Chapter 399: A Test of Leadership in the Emergency Department

From Dr. Xu’s words, it was clear he held high expectations for Zhou Can.

In the future, Zhou Can would at minimum need to manage a department.

Only by becoming a department head could he earn that qualification.

Dr. Xu even hoped that Zhou Can might one day become the hospital director.

“The incident with Nurse Ma Xiaolan is the perfect chance to test your team management skills, so I’m stepping back. Also, haven’t you always envied those top-tier operating rooms? As long as our emergency department OR keeps up this performance, I think Director Lou might be able to push for it in six months.”

Dr. Xu set a small goal for Zhou Can.

The emergency operating room was simple and lacking—a serious shortcoming.

Many complex surgeries simply couldn’t be performed here, which was obviously a disadvantage for the department’s growth.

If a department wants new equipment, more operating rooms, or even extra medical staff, performance is the only bargaining chip.

Just bidding for a hundred-grade laminar flow operating room usually starts above half a million yuan.

If you opt for imported materials, costs can soar to two million or more.

Rumor had it, the cheapest purified laminar OR could be built for just three hundred fifty thousand.

Last month alone, Zhou Can’s surgical team performed over eight hundred procedures—fifty-eight of which were level-three surgeries. Even if those level-three cases were routine, the numbers alone were eye-catching.

If this level of performance could be maintained, the department wouldn’t even need to ask—hospital leadership would be eager to upgrade their resources.

“Don’t worry, teacher, I won’t slack off. But if we get that top-tier OR, you know it takes more than just that!”

Zhou Can grinned shamelessly as he spoke.

“Matching facilities for the OR? That’s impossible to do all at once. Our hospital finance department is notoriously stingy. In their eyes, the emergency department is always lying low, skimping by, and draining the main budget. Just getting them to fund one advanced OR is already a miracle. Now you want them to outfit it with extra high-end equipment? That would cost at least eight million. Might as well dig up their ancestral graves!”

Dr. Xu’s tone was filled with disdain when he mentioned the hospital’s penny-pinching finance team.

Do your job, serve your position.

The finance office controlled the hospital’s purse strings. Every department wanted funding, and payroll plus expenses could frighten anyone. Sometimes major procurement projects, like a high-end MRI, would run from several million to twenty million yuan.

Usually, imported MRI machines run about four to six million, while domestic ones are around three million. A superconducting 1.5T unit averages ten million; 3.0T machines can hit fifteen to twenty million.

Surgical robots and their smart digital OR tech are just as expensive.

The hospital looks like it’s making money, but it burns through cash even faster.

Just turning on ECMO once costs at least twenty thousand.

Even something as basic as the electric and water bill can be staggering over a month.

So really, finance has no choice but to be stingy!

If they spent all the hospital money and couldn’t make payroll, what then? Public hospitals have state funding, but without their own source of income, they’d be bankrupt in a month or two.

People always think working in a hospital requires at least a bachelor’s degree.

To become a doctor nowadays, you usually need a postgraduate degree or higher. But few know that bringing together so many highly educated people means salaries and year-end bonuses are astronomical.

Actually, doctors’ pay doesn’t really match their effort, degrees, or years of service.

Medical staff in China are generally paid too little.

“One day we’ll get all the advanced equipment our emergency OR needs, but I know it can’t happen overnight. My short-term hope is to have our own endoscopy room. Traditional surgeries are gradually being phased out; endoscopic procedures have so many advantages. If we get our own endoscopy room, we can start taking on a lot more minimally invasive work.”

Zhou Can had his own vision.

Last month, all those operations had been traditional surgeries.

He realized some could have been endoscopic.

Trying to do minimally invasive work the old way is mostly talk—not practical. Real minimally invasive surgery means endoscopy.

Patients recover even faster this way.

And endoscopic surgery is a huge trend.

If you don’t keep up with the times, the emergency department should be glad just to survive, let alone thrive.

“I’ll discuss this with Director Lou and Deputy Director Han. Whether it works out, who knows? Still, as long as you keep leading high-performing, high-quality operations, our department will have the grounds to ask for more facilities.”

After hesitating a moment, Dr. Xu gave his advice.

In the end, the hospital belonged to everyone—not just one person.

