Introduction
Developing organizational policies and practices in the field of healthcare presents a dilemma, as a significant number of details should be taken into consideration. It is essential not only to provide patients with the medical care of high quality and satisfactory care but also to address the convenience of working conditions. The productivity of an organization directly depends on the staff’s satisfaction with the workplace and its rules. However, occasionally, competing needs arise while deciding the internal policy. These needs imply some rules, requirements, an organization’s goals, which cannot be completed at the same time. In the healthcare field, such a problem regards the operation cost.
The owner’s intention to cover all the expenditures, gain appropriate profit, and supply high-quality services may result in a nursing shortage (Milliken, 2018). These circumstances address ethical considerations, so it is not easy to cope. The solution and minimizing the damage lies in the development of appropriate organizational policies and practices. This way, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the organization cost and problem raising around this topic and propose efficient practical steps.
Organization Cost: Competing Needs
The organization cost appears to be the aspect that may cause competing needs. The willingness of the owner to achieve high productivity goals and avoid additional expenditures has a negative impact on nursing practice, and such concerns occasionally lead to nurse shortage. According to Haddad et al. (2020), “nurses are a critical part of healthcare and make up the largest section of the health profession” (para. 1). Therefore, it is evident that these competing needs affect the customers too. The necessity to maintain the operation costs in accordance with the standards of productivity levels, which are vital for a company’s development, may prevent nurses from supplying the medical services properly.
It has become a common sight when the number of employed professionals in the enterprise is not rational or less than required. Consequently, other employees have to overwork in order to match the organization’s requirements and standards and provide each client with appropriate attention. For instance, nurses frequently have only half an hour for the appointment, and in case of additional treatment or consultation is necessary, they cannot deprive the client of it. It not only leads to delays in a queue but also affect the nurses. They do not have the appropriate time to take a break or have a meal, which impacts on their condition. In addition, nurses do not have enough time for their plans and lives, as there is the lack of appropriate staff in an organization.
Nurses appear to be extremely vulnerable to emotional burnouts, resulting in leaving the profession at all. Haddad et al. (2020) state that “the national average for turnover rates is 8.8% to 37.0%, depending on geographic location and nursing specialty” (para. 7). In addition, the fact that the majority of nurses are female should be taken into consideration, too. Caring for family and upbringing children present an integral part of their lives. As for men in this profession, they also have to fulfill their social roles as fathers and spouses. This way, working long hours and additional shifts may significantly disturb the employees.
In summary, competing needs in the healthcare field may be presented by the nursing shortages, which is caused by the organization cost and the intention to avoid overspending. Nurses encounter heavy workload that has a negative impact on their job and life satisfaction and may become the reason for constant stress and burnouts (Kulju et al., 2016). That is why this pressing concern should be addressed by healthcare organizations urgently.
Relevant Policy in Trinity Health Services
Trinity Health Services appears to be my present place of employment for five years. The aforementioned issue has affected the organization too, so it has to stick to a certain policy. Trinity Health Services has established a comprehensive program for the realization of personal potential in profession and career. Nurses are motivated to put the full extent of their experience and education into practice and expand them (Nursing Professional Development, n.d.). For this reason, the organization participates in nursing research, which impacts on the quality of medical services. Such an approach provides a strong motivation for nurses and appears to be helpful for reducing turnover.
Another beneficial way of supporting nurses is an investment in their leadership by Trinity Health Services. The organization attempts to find professionals determined to achieve leadership roles and facilitate them. For instance, a new program has been established for Chief Nursing Officers in order to improve their leadership skills by supplying necessary knowledge and practice (Nursing Professional Development, n.d.). With the combination of the previous program, this measure helps maintain the turnover rate among nurses at the minimum level.
Analysis of the Policy in Trinity Health Services
The current policy toward nurses and their interests in Trinity Health Services is beneficial in relation to avoiding turnover. It supplies the staff with an excellent opportunity to realize the personal potential in a career, which positively impacts job satisfaction among employees. This way, the relevant approach contributes to the solution to one of the ethical considerations, which arises from the competing needs. However, the policy still requires some improvements, as it does not submit any options for nurses’ burnouts and a high level of stress at the workplace. Overworking and additional shifts present a pressing concern, which nurses still frequently encounter. The proposals for managing these issues are presented in the next section.
Possible Solution
Elaborating new policy in the organization or correcting the current one in accordance with competing needs may become a beneficial solution. One approach regards the necessity to systemize the schedule of nurses in an organization. For instance, limiting the work hours for a certain number would prevent the staff from overworking. This way, the necessity to recruit more personnel would become even more evident and threatening for an organization’s running, as the quality of delivering medical services would decline significantly. Such a measure would stimulate the manager to find the replacement in order to match the productivity level.
Apart from the option mentioned above, there are more comprehensive ones. One of them is proposed by Vari M. Drennan and Fiona Ross in the article “Global nurse shortages-the facts, the impact and action for change”. The authors notice “the positive impact of for transition programmes and support for newly qualified nurses” (Drennan & Ross, 2019, p. 7). This proposal would definitely be beneficial for attracting new employees and creating favorable working conditions. In addition, the researchers draw attention to the manager leadership style, which may appear to be helpful in solving these competing needs. They claim that it is essential to elaborate measures of motivating the staff to do their best at the workplace (Drennan & Ross, 2019). This way, the problems of turnover may be reduced to the possible minimum.
Another possible proposal on reducing the nurses’ job dissatisfaction and overfatigue regards organizing special leisure time opportunities. For instance, a medical organization may propose an incentive of establishing particular cooperation programs with health centers, resorts, or hotels. This way, the employees would be supplied with chargeless options for spending vacations qualitatively. This program would contribute to all the competing needs, as it appears to be the solution for nurses’ overfatigue. Furthermore, the quality of medical services and patient treatment predominantly depends on the medical staff’s condition, as this job requires accuracy and carefulness. As well as enthusiastic and exuberant professionals definitely benefit the entire organization, providing leisure time opportunities would allow the workers to spend their time with families and fulfill their social roles as parents and spouses.
Conclusion
The organization cost may cause competing needs in healthcare and become one of the reasons for the nursing shortage, which leads to burnouts and turnover. This problem also regards some ethical considerations, as overworking makes private lives and convenient pace impossible for the nurses. The solution to this issue lies through attracting and recruiting new staff members. Moreover, it is worth paying attention to the appropriate level of motivation among professionals providing them with possibilities of achieving leadership roles and establishing support programs for newcomers. Another possible improvement addresses the organizing of employees’ leisure time and providing them and their families with attractive options. This way, the competing needs in the healthcare field could be overcome.
References
Drennan, V. M., & Ross, F. (2019). Global nurse shortages – the facts, the impact and action for change. British Medical Bulletin, 130(1), 25-37. Web.
Haddad, L. M., Annamaraju, P., & Toney-Butler, T. J. (2020). Nursing shortage. StatPearls Publishing LLC.
Kulju, K., Stolt, M., Suhonen, R., & Leino-Kilpi, H. (2016). Ethical competence: A concept analysis. Nursing Ethics, 23(4), 401–412. Web.
Milliken, A. (2018). Ethical awareness: What it is and why it matters. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 23(1). Web.
Nursing Professional Development. (n. d.). Trinity Health. Web.