Introduction
The main aim of hospitals having policies and procedures is to keep the highest standards of openness, probity, and accountability in all affairs. Policies are guidelines or guiding principles on some issues in the organization. There are many examples of policies in the organization. The procedure is how things should be done, in other words, it is a course of action or process on how a policy should be implemented. Example of policy and its procedure.
Example of Harassment policy and procedure
The hospital is committed to a working environment free from harassment. Harassment may include discrimination, bullying, sexual, and malicious, and other forms of acts that lower human dignity. The hospital is directly liable for any unlawful discrimination by her staff members.
Procedure for staff members’ staff members who have been subjected to harassment should do the following; speak to the alleged harasser politely, if he does not respond or he continues, report to the line manager, if it fails then report to the hospital administration. The administration will guide you on the course of action.
Once a policy has been formulated, it should be reviewed regularly depending on the regulatory bodies’ procedures. The reviewing of policies all depends on other issues like government directives, trade unions negotiations, or a change of moral perspective on the issue covered in the policy. Otherwise, the reviewing of policies should be at least a reasonable period of let say five years. While the reviewing of procedures should be regular and should be inclusive. by regular I mean it should be done when there is a reason to believe that the way things are done is unjust. It can be after two years or whichever the hospital may decide. By inclusive, I mean that when reviewing the staff members’ views should be considered.
Administration’s policies are policies that govern how issues are being done in the company and they relate to administration issues like public interest disclosure, the use of company or hospital assets, and administration relating issues. Personnel policies cover issues relating to relationships in the hospital. They are always handled by the personnel department of the hospital. They may include harassment, staffing, disciplinary, and other relating issues. Departmental policies are policies that govern the issues of a department. They relate to the work of the department and they are handled within the department. This affects members who are working in that department only.
The guiding principle for a policy
The guiding principle for a policy is a moral issue or the company activity that will affect the smooth running. For example, the hospital cannot run smoothly if they are sexually harassed. A policy aims at assisting the firm to achieve its goals. While the guiding principle for a procedure is the policy in place. We shall not have a procedure if we don’t have a policy. Procedures are always made after policies have been formulated.
When formulating, revising, or developing a policy there several regulatory bodies to consult. These bodies include Government, an association of doctors, and associations of nurses, trade unions, and other bodies. The government regulates the operation of hospitals and the doctors and nurses association regulates the conduct of their members and looks into their working conditions. The hospital management should also be consulted as well as other staff members who are not aligned to the associations.
When formulating a policy, several words should be avoided. These words include must, should, and other words that try to issue commands. When inputting policies the following should be considered employees of affected department, management, board of directors, and many others.
When formulating a policy, one needs to begin with understanding the objective of the company, consider the issue that requires the policy the procedure on how to implement the policy will be considered.
References
Kosier, Erb, Berman, & Snyder, 2002; Fundamentals of Nursing Concepts, Process, and Practice,.
Heitkemper & Dirksen, 2005; Medical Surgical Nursing, 6th ed. by Lewis.
Conte A; 1999 Sexual Harassment in The Work Place; Aspen Pub.