Human Resources in Healthcare Organizations - Term Paper Example

 Human Resources in Healthcare Organizations Teaching Commitment in a Private Hospital’s Training Program The core business of hospitals is to provide medical care. Nevertheless, training healthcare workers and doctors is a derived obligation, focused on the provision of steady supplies of competent staff for the hospital and the medical fraternity at large. A distinct benefit of pursuing a medical career in a teaching hospital is therefore the opportunity of acquiring practical skills and experience in a convenient and systematic schedule. Essentially, well-established hospitals offer the added advantage of providing opportunities for trainees to specialize in professions of their choice. These private hospitals have an added benefit of being on schedule in providing training that meets the medical requirements of the next generation. To this end, senior healthcare professionals, other than their career function as medical practitioners, have an obligation, or choice, of teaching in hospital training institutions. Private hospitals are for-profit entities with stakeholders upholding a valid expectation of getting a return on their investment. In this regard, private hospitals expect value for money. As such, senior health professionals, who wish to join these hospitals, must demonstrate a sense of unwavering commitment to their duty. In spite of the foregoing, doctors will more often than not take up teaching jobs on a part-time basis. Essentially, it is a delicate balance in how such professionals split their time and resources. As consultants, they inevitably provide services in multiple entities. The latter could be the concern of private hospitals, that such professionals are not be fully committed to meeting the obligations, objectives, and mission of private hospitals. The essence of the discussion presented here is to highlight and analyze the various predictors to this concern. Specialists Have Control Private hospitals have to lay down organizational and structural frameworks and processes that support their mission and objectives. Essentially, this calls for building sustainable and well-coordinated teams. However, senior health professionals are leaders in their own right, and have considerable leeway as to how they utilize their time and resources. A leadership initiative to establish effective working teams is a fundamental ingredient that determines the quality of medical care provided by private hospitals (Riley, Davis, Miller, Hansen, Sainfort, & Sweet, 2011). To this end, it is mandatory for the leadership to undertake deliberate initiatives to develop common values and objectives, by providing a framework where teams consistently work together with minimal disruption. Teaching is an Additional Responsibility Factors that influence the satisfaction of doctors on the job and an ultimate commitment to training programs are not distinct: The total hours they will need to work per day, their opinion on work environment, working relationships with colleagues, and wage expectations. That notwithstanding, private hospitals, by virtue of consultants working as freelance personnel, may not be able to institute a framework of accountability for the consultants. With such an arms length mode of operation, private hospitals have only but to rely on the integrity and commitment but also the purpose these professionals portend (Bal, 2009). Doctors who are required to work eight hours a day in treatment of patients may find it unwelcome to put in more hours in staff training programs- unless there are attractive benefits and incentives that private hospitals offer. Training programs in hospitals have a direct impact on work schedules for doctors. For instance, doctors working on night shifts may find it inconvenient to be available for training during the day. Private hospitals in meeting their objectives may then have to pay for the value that such professionals bring on board. This implies private hospitals have to offer attractive remuneration packages and develop a framework that supports flexibility in scheduling of working hours (Buss and Paul, 2009). Influencing Factors The management and quality of medical care in private hospitals is superior to that of non-profit hospitals. This is in consideration of the fact that investors in private hospitals certainly go an extra mile to maximize return to investment by providing better service and taking lesser risk. With private hospitals operating on stringent business models, the options available for medical training are vast, while the quality of education is competitive. For graduates who wish to pursue further education, hospital medical schools offer a variety of higher degrees. Not only do opportunities for higher education exist, but also the flexibility of switching professions is available. One can for instance opt to train to be a nurse practitioner, or a teacher in a nursing school (Baker, 2007). A significant advantage of hospital medical schools is the accessibility to job opportunities in departments that are specialized. Graduating nurses seldom lack job opportunities; though in some cases nurses may have to begin by working in departments that are not their preference. Graduates are advantaged, as they are familiar with the hospitals, whereby they are attached, and easily receive recommendations from their trainers. Senior professionals who teach in such hospital schools also have a clear sense of direction for training, owing to the fact that there are already existing frameworks for teaching, internships, and employment opportunities for graduates (Salas, Almeida, Salisbury, King, Lazzara, Lyons, et al., 2009). New stuffs joining any organization have genuine concerns of personal and professional development. Such stuffs look forwarding to being mentored by senior and more experienced staff as part of their induction process. Unfortunately, mentorship in public hospitals may not be readily forthcoming, as would be in private hospitals. The advantage of getting medical training in private hospital facilities is the ease with which students have access to mentorship as they closely interact with already experienced employees (Bot, 2005). In the latter regard, the induction process is more effective, dynamic, and systematic. Personal attributes associated with cultural orientation influence interpersonal relationships especially in a work environment that has immense diversity in cultural backgrounds. The level of an individual’s career achievement, personal fulfilment, and job satisfaction is subject to the effortlessness