No one department could have priority.

To win more funding and resources, you had to prove yourself.

Research, academic achievement, and performance are all hard currency.

That’s even how state funding works. If a superpower’s navy wants more money, they have to create a stir—send out an aircraft carrier, play up threats, and then publish some reports on their rivals.

Only then will the finance ministry be happy to approve funds.

After their conversation, Zhou Can and Dr. Xu left the small conference room.

Dr. Xu headed straight for Director Lou’s office, while Zhou Can walked toward the doctors’ office.

“Dr. Zhou!”

Ye Tingting popped up out of nowhere and grabbed Zhou Can’s arm.

“Sister Ting, you’re here about your cousin, right?”

Zhou Can had already made his decision.

If Ma Xiaolan couldn’t find her place, she’d have to go.

“First, I owe you an apology. I really didn’t expect Xiaolan to act so rashly. She isn’t usually someone who can’t tell right from wrong, but she’s forceful by nature, grew up poor, suffers from low self-esteem, and has ended up with an overactive pride. She knows she got this job through connections, so she feels out of place. At the end of the day, it’s just lack of social experience. I’ve never asked you for anything, but please—give her one more chance.”

Clearly, Ye Tingting cared deeply about her cousin.

Maybe she was also close to Xiaolan’s parents, perhaps having received a lot of love from them as a child.

That was probably why she was working so hard to plead for her cousin.

Her approach was smart—she blamed Ma Xiaolan’s actions on inexperience rather than character or quality. That was sure to soften Zhou Can’s bad impression.

“Xiaolan called me in tears explaining everything. I already scolded her and pointed out what she did wrong. First, there’s no excuse for leaving instruments all over—that goes against the three-check seven-step rule for nurses. Second, leaning on personal connections to stir up trouble and act arrogant with the older staff is even worse. As long as you give her one more chance, I believe she’ll really change and do better.”

Ye Tingting kept pleading on her cousin’s behalf.

Compared to her cousin, she was clearly sensible.

“Now that you’ve asked, I can’t really refuse. I’ll give her another chance. As long as she drops her arrogance and works with the team, I won’t treat her any differently.”

Zhou Can realized how convenient it was to have authority.

Sending Ma Xiaolan to write a self-reflection was already offering her a chance to turn things around.

Now that Ye Tingting was asking for leniency, this was the perfect opportunity to show goodwill.

If Ma Xiaolan changed, everyone benefitted. If she didn’t, nobody could save her and she’d be dealt with accordingly.

“Thank you, Dr. Zhou! I’ll be sure to keep a closer eye on her so you won’t have more troubles.” The gratitude was written all over Ye Tingting’s face.

There was no doubt that Zhou Can would get her eager help in the future.

That’s just how grown-ups operate—give and take.

It’s not about men and women trading favors physically. That depends entirely on both parties. If the man has good character and the woman values her integrity, they can remain friends.

There’s no need to cross the line.

Between Zhou Can and Ye Tingting, there was nothing inappropriate.

They always treated each other with respect and helped each other out.

“Go take care of your work. I’ll check on how Ma Xiaolan’s self-reflection turned out.”

Zhou Can headed for the nurses’ duty room.

Compared to doctors, nurses had it a bit tougher—they didn’t even have their own offices.

Just like in a family, the man’s status is usually a bit higher.

A man works hard to provide, while a woman may also work but might not earn as much.

Often, women do more around the house too.

Traditionally, families relied on the man and expected the woman to manage the home and raise children.

Hospitals were much the same between doctors and nurses.

Doctors handled diagnosis and treatment, while nurses played the supportive role—helping with logistics, following doctors’ orders, giving injections, changing dressings, and providing care.

“Dr. Zhou, you’re here!”

The nurses greeted Zhou Can warmly.

“Is the new nurse, Ma Xiaolan, inside?”

He asked.

“She is! Did you bully her, Dr. Zhou? Xiaolan’s eyes are all swollen from crying!”

“As if I’d dare bully you nurses. The doctors all say you’re cute but fierce!”

Zhou Can replied, stepping into the duty room.

Nurses rarely had the same downtime as doctors—they were almost always busy.

Seats were hard to come by too.

Inside, he found Ma Xiaolan, her eyes red and swollen, working on her self-reflection.

