Healthcare organizations face a lot of challenges that have led to many patients not receiving appropriate health care services as it is supposed to be. The majority of healthcare facilities across the world have failed to deliver quality treatment to their clients and in the process leading to the loss of many lives that could have been saved. The emergency room department is the most affected department and many lives have been lost due to the many challenges facing the department in many healthcare facilities. This paper will highlight some of the major challenges facing healthcare organizations from a given case study with a lot of emphasis being put on the emergency room department.
From the case study, the first major challenge facing healthcare organizations is extended waiting time for patients especially those in need of emergency healthcare attention. It is the obligation of all hospitals to make sure that all patients receive the required medical attention on time (Swayne, 2006). Many hospitals do not have waiting areas in the emergency departments where physicians can be able to triage patients and determine the urgency patient cases. When patient evaluation is done, those patients who emergency medical treatment are attended to and in the process saving many lives. The waiting time is too long leading to the worsening of patients’ conditions. One of the major causes of long waiting times for patients is the shortage of nurses and other professional medical practitioners (Swayne, 2006). From our case study, there is only one surgeon in the hospital making the patient who needed urgent surgical operation to wait almost the whole week only to be told that the surgeon is not specialized to operate on wrists.
The emergency department is the most critical department in a healthcare organization and should be adequately staffed by the necessary medical professionals to avoid delays and referrals. The other major challenge facing healthcare organizations is poor medical care and referral processes (McEachen, 2006). An example of such scenarios is when a physician would fail to be available according to the indication of the resident and yet they are on call. The idea of postponing appointment especially surgeries is a common challenge in many healthcare organizations. Hospital processes should be simplified and easy to follow by patients and the hospital staffs which can make them become motivated. Very elaborate processes as seen in the case study easily leads to a patient’s dissatisfaction and the hospital can end up losing clients. Overcrowding experienced in emergency rooms is one of the major problems that cause long waiting times because due to inadequate staffing. Poor hospital- patient communication is another major challenge in this case (Swayne, 2006). From our case study, there many times the patient tried to seek some clarifications from the hospital but ended up without receiving any response from the hospital administration.
In conclusion, the major challenges facing many healthcare organizations across the world are almost similar. The emergency department or room is the most affected and many lives have been lost due to poor service delivery at the department. Many hospitals are very under staffed with very few specialized medical practioners who are able to handle critical cases like the ones that need surgery. Poor hospital –patient communication with elaborate referral processes are also among the major challenges facing healthcare organizations.
References
Swayne, L. (2006). Strategic management of healthcare organizations. New York, NY: Wiley-Blackwell.
McEachen, I. (2006). Nurse management demystified. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Professional.