PACIFIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION
Case Study: Nielsen Healthcare Group Inc.
September 2013
Nurse leader Carole Kulik had a job she loved when Bruce Nielsen, president of interim
health care leader placement firm Nielsen Healthcare Group, handed her his business
card at a professional meeting.
“That was when I was still gainfully employed,” she recalls. “But I said I’m going to hold
onto this.”
Good thing she did. After a post-9/11 layoff and taking a stab at running a nurse
practitioner practice, Kulik decided to give interim leader placements a try.
So she pulled out Nielsen’s card in 2003 and sent him her resume. Her first Nielsen
placement was at a 140-bed community hospital in Connecticut. Her second placement
was in 2007 at Stanford Hospital & Clinics, where she remains today. That’s because
after nine months as interim patient care manager of cardiac care and surveillance units
in the 500-bed hospital, her boss asked her to stay.
A bit of explanation: Kulik had negotiated financial incentives for staying beyond her
initial six-month assignment with Stanford, so she didn’t become a full-time employee
until after two years with the hospital. All of NHCG’s candidates and clients negotiate
directly with each other: the placement firm has no involvement in that part of the hiring
process.
Now Kulik, director of Patient Care Services, Practice, Education and Quality at
Stanford, calls Nielsen for interim leaders. Since 2001, NHG has placed nine interim
leaders at Stanford, including Kulik, and 11 at its sister facility, the Lucile Packard
Children’s Hospital. The placements have included leaders in outpatient and inpatient,
clinical and non-clinical settings.
After having been on both sides of the NHG equation – as candidate and then client –
Kulik says she knows about its “great customer service” and the “high caliber” of
candidates the St. Louis firm has placed with hospitals, home health agencies, nursing
care facilities, medical groups, and other health care clients nationwide for 22 years.
NHG’s standard is to provide a range of high-quality candidates for clients from its
unmatched database of 18,000 candidates who have submitted resumes. Because the
firm sets the bar high, NHG candidates start contributing to an organization’s success
their first day on the job.
“We also assume some of the due diligence normally done by human resources
personnel in vetting our candidates,” says Nielsen. “We ensure that all candidates
presented for a client’s consideration have recently served elsewhere in the requested
position and possess a minimum of three relevant, written managerial or professional
references.”
In addition, the firm verifies a candidate’s education; licenses, registrations, and
certifications; and checks for any sanctions from the Department of Health and Human
Services, Office of the Inspector General.
As for why she uses interim leaders at all vs. leaving a position open until a suitable
replacement is found, Kulik says Stanford’s organizational priority is to support patients
and employees with continuous leadership, leaving no gaps in chances for success.
“Also, it better positions the new leader with a fresh start,” she says. “It’s also great for
objective feedback on the organization’s strengths and weaknesses.”
Kulik’s confidence in NHG may be bolstered by the knowledge that the firm is endorsed
by Pacific Health Association and the fact that the endorsement brings a 12 percent
discount off NHG’s fee.