Seeing Zhou Can come in, Ma Xiaolan looked flustered, barely able to meet his gaze—clearly, she feared him now.

“Dr. Zhou, don’t you dare bully our Xiaolan!”

The other two nurses slipped out, leaving the room to the two of them.

Everyone was sharp—they knew Zhou Can would want a private word with Ma Xiaolan, giving her space so she could speak freely.

“Ma Xiaolan, is your self-reflection ready?”

“Dr. Zhou…”

They spoke at the same time, but she fell silent, letting him continue.

“Yes, please check it.”

She stood up and politely handed over her reflection.

Her attitude was nothing like the arrogance she’d shown in the operating room.

Of course, she hadn’t acted out there because of Zhou Can—it was aimed at Qiao Yu.

Women can be a real mystery sometimes.

Who knows what nerve gets touched—one moment they’re fine, the next they’re emotional.

Qiao Yu had actually been good to her, but as soon as he pointed out her mistakes at work, she snapped. Maybe she always saw herself as his superior.

If a subordinate criticizes a superior at work, it can easily provoke them.

At the root, Ma Xiaolan just didn’t know her place.

Rookies always hit these kinds of pitfalls. If she learned from it, that was for the best.

“Hmm, this is a pretty deep reflection. Your attitude isn’t bad.”

Zhou Can nodded in approval.

“Since this is your first offense, let’s treat it as an internal team issue—no need to report it to Nursing or the department. Be at the OR by 7:50 tomorrow for your shift as Attending Nurse. I suggest you work on your professional skills—strive to become a qualified Attending Nurse soon. Otherwise you’ll eventually be dropped from my team.”

What Zhou Can did was essentially raise the matter gently, then set it down softly.

The impact on her was minimal.

The Nursing Department was always protective of its staff. As long as it wasn’t a serious issue and doctors weren’t pushing for consequences, they wouldn’t bother.

Nurse turnover was already high.

If things weren’t going well, nurses would truly quit on a whim.

“Thank you! I promise I’ll show you a new attitude. Thank you for this chance.”

Ma Xiaolan’s change in attitude was huge.

She probably reflected a lot while writing, and Ye Tingting must have talked to her as well.

Everyone has to learn to adapt to society.

You can’t expect the world to adapt to you.

Zhou Can gave her a nod and walked off with the self-reflection in hand.

“Leaving so soon, Dr. Zhou? We have snacks in the duty room!”

“Haha, thanks but save your snacks for yourselves! Just don’t get caught by inspection—it’s only a fine, but a public reprimand could ruin your career.”

Zhou Can found himself liking this group of cheerful nurses more and more.

They were all working together, striving to make the emergency department stronger.

When Zhou Can got home that night, Su Qianqian was waiting with dinner ready.

Whenever Zhou Can was home, the bodyguard Wei Fang always made herself scarce, giving the couple time alone.

She brought a portion up to her grandmother.

Su Qianqian really treasured her time with Zhou Can, especially enjoying cooking, eating, and watching TV together. Unlike those girls who love shopping, her heart longed for peace and quiet.

Maybe that’s the same for all celebrities.

Stars are always in the spotlight, surrounded by crowds. But after so long in public, they crave a quieter, ordinary life.

“Honey, I’m thinking of going to the hospital for a checkup with you tomorrow. It’s been almost a month since I stopped the herbal medicine. According to Old Mr. Chen Guoli, I’ve finished three courses of treatment. If my kidney function tests are still normal after stopping the meds, and there’s no change, I’ll just need more rest to recover completely.”

After the herbal therapy, Su Qianqian’s spirit, complexion, and energy were all back to normal.

“No problem! Go to bed early tonight—I need to get to the hospital early, so don’t act like a lazy kitten and refuse to get up!”

Zhou Can teased her with a smile.

Wanting to sleep in seemed to be every woman’s instinct.

Back when Su Qianqian was busy with work, she often had to get up early. But over the past year—focused on her health and singing—she’d quit most of her entertainment work.

Her wake-up time got later and later.

“Hmph! Who’s the lazy kitten? Careful or I’ll scratch you!”

Su Qianqian playfully bared her teeth at him.

It was obvious—their relationship was as close as ever.