The Contextual Environment
Type of Organisation
St. John of God Health Care is “a not-for-profit ministry of the Catholic Church” which was founded by the Sisters of St John of God in Western Australia in 1895 (“A Reason to Hope,” 2011, p. 2). In 2007, it merged with another non-profit organisation, the Hospitaller Order of St John of God and now it is third largest Australian private hospital operator (“A Reason to Hope,” 2011).
Philosophy of Organisation
Mission of Organisation
The organization’s mission is to “respond to needs in society without discrimination” by “promoting the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual well-being of the people” the organisation serves “by offering compassion, hospitality, justice, respect and trust” (“Annual Review,” 2011).
Client Group Served
St John of God Health Care operates thirteen hospitals in New South Wales, Western Australia and Victoria and provides health care services to “people experiencing disadvantages” (“First Foundations Laid for Midland Hospitals,” 2012, n.p.). The organisation provides health care services for people who have substance abuse history, who suffer from psychological disorders, etc. (“Annual Review,” 2011). For instance, it has been involved in such incentives as assistance to women who experienced domestic violence, etc. (“First Foundations Laid for Midland Hospitals,” 2012).
Policies and Principles
The organisation follows a number of principles. The organisation pays special attention to expanding the range of services implementing surveys to reveal people’s needs (“Annual Review,” 2011). It also invests in research that helps to develop new tools to help patients. Furthermore, development and training of the staff is one of the major objectives of the organisation. Finally, the organisation follows principle of environmental sustainability.
Goals
The major goals of the organisation are as follows:
- Sustaining and developing a values-led culture
- Sustaining and developing Hospitaller Services’ assets
- Sustaining and improving existing services
- Developing new services
- Influencing futures (“Annual Review,” 2011, p. 3)
Resources
The organisation operates a number of laboratories, which enables the organisation to have twenty-one research projects (including six independent projects) aimed at developing new strategies and techniques to address the needs of people with pathology (“A Reason to Hope,” 2011).
The organisation employs 9,535 healthcare professionals (4,089 of these are nurses). There are 296 doctors and 3,379 private specialists (“A Reason to Hope,” 2011, p. 59). In addition, the organisation invites volunteers to cooperate. The organisation also initiates various projects where undergraduates participate. The organisation invests in the development of its professionals.
The organisation receives financial support from the Australian government and receives donations from different organisations and individuals. Notably, Australian government acknowledges successes of facilities of the organisation and is ready to continue supporting the organisation financially (“Summary of National and State Government Policies,” 2011).
The Client Group Being Served
The organisation serves to the group of people who are especially vulnerable. The patients need special care and psychological support as they are often neglected and even rejected by people. Apart from this, patients’ relatives often need healthcare professionals’ support and assistance. It is also necessary to note that the overall community benefits from the assistance provided by the healthcare professionals of the organisation as this help contributes to creation of the proper atmosphere (atmosphere of tolerance, understanding, support) within the community.
The Corporate Culture
The corporate culture of the organisation is based on the Catholic principles and is:
fundamentally centred on respecting and cherishing the innate dignity of each person… embracing not only all who serve but forming the core of… everyday work serving others – patients, clients, residents, families and the wider community. (“A Reason to Hope,” 2011, p. 58)
Management Issues
Environment Selection and Structure
As any organisation St. John of God Health Care faces a number of management issues to be solved. One of the most important issues to be addressed is development of proper communication among employees, between employees and patients, between employees and patients’ relatives (“Clinical News,” 2009). Shi (2010) claims that effective communication is a potent motivator for healthcare professionals of the organisation and it ensures patients’ safety as well as contributes to creation of the proper work environment. Proper communication also contributes to employees’ ability to avoid conflicts or come up with certain ideas to solve this or that conflict situation (Niles, 2012).
Quality Management
Admittedly, prior to developing particular strategies aimed at improvement of communication, it is important to monitor each hospital, each department to understand particular issues to be solved. Questionnaires and group discussions as well as individual interviews can be sufficient to define existing issues.
Staff Selection and Support
HR specialists of each department will collect the necessary information. They will complete reports on existing issues associated with communication (the templates will be developed and sent via e-mail). HR specialists will also run the necessary training for the stuff. All the necessary materials (including description of activities, teaching tips, visual aids, etc.) will be provided. Finally, outside trainers should also be invited. Doctors, nurses, volunteers, patients and patients’ relatives will participate in training activities.
Budget / resources
The training of communication skills will not require excessive funds. A number of activities developed to improve communication skills will be held in terms of team building activities (Fallon & McConnell, 2007). However, certain funding will still be needed to hold training activities and to invite professional from the outside.
Time management
When developing timetable for activities, it is important to take into account employees’ schedules. Furthermore, it will be necessary to take into account free time of patients and patients’ relatives as these people will also participate in a number of activities (Fottler et al., 2010). Some activities will be held during working hours and some activities will be held at weekends.
Selection and Sequencing of Activities
Nature, Needs, Interests and Expectation of Selected Target Group
One of the key tools of healing at St. John of God Health Care is personal communication with patients and their relatives (Martin, 2005). Healthcare professionals should be able to support patients and their relatives. These people are especially vulnerable and they need support which they get via personal communication, etc.
Aims of Quality Improvement Project
It is important to gain patients’ trust (Hernandez & O’Connor, 2009). Apart from this, it is necessary to address issues associated with cultural diversity as now Australian health care system is becoming more and more culturally diversified (Connell, 2010). Language courses can be necessary at certain facilities. However, all units require training in terms of cultural diversity. Employees should understand cultural peculiarities of each other and patients’ cultural backgrounds as one of the major. principles of the organisation is equal support provided to all people irrespective of their cultural backgrounds (“Annual Review,” 2011).
