For this assignment, I decided to interview my manager of the dialysis unit for the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Her phone number is . Due to company regulations, her email address cannot be distributed to the public. She has been the manager for this unit for the past 5 years. I had plenty of questions to ask her because I wanted to learn how she manages to run a successful unit in a federal hospital so smoothly. My first question for her was how she schedules her employees. From past jobs, I knew that scheduling was always one of the number one conflicts that management had. Between employees wanting to be scheduled off on short notice and the number of call-ins, I’m sure it’s a big headache for a job that needs its full staff on a daily basis. She stated that she tries to accommodate personal requests off but she never guarantees it. She said that all employees know right off the bat that if they request a day off when the schedule is already sent out, that their chance of approval is slim, unless they find a co-worker to switch days with them. On her unit, the schedule is sent out a month in advance, and all employees are aware of that. She stated that she never makes exceptions and that helps reduce the number of complaints she receives. She said that once you give in for one employee, be willing to do it for the rest. During my time on the unit, I noticed that some employees were assigned to a certain number of patients in different sections. I asked her how she determines which employee is with which patient. She stated that she has a charge nurse that manages the floor assignment. She is basically her assistant and manages everything on the unit since she cannot always be out there to observe everything going on. According to her, all employees are rotated so, they don’t get used to certain patients and that eliminates any complaints of whether the assignment is fair or not. Another major responsibility that comes to mind when thinking about management is the hiring process. So, I asked Laura Flood how she chooses who to hire. She stated that when she gets the budget to hire a new staff member she gets really excited because budget is one of the things that they worry about when it comes to staffing. She said that they usually post the job opening on the website, www.usajobs.gov. She stated that she has access to see who has applied. From there, she tries to see who has experience in dialysis or any unit that requires the specific skills that dialysis staff members need. After eliminating any candidates, she then asks the current team members to see if they know any of the individuals that have applied, and if they do, she will ask them for their input on the individual’s performance. Flood stated that it is important that everyone on the unit is able to work together, so even if the person applying is highly qualified, if other team members suggest not to hire the individual, she will not continue onto an interview process. Flood mentioned how important team work was for the unit, so I asked her why it is so important to work as a team for this specific unit. She stated that there is a large number of patients that they see multiple times a week, and it’s important that communication is open for all employees. When there are even just a few people that don’t get along, there tends to be tension and that can affect how daily operations run, even for individuals that aren’t involved. Within a hospital, all units need to be able to work as a team, because there are so many policies and procedures to follow when it comes to taking care of the health and well-being of an individual. There are also many different team members, such as doctors, nurses, and technicians that all have to center their care on the patient and it wouldn’t work if they weren’t able to communicate and work with one