Health Care Recruitment - Research Paper Example

?Table of Contents Table of Contents 4.0 Receiving Applications 8 5.0 The interview 9 0 Introduction ABC-Hospital is a general hospital established in 1988. It provides both in patient and outpatient services to the people living in and outside California. It has a bed capacity of two hundred and fifty and offer medical services to hundreds of people each day. There are about thirty surgical patients at one given time in the surgical ward though surgical ward has a capacity of hundred beds. The hospital is liked for its quick and effective treatment services making it among the leading healthcare providers in California. Over the years, the hospital has expanded rapidly and the management board has been approving necessary resources and providing moral support to help the hospital personnel handle ever increasing number of patients. On December 3, 2010, the board approved recruitment of fifteen surgical unit nurses to address acute shortage of surgical nurses in ABC-Hospital. It is a move that is aimed at increasing the number of patients attended and fast tracking surgical procedures. Surgical nurses are charge with critical responsibility of ensuring that emotional and physical wellbeing of pre- operative and post-operative patients are well cared for and managed professionally. Failure to recruit nurses will weaken the ability of the surgery nursing unit to provide care and treatment as required. In addition, the number of people to undergo surgery will continue to decline causing a lot of backlog and suffering to the patients who need urgent surgical procedures. Following is a recruitment plan that will enable ABC-Hospital to recruit fifteen surgical nurses. 2.0 Recruitment plan 2.1 SWOT analysis Strengths of the Surgical Unit at ABC-Hospital ABC-Hospital surgical unit is usually allocated sufficient finances to run its day to day activities. This has enabled the department to acquire state- of art surgical equipment and personnel to ensure that patients receive best health care services. The surgical unit has a fully fledged counseling unit to help surgical personnel especially the nurses to handle emotional challenges and fatigues that is caused by their work. When surgical nurses reached twenty five, the doctors will be able to increase the number of patients undergoing operation from four to over eight per day. Weaknesses of the Surgical Unit at ABC-Hospital The number of surgical nurses is ten. This is barely sufficient to meet increasing workload and high staff turnover in the surgical department. Shortage of surgical nurses is attributed to high staff turnover as a result of the stressful nature of the job that leave many nurses drained of energy and some decide to quit their jobs or transfer to general wards. The few available nurses are overwhelmed and cases of burnout, increasing number of absenteeism and lower staff morale has also been witnessed. This impact negatively health care delivery services to the patients. Acute shortage of surgical nurses led to reduced number of new surgical cases from an average of eight patients daily to three cases each day. Threats of the Surgical Unit at ABC-Hospital Stressful working conditions may result to increased surgical staff turnover in future. Most staff work more than forty hours stipulated in the job contract. This denies them adequate time to interact with other staff members as well as their family and friends. Globally, there is acute shortage of competent nurses. This means that it will be difficult to recruit and retain competent surgical nurses because demand for them is very high. Opportunities of the Surgical Unit at ABC-Hospital ABC-Hospital has decided to increase the number of surgical nurses from ten to twenty five by April 31, 2011. ABC-Hospital considers its surgical unit extremely important and the board has approved staff development budget. A staff member who has worked in the hospital for more than twelve months is eligible for study leave. In addition, surgical staff members attend professional meetings at least once every month to allow them share experiences with their peers and learn better ways of discharging their duties. This is intended to make them highly effective. 2.2 Recruitment objectives To recruit fifteen new surgical-Unit nurses for ABC-Hospital by end of March 31, 2011 To lessen the work load of surgical nurses in the surgical Unit of ABC-Hospital and reduce level of burnout by reducing number of working hours to forty hours per week for each nurse. To increase the numbers of surgeries made by the hospital inline with its plans and hospital capacity from April 1, 2011. 2.3 Recruitment of nurses 2.3.1 Number of surgical nurses required. ABC-Hospital will recruit nurses for its seven surgery units. The seven surgery units are general, vascular, Colo-rectal, oncology, orthopaedic, urology and day surgery units at the ABC-Hospital. In general terms, surgical nurses will be responsible for mental and physical well being of both pro-operative and post operative patients. They should have skills and knowledge in anesthesiology, pediatrics, infection control and oncology. Since Surgical Unit of ABC-Hospital Intensive care and high dependency unit, each nurse will be allocated a maximum of three patients depending on the situations. 2.3.2 Specific roles and duties of the nurses a. Prepare patients for surgical procedure b. Administration of pre-medications c. Acquiring written consent from patient parents or guardians d. Ensure that patients blood tests have be made e. Ensure that identification labels and bracelets are correct f. Record all allergies in patients’ notes g. Ensure patients have been fastened appropriately h. Assemble equipment and supplies for surgical procedures. i. Monitor patients condition after surgery and j. Monitor patient closely for signs of shock and arrest k. Ensure that wounds created through surgery are well managed l. They are responsible for reducing pain and post operative nausea and vomiting m. Prepare patients for discharge and give patient information on support systems and measures necessary to their recovery n. They should also provide comfort and hygiene and update medical records. 