Auburn College of Nursing works with many healthcare partners, and Children’s of Alabama (COA), a pediatric acute care children’s hospital located in Birmingham, is one such partner. An interview with its chief human resource officer, Doug Dean, reveals the depth of our association with COA.
Dean has served as Chief Human Resource Officer at COA since 1999. His role includes managing all aspects of the ‘people’ side of its pediatric healthcare organization, including recruiting, hiring, strategic workforce planning, compensation, benefits, employee relations, organizational development, HRIS (technology) executive compensation and benefits.
In 2022, COA hired 58 Auburn College of Nursing graduates and an additional five nurses from Auburn University in Montgomery.
“Children’s of Alabama is fortunate to have outstanding in-state universities to recruit and educate the talent for a bold, challenging future in our hospitals,” said Dean. “Auburn University College of Nursing deservedly may claim a highly prestigious position not only in Alabama, but indeed, throughout the Southeast. Our hiring managers consider it a “big deal” to land an Auburn College of Nursing graduate, as they seem consistently ready to deliver patient care when they join our organization,” he added.
“It has been great to experience the joy of seeing talented people enter the organization, grow, learn, develop, sometimes even overcome career or personal adversity, and see many achieve great success and advancement over long tenures with COA. My job at COA is a privilege, as I get to lead innovations and efforts to attract, reward, retain, and develop such enormously talented people, many of whom are proud Auburn University College of Nursing grads!
“The critical importance of nurses in our pediatric healthcare organization cannot be overstated! As every patient’s main daily point-of-contact for care, these nurses are often highly skilled and trained to be confident in assessing and managing the health of their young patients from infants to children and adolescents. Our nurses contribute enormously to the diagnosis, treatment, and care of thousands of children each year, and represent over 35% of our total COA workforce of 5,200.
“As pediatrics is always about family centered care, nurses must have strong assessment skills to identify problems early and provide treatment. Technical training and proven competence at specific care assessment and treatment skill will continue to be important for nurses going forward, and a need for high emotional intelligence with patient/family, colleagues, and medical staff interactions.
“The successful nurse of the future will be skilled in educating both parents and children, possess an innate calmness and composure, demonstrate good judgment under pressure to handle stressful situations calmly and effectively. Patients deserve and will continue to expect relation-based care as it can improve safety, patient and staff satisfaction, and quality of work by improving each relationship within an organization.”
Dean’s advice to nursing students, “if you’re at an early stage deciding whether to pursue a nursing career, we have a limited number of paying summer internship experiences, and it’s a great outcome either confirming your desire to be a nurse or learning that it’s not for you! Study hard, of course, and seek out the guidance of Auburn University College of Nursing recruiters and even current students, to prepare and decide your own best career direction! As always, my sincere thanks to Auburn University College of Nursing, and the many fine staff we have hired for Children’s of Alabama as a result of this marvelous partnership!”
Doug Dean’s connection to Auburn would not be complete if we didn’t mention his enthusiasm for Auburn Athletics! His favorite memory of Auburn Football dates back to the time when he was a young lad of 11 when Heisman Trophy winner and Auburn legend Pat Sullivan handed him his chin strap following a big SEC win. “But nothing comes close to two monumental Auburn moments I witnessed: the national championship victory in 2011 and Wes Bynum’s role in the game, and the Chris Davis’ role in the 2013 win against the Crimson Tide!”
