Angie Cromer discusses her career path in nursing management. She started as an LPN and earned her RN and promotion to director with encouragement and support. Personal qualities like organization and strong people skills are important to be successful in management. Job openings are now posted online through Greenville Health System's website. Typical hiring involves group interviews to see how applicants interact and "mesh" with others. In the future, Cromer wishes she took more Spanish and technology classes. Nursing management experience is applicable to many healthcare fields and administrative roles. The organization is currently growing through its integration with Greenville Health.

1. Informational Interview
Angie Cromer
Oconee Memorial
Nursing Manager
Kara Morris

2. What Training or Education is
required for this type of work?
 Well I originally began as a LPN, which after
encouragement from an administration, and support
from the hospital I went to receive my RN, and then
was promoted to director.

3. What personal qualities or abilities are
important to being successful?
 Oh there are a ton, definitely organization. People skills
are major too, you have to be able to work with people,
from other employees to patients.

4. How do people find out about job
openings in your occupation?
 As part of our integration with Greenville all of our job
openings are now posted online on their website. It’s
actually very easy to apply now.

5. What are typical hiring
procedures?
 Well I prefer having them interact with everyone, one-
on-one interviews don’t really show their personality
and how they can handle tough situations with their
potential fellow employees. So we try to have them
done in groups, and see how they can ‘mesh’ with
everyone.

6. If you were starting out again,
would you do anything different?
 I would take Spanish for sure. And any technology
class I could get my hands on, especially excel. It
seems like everything is done through excel somehow
now.

7. What are your alternative
career paths?
 Well with nursing I could really go into any field. With
management, it really can be applied to any side of
healthcare also. Every department has it’s own
administrative side to it within a hospital, even private
practices do as well.

8. What are the ‘hot issues’ in this
field?
 Right now we’re working to really encourage mothers
to breast feed. All those binders (points to almost 10
binders) are ways to encourage mothers, and highlight
the benefits to breast feeding.

9. How many hours do you work a week? And
do you often take work home?
 I work normally 45 – 50 hours total a week. A few times
a month I’ll work the night shift so I have time with all of
my employee. Making sure they know they have
someone there for them is really important to me.

10. What are some rewards of
your occupation?
 My favorite thing is probably going to the grocery store,
and having one of our moms come up to me and say
‘this is little Johnny now, you were there when he was
born’. It’s wonderful seeing how much they grow.

11. Would you rather work for a
smaller or larger company?
 Smaller, absolutely smaller. There’s just something
about knowing all of your employees, and getting to
spend time with them and help them as they need it.
You can’t do that kind of thing in a bigger hospital.

12. Is your organization growing, shrinking, or
maintaining? Who are your competitors?
 It’s growing for sure. Especially with the Greenville buy-
out. In the area we don’t have immediate competitors,
maybe AnMed and St. Francis, but Greenville health
systems is still a major hospital nation wide.

13. What is the ‘corporate culture’
here?
 I would definitely say Oconee is like a family, our floor
is at least, and I’ve built great personal and
professional relationships with my superiors.

14. What are some problems you see
working in this field?
 Barriers. From cultural barriers, to language barriers, to
people just not understanding we’re trying to help them.
Sometimes there are barriers within the organization
too, which how much you’re allowed to do and having
too much to do.

15. What strategies would you recommend for
someone trying to enter the job field?
 Network, network, network. Connections can take you
everywhere, that’s partially how I got this job.
Encouragement from a family friend.

16. What’s special advice you would
give to someone starting out?
 Take finance classes, and things of that sort. And be
patient, you wont get everywhere you want to in one
day.