondary education or postgraduate specialist training, so that colleagues can use the knowledge gained in this way locally, that is, in the department.
“I am involved in patient care indirectly, my work consisting mainly of administration. I would like to spend more time with the patients, but I think the background work I do, the style in which I manage the processes of care through the section head nurses, are just as important an area of clinical work as being at the bedside. In many cases, the quality of patient care itself depends on the organization and leadership. For me, one of the most important factors is ensuring patient safety. There are several means of doing so, and I try to use them all well,” said Emőke Sevella-Tóth about her daily work.
Trauma patient care is varied, no two days are the same. There are very demanding periods, always followed by a somewhat more relaxed one, she noted. In her experience, traumatology is characterized by “seasonal” cases. She stressed that a significant number of qualified nurses were needed because there was not a week when they did not have to perform at least one or two resuscitations.
“When I started my career, the nursing profession was held in high esteem. Later on, due to various influences, I went through some rough patches in it, and prospects seemed to me less bright, but now I think it is entirely up to ourselves and our attitude how we experience our profession and the way we succeed in it. How we experience it is what we can pass on to the next generation, who are doing their clinical training in our department from a very young age,” says Emőke Sevella-Tóth, whose responsibilities include coordinating the clinical training of vocational school students. She added that, in her opinion, it was the indirect example we set that inevitably rubbed off on those around us: A good atmosphere, kindness, and attention can also inspire more experienced, sometimes less motivated colleagues.
I think one of the most important leadership attitudes is leading by example. Our behavior, our way of thinking, our consistency are all very important in our work. – Emőke Sevella-Tóth
As a mother of three, she considers being a leader similar in some ways to motherhood because in a family, too, the way we behave towards each other, the way we support each other, are more powerful than any words.
Eszter Keresztes
Translation: Dr. Balázs Csizmadia
Photos by Bálint Barta – Semmelweis University
