Taking care of patients and their families at the bedside is a rewarding experience. The connection that develops between a healthcare professional and the family can be very strong and can be a source of hope for families who are facing difficult times. There is no profession in which this is more ture than nursing. At some point many pediatric leaders are faced with the decision to step away from direct patient care and to spend more time in their leadership role. Doing so can create a mix of conflicting emotions.

The way you treat patients matters in many ways. It can mean the difference between having successful program or practice. More than that, it can affect how your patients recover from sickness or surgery or deal with chronic illness. The culture of a practice depends on all the members, from the front desk to the nurses and even the custodians the patients might pass in the hallway. Everyone plays a role but the doctor can do a lot to make a break a practices ability to have a positive culture.

The treatment of pediatric pain, particularly chronic pain, is a complex issue. Practitioners must take into account the intersection of physiologic, socio-environmental and psychological environment. Many times it is difficult for primary care and specialty pediatricians to develop and execute a plan.

Often when we think about power, we associate it with manipulation and underhanded deals. The reality is that power is not always a negative thing. We each have to use it to reach our goals every day. Understanding what power is and how and when we should use it is critical to thriving in leadership.

We talked last time about complexity and how it is changing the way that business and particularly healthcare organizations must operate if they want to be successful. In order to position ourselves for success, we must have leaders that not only accept complexity but that are agile and ready to change in complex environments.

The world is changing quickly. The world of medicine is no different. Understanding how these changes affect you, your practice and your organization is critical to your success as a leader. At times, the amount of change can seem overwhelming. It feels at times that there is no order, only chaos. How do we survive in this environment?

There is no single criteria that makes a person eligible to lead. Education, job title and seniority can all be a start to establishing a role as a leader. But sometimes, the best leaders aren’t the highest ranking of any of the three. Today we are going to talk about leading when you are starting your career and how an early-career physician can develop leadership skills when they are not the most senior physician on their team.

The practice of pediatrics is changing rapidly. New ideas for payment models and care delivery models come and go. Navigating through those changes can send a practice or health care institution on a tangent that leaves the providers and staff feeling like they don’t have a compass. It is important during these times to have someone who can help put the new changes into context and help us to remain grounded on what is most important-providing the best patient care possible. Dr. Frank McGehee is a pediatrician in the Cook Children's Magnolia clinic. He practices in an office that has roots in an 80-year tradition of providing excellent patient care to the children of Fort Worth. He has seen many changes in medicine, but still believes that the heart of pediatrics lies in his connection with families.

Dr. Warren Marks is a Pediatric Neurologist with Cook Children's in Fort Worth, Texas. He has a particular interest in movement disorders and has been involved in Cook Children’s effort to advance the use of deep brain stimulation in the pediatric population. His latest project has been the design and implementation of an innovative pediatric motion lab, which uses a multidisciplinary approach, and advanced technology to assess and develop plans for children, teens and young adults with movement disorders.

Getting help for patients with rare diseases can often be a large struggle for families. Finding someone who understands and has the experience to properly diagnose and treat can lead to frustration for families. Often there is no place to go. For long standing issues, this can lead to bouncing from multiple doctors without resolution of symptoms. For more acute issues, not having an expert available can cause significant morbidity, even mortality. Today we are going to talk about one of our pediatric endocrinologists who set up a center for treating a rare disease, hyperinsulinism.

Leaders lead in very different ways. Have you ever had a leader that was a micromanager and basically prevented any progress from being made? What about a leader that was so distant that you could never ask him or her for help? Our guest today has taken a totally different approach and I believe it works well for him. Britt Nelson, M.D., is the President of the Cook Children's Physician Network in Fort Worth, Texas where he oversees a large multispecialty group of pediatricians and subspecialists. Today's podcast from Dr. Nelson talks about his leadership style that begins with his email signature, which reads: "Your willing servant."