Critical Issues in Healthcare - Essay Sample

Introduction

Two important issues that leaders of healthcare organizations encounter today include a shortage of staff specifically the nurses and influx in registry, part-time and temporary contract staff. The issue of staff shortage is mainly caused by the increasingly aging population of nurses. It implies that the numbers of professionals retiring are high compared to the rate at which young graduates join the field. Professionals are also lost whenever people make the decision to resign or pursue other careers away from nursing. The trend of nurse shortage tends to force healthcare facilities to opt for part-time nurses and temporary contract staff with the goal of reducing the overall recurrent expenditure. As a result, the relative pressure significantly manifests in the form of an influx of register due to congestion of schedule and limited human resources.

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Impact of the Issues

The ancillary department plays a major role in supporting the primary physician by offering three fundamental services that entail diagnostic, custodial and therapeutic. The significance of this category of staff within a healthcare facility cannot be disregarded because of the fundamental specialized roles that these professionals play. A doctor cannot make a perfect diagnosis without the help of a lab technician and prescriptions may fail to be effective in the absence of a therapeutic specialist. Therefore, a shortage in the number of ancillary staff can affect the efficiency in various departments within a hospital.

The influx in registry implies that nurses get to experience a busy schedule due to an overwhelming number of patients. Since such situations increase the demand for services which demand additional personnel. Hospitals are forced to seek a partial solution in the form of part-time employees and temporary staff. This solution is not sustainable because the temporary and contracted personnel can easily consider voluntary turnover. In general, the two situations drastically affect the motivation of other staff members who find little time for themselves. Congested schedules constantly contribute to stress pile-up and this leads to poor performance or turnover.

Impact of Communication, Collaboration, and Teamwork

Communication

Communication is an important strategy for sharing information and delivering instructions within a healthcare facility. According to the Institute for Healthcare Communication (2019), communication among professionals in a facility brings satisfaction within a team. Whenever professionals in the ancillary department share accurate information about tasks and responsibilities, sources of error are reduced and employee satisfaction is increased. Effective communication can be utilized to motivate the few employees within the department. The part-time workers and trainees can significantly benefit from effective communication from mentors or senior employees. Many problems within the department can also be solved through communication where workers can present their complaints and the leaders can provide responses or solutions.

Collaboration

According to Morley and Cashell (2017), satisfaction within the healthcare sector is a factor of collaboration between different parties. The approach demands both social and task input from a group of members who share a common goal and vision. In the process, collective action is considered as the main route to solving complex clinical issues. Collaboration among professionals is important as it brings together different knowledge and skills to solve a clinical problem. In the ancillary department, the members can collaborate to solve various issues that currently affect the section. Schedule formation and adherence is one sign that collaboration has been utilized at the department. Members in the ancillary department can come together and plan as colleagues. Collaboration makes people work together and manage conflicts in a professional way. In collaboration, the interests of every worker in the department are addressed in the best way possible by colleagues. The approach also ensures that power and sense of responsibility are evenly distributed within the ancillary section. It is essential for the part-time workers, contract nurses and the employed to complete the tasks in the department as a team. Some members should not be overloaded with tasks as compared to others. This can be achieved through the equitable distribution of roles and responsibilities.

Teamwork

According to Clements, Dault, and Priest (n.d), work as a team is an important strategy in healthcare delivery. The approach ensures that the roles and ideas of different professionals in a team are harmonized and utilized to achieve a common goal. Teamwork can be judged on the basis of communication and collaboration. Well, synchronized teams tend to portray effective communication, excellent problem solving or conflict resolution and unity. In the ancillary department, all members can work as a team to overcome the current problem. It means that different professionals should help others overcome both professional and social challenges. In this perspective, teamwork can be used to enhance participation and concentration of every worker in the ancillary department.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the ancillary department can solve its main challenges by embracing teamwork, collaboration, and effective communication. All workers in the department must be trained and enlightened about the significance of these three inputs. These three remedies will help the department to share a mission and a vision.

References

Clements, D., Dault, M., & Priest, A. (n.d). Effective teamwork in healthcare: Research and reality. Healthcare Papers, 7, https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9ee8/8f2c3612aa54ed067a06f85a4b5ca6d5becc.pdf.

Institute for Healthcare Communication. (2019). Impact of communication in healthcare. Retrieved from https://healthcarecomm.org/about-us/impact-of-communication-in-healthcare/

Morley, L., & Cashell, A. (2017). Collaboration in Health Care. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, 48, 207-216.