Objectives of Quality Improvement Project
The major objectives of the present project are as follows:
- To improve communication among employees (doctors, nurses, midwives, volunteers, managers).
- To develop favourable atmosphere within the organisation by introducing a variety of team-building activities.
- To improve employees’ communication skills. This will help them provide high quality services as communication is one of the major tools to achieve organisation’s major goals (provide support to most vulnerable groups of people).
Expected Outcomes
The training provided will help employees develop proper communication skills which they can use while interacting with patients, patients’ relatives and colleagues. Effective communication will contribute to improvement of quality of services provided as all healthcare professionals will be able to share information about patients’, their physical and psychological state (Price & Novak, 2007). It is necessary to note that improper communication leads to various conflict situations as some employees are not well-informed. Finally, the training which will include team building activities will improve atmosphere within the organisation (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2011).
Sequence of Experiences
Healthcare professionals try to meet all patients’ needs. Healthcare professionals also need to communicate with patients’ relatives who need special attention and psychological support. Healthcare professionals also interact with each other every day. Therefore, there are three plains to be considered while developing training program.
Teaching/Learning Methods/Strategies
The present training presupposes adult learning. Discussions, workshops and trainings can be effective. Notably, trainings should be developed to address different groups of learners: audial, visual or kinaesthetic learners (Swayne et al., 2006). The use of technology will contribute greatly to effectiveness of the training (Hasman, 2006). The use of video and audio records as well as various presentations can be effective.
Report of Personal Self Directed Learning
Liebler and McConnell (2011) claim that reflective learning and personal self-directed learning are important in training. As has been mentioned above, discussions will be held in terms of the training project. Some of these discussions will be devoted to employees’ evaluation of their learning. Employees will complete questionnaires and reports on their training.
Expected Outcomes
This will help assess employees’ progress, their evaluation of the training, and overall effectiveness of the training project (Liebler & McConnell, 2011).
Teaching Learning Steps
The first step is to monitor particular needs in particular facilities of the organisation. This monitoring can also include collecting data on learning styles of employees (questionnaires may include questions concerning employees’ preferences and learning peculiarities). It is important to define learning styles of the employees to work out effective training. Apart from questionnaires, the employees should do brief tests to define their learning styles. The tests are available online, and in the literature on human resources management.
The next step is development of training activities. At this stage, it is necessary to consider the following: schedules, discussions, workshops, trainings, team building activities, assessment discussions. Learning styles should also be taken into account. The training should include discussions, audio material, visual aids, PowerPoint presentations, and activities appropriate for kinaesthetic learners.
The following step is training proper. The final step is collecting back up: employees’ evaluation of the effectiveness of the project, data on employees’ progress, etc. Analysis of the training project, defining strengths and weaknesses, is the final stage of this step.
Impact Evaluation
Program
Within a month after the training, it is important to monitor the impact of the project. Patients and patients’ relatives will complete questionnaires concerning the quality of services provided. Employees will also complete reports concerning issues they face. They can also include description of situations they faced and the way they solved issues. Individual interviews should also be held as they enable to extract more information.
Clients
It is necessary to hold certain discussions with patients and their relatives to understand whether they regard the project as effective. The project is likely to help this group of people better understand what they expect from their healthcare professionals.
Staff
The training project will be most beneficial for employees. First, they will acquire the necessary communication skills. They will be able to develop proper communication patterns which will help them create better atmosphere at workplace. The healthcare professionals will also be able to better understand patients’ (and their relatives’) needs which will help them provide high quality services.
Personal Comments
The Experience
Such kind of training projects can help organisations develop proper atmosphere at workplace. It will help employees gain the necessary experience as well. I find such training projects very important for any organisation. When it comes to health care organisations, communication skills are of paramount importance as health care professionals use communication as their major tool to meet their clients’ needs.
Value
I think the present project’s value cannot be overestimated as it leads to favourable atmosphere within the staff and it helps the organisation expand its services and provide high quality services.
The Future
Notably, the training project aimed at development of communication skills will be beneficial for all stakeholders involved. More so, it will be beneficial for the entire community as health care professionals help the most vulnerable group.
References
Annual Review. (2011). Web.
A reason to hope. (2011). Web.
Buchbinder, S. & Shanks, N. (2011). Introduction to health care management. London, UK: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Clinical news. (2009).Augmentative Communication News, 21(2). Web.
Connell, J. (2010). Migration of health workers in the Asia-Pacific region. Web.
Fallon, L.F. & McConnell, C.R. (2007). Human resources management in health care: Principles and Practice. London, UK: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
First foundation laid for Midland hospitals. (2012). NewsMaker. Web.
Fottler, M.D., Khatri, N. & Savage, G.T. (2010). Strategic human resource management in health care. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing.
Hasman, A. (2006). Ubiquity: Technologies for better health in aging societies. Lancaster, UK: IOS Press.
Hernandez, S.R. & O’Connor, S.J. (2008). Strategic management of human resources in health services organisations. Clifton Park, NY: CENGAGE Learning.
Liebler, J. & McConnell, C. (2011). Management principles for health professionals. London, UK: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Martin, J. (2005).Facing the future with hope.Hospitaller, 16. Web.
Niles, N.J. (2012). Basic concepts of health care human resource management. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Price, C.H. & Novak, A. (2007). HR policies & procedures: Manual for medical practices. Englewood, CO: Medical Group Management Assn.
Shi, L. (2010). Managing human resources in health care organisations. London, UK: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Summary of National and State Government Policies for WA country health service planning. (2011). Web.
Swayne, L.E., Duncan, W.J. & Ginter, P.M. (2005). Strategic management of health care organisations. Carlton, Victoria: John Wiley & Sons.