2.4 Recruitment strategies 2.4.1 Sources of recruitment ABC-Hospital shall use its human resource department to recruit surgical nurses. Liebler and McConnell (2004) states that vacant positions shall be published and advertised in both internal memo and local newspaper to staff and general public at the beginning of recruitment process. Publication and advertisement of surgical nurse vacant positions shall be done on February 22, and February 24, 2011 asking interested qualified nurses to apply for the position. ABC-Hospital shall accept referrals from its staff and nursing schools. All application shall be send via electronic media only and applicants are asked to send their application letters, accompanied by testimonials and Curriculum Vitae to recruit@abchospital.com. Deadline for applications is March 4, 2011. 2.4.2 Selection general guidelines ABC-Hospital shall conduct its recruitment and selection process in a transparent and fair manner. According to Joint Commission (2003 p. 88) and Office of the Federal Register (2010 p. 613), recruitment and hiring should be non-discriminatory. Therefore, ABC-Hospital shall not discriminate on grounds of sex, religion, race, age, compensation, marital status or parental status. The personnel charged with recruitment and selection process shall be honest and adhere to the highest ethical standard and not favor certain candidates. Therefore, there should not be any form of canvassing between panel members and prospective candidates. The staff shall be recruited through open competition and all potential candidates shall be ranked on the basis of highest standards of competence. Primary consideration of ABC-Hospital is to recruit staff that has highest standards of commitment and competence to its values and mission. 2.4.3 General requirements The incumbent surgical nurses should have thorough knowledge of wound care and surgical drains. He or she should be passionate on issues touching human spirit. Prospective surgical nurse should have passion to make a difference in the lives of patients and other people around them. He or she should be hardworking, attentive to details, flexible and able to analyze behavioral cues correctly. 2.4.4 Qualification and certification The incumbent surgical nurse should have at least associate degree in nursing (ADN) or Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). He or she should have passed the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses or Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN). In addition, they should be Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN). 3.0 Recruitment resources Recruitment materials include; writing pads, interview schedules, meals and drinks. There shall be seven panel members. Drawn from various departments in the hospital Interview room shall be the boardroom of the hospital. The whole recruitment process would take about fifteen working days. Total recruitment budget is expected to be $5,000 4.0 Receiving Applications To ensure that fairness and transparency adhered to, the human resources department shall receive all applications and shortlist thirty candidates who shall interviewed by seven member panel. Deputy human resource manager of ABC-Hospital Susan Eliot shall supervise human resources department and ensure that all applicants are screened and shortlisted on merit following assessment of their detailed testimonials and Curriculum Vitae. Short listing starts on March 8, 2011 and ends on March 11, 2011. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted via email followed by telephone on March 11, 2011 asking them to attend interviews on March 22, March 23, March 24 (2011). 5.0 The interview The interview shall be conducted by seven panel members and shall be chaired by Denise Burton. The panel members are made up of Denise Burton drawn from human resource (director human resource), Rachel Zeman (chief nurse), Maurice York (doctor), Venesa Jackson (chief pharmacist), John McCullough (recruitment consultant), Everton Jang and Valarie Young (surgical nurses). All the materials and resources will be on the venue on as at March 20, 2011. In addition, all the panel members must confirm their availability on March 20, 2011. The panel shall interview ten shortlisted candidates each day for three days. Each interview shall take about 45 minutes. The tallies for the three days shall be done on March 25 and March 28, 2011. Final decision on the successful candidates shall be made on March 28, 2011 following approval by ABC-Hospital Board of Directors. Successful candidates will notified of their success on March 30, 2011. Letters of regret shall be sent to the unsuccessful candidates on March 29, 2011. Table 1- interview schedule March 22, 2011 March 23, 2011 March 24, 2011 Name Time Name Time Name Time 1 8.00am- 8.45 am 11 8.00am- 8.45 am 21 8.00am- 8.45 am 2 8.50 am - 9.35 am 12 8.50 am - 9.35 am 22 8.50 am - 9.35 am 3 9.40 am - 10.25 am 13 9.40 am - 10.25 am 23 9.40 am - 10.25 am 4 11.00 am -11.45 am 14 11.00 am -11.45 am 24 11.00 am -11.45 am 5 11.50 am -12.35pm 15 11.50 am -12.35pm 25 11.50 am -12.35pm 6 12.40 pm -1.25pm 16 12.40 pm -1.25pm 26 12.40 pm -1.25pm 7 2.00 pm -2.45 pm 17 2.00 pm -2.45 pm 27 2.00 pm -2.45 pm 8 2.50 pm -3.35 pm 18 2.50 pm -3.35 pm 28 2.50 pm -3.35 pm 9 4.00 pm -4.45 pm 19 4.00 pm -4.45 pm 29 4.00 pm -4.45 pm 10 4.50 pm -5.35 pm 20 4.50 pm -5.35 pm 30 4.50 pm -5.35 pm 6.0 Induction After which they shall proceed for a two week induction as per the Hospitals recruitment process. Induction shall be arranged and coordinated by ABC-Hospital human resource department as from April 4, 2011. 7.0 Monitoring and evaluation ABC-Hospital shall monitor the recruitment process to ensure that correct procedures are followed and that right candidates are selected. The recruitment process shall be evaluated to ascertain whether the following have been achieved according to plan. The recruitment objectives, recruitment resources including panel members and staff, time taken, number of application receives, number of shortlisted candidates, number of selected staff, the number of curriculum vitae and certifications received, adherence to recruitment guidelines and induction process. 8.0 References Joint Commission (2003). Staffing effectiveness in hospitals. Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois: Joint Commission Resources. Liebler, G.J. & McConnell, C. R. (2004).Management principles for health professionals. Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Office of the Federal Register (U.S.) (2010). Code of Federal Regulations, Title 38, Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief, Pt. 18-End. Washington: Government Printing Office. Read More