Meet Charlotte Colbert!

Risk Manager for the VA Medical Center

In a lot of ways, Charlotte Colbert works as a medical detective. 

As a risk manager, Charlotte's job is to make hospital visits safer for everyone.  The hospital has many people working to keep patients safe, but Charlotte has a unique job.  She investigates accidents in hospitals, and tries to figure out why they happened so they won't happen again.  She also looks for situations when quick-thinking doctors and nurses prevent accidents. Charlotte investigates those potential accidents as well, to keep them from ever happening.  Charlotte got into this career through her experience in nursing.  She says it's fascinating- she gets to do research and help with nation-wide studies. She's proud that she and her colleagues have made healthcare safer. 

Charlotte says, "People expect someone at the hospital to look closely at adverse events.  I look for clusters of events, patterns or peaks that may be worrisome.  By analyzing the data, I try to figure out what's going on to cause these situations, and prevent them."

Also important to Charlotte's work is creating trust.  The doctors and nurses at the hospital have to trust that Charlotte knows how to spot real problems.  She also works to win the trust of patients, who want to know someone is looking out for them to keep them safe, and fixing problems when they come up.

Charlotte says the best part of her job is that she keeps her hand on the pulse of the hospital, watching to make sure potential problems don't grow into bigger problems.  The most challenging part of her work is assisting with legal work and overcoming negative expectations of her position.  She says sometimes people are worried that they are in trouble when she wants to see them.  Charlotte would like to change that attitude and help others understand the purpose of her work, to keep us all safer at the hospital.

Charlotte absolutely recommends this career because there's never a dull moment.  She says, "It just can't be beat!" 

Charlotte would advise anyone interested in this career to first get training as a nurse or as a doctor.  She says you have to understand what happens in the hospital before you can be good at this job.  This is a career that takes several levels of expertise.  To get started, and to see if this is the career for you, try volunteering at a hospital safety project.