with which new students and employees interact with colleagues (Salas, Almeida, Salisbury, King, Lazzara, Lyons, et al., 2009). More often than not, new students and employees have had difficulty in career advancement for having a poor fit with their trainers and bosses. This situation is greatly minimised in private hospitals owing to the close interaction frameworks exemplified in these institutions (Gulliford & Myfanwy, 2003). Organizational Commitment of the Senior Professionals Senior professionals expect that their organizations will meet certain obligations, if they are to be committed: To Provide Medical Care Nonprofit hospitals experience several constraints that have an ultimate impact on their terms of employment and work environment. In particular, stringent bureaucratic control, and have limited financial resources leading to tight budget controls limits efficiency levels in operations. The quality of services they provide, working environment, and terms of service, reflects such limitations. The commitment of doctors to training programs reflects cultural and personal values, motivation, and loyalty to the institutions. Hospitals, as entities, are composed of interrelated micro-systems composed of clinicians, patients, and adaptive patterns and processes. The effectiveness and efficiency of hospitals in delivery of Medical care and other derived functions, such as staff training, is largely depended on how well the micro-systems coalesce and function. Building interdependent and mutually supporting micro teams leads to the successful development of a staff-training program in hospitals. To Train New Staff Private hospitals are emerging as better training institutions for young professionals. This is because public hospitals undertake less training operations to provide essential skills and experience to new stuff. Public hospitals have been criticized for providing insufficient supervision to young medical stuff, a trend that has seen private hospitals take up an increasing percentage of young professionals seeking on job training (Bot, 2005). To Implement Rules and Regulations The ultimate objective of hospitals is provision of superior but affordable medical care, as well as to develop a working environment that is supportive and optimistic. The success of high performance medical facilities has been identified from medical records as attributed to: Leadership and management of microsystems, cultural formation of microsystems, the collective focus of staff on the definitive mission of care for the patient, and the management’s commitment to improve processes and patterns of performance (Gulliford & Myfanwy, 2003). A positive result in the analysis and evaluation of the private hospitals leadership by senior professionals wishing to join them would predict significantly on a probability of the job being a satisfying one (Victorian Quality Council Secretariat, 2010). Work-Related Factors Predict the Commitment to Teach Inherent attitudes shape the satisfaction people derive from work (Victorian Quality Council Secretariat, 2010). The level of satisfaction in the medical profession has a direct impact on how doctors and healthcare workers relate to colleagues and patients. More job satisfaction is derived from developing a positive mental attitude for the job, an attribute determined by both intrinsic and extrinsic reasons. Intrinsic Factors The level of fulfillment in a job is largely depended on an individual’s level of success in their job, interpersonal relationships, and the quality of leadership and supervision one gets (Victorian Quality Council Secretariat, 2010). Lower levels of job satisfaction in jobs, coupled by rising levels of stress, pose a significant threat to physical and mental wellbeing, achievement of goals, and individual development at personal level (Victorian Quality Council Secretariat, 2010). Lower job satisfaction levels manifest in the work place, as reduction in productivity and quality of work. Extrinsic Factors A significant factor in job discontent among doctors is lack of clear opportunities for professional advancement, poor remuneration, and lack of facilities and an enabling environment for improvement of skill and qualification (Victorian Quality Council Secretariat, 2010). A supportive and enabling work environment is one that stimulates communication and sharing of information. Senior health professionals would certainly find it more fulfilling to work in an environment where feedback and sharing of information within the leadership forms the framework of the institution, in achievement of a shared mission and objective. A medical team demonstrates interdependence when it exemplifies appreciation and recognition that, as a team, they play a complementary function founded on trust and mutual support in contribution to a common objective. With the steady rise in the numbers of individuals in need of medical care, health workers and doctors often find it overburdening to meet this demand. Work overload is a major concern for these professionals. The consequences are decreased in job satisfaction, exhaustion, and the accompanying mental and physical complications. Medical professionals have also a major concern on the organizational culture of the organizations they work for. The hospital leadership have a challenge in provision of opportunities for innovation, job security, and flexibility in working schedules. Conclusion Opportunities for career advancement are amajor concern for medical professionals. Indeed, the time it takes and the resources invested to train as a medical doctor are enormous. Doctors only expect a fair reward for their effort. However, this may not be forthcoming. As such, majority of the medical doctors take up multiple jobs in both private and public institutions. Attractive remuneration packages in private hospitals are a sure reason why health professionals ditch public hospitals, or take up part time jobs in private hospitals. Conversely, the numbers of patients that require medical attention have been on a steady rise in recent years. However, there are witnessed declines in health professionals available to satisfactorily handle the workload. Consequently, the quality of care provided by doctors and nurses, as well as the quality of their lives, has been compromised. This challenges is exacerbated by the inability of a majority of patients to pay for medical services, resulting in minimal incentive for health professionals to provide quality service. Apparently, this is a leading reason for doctors taking up teaching jobs in private hospitals, or taking up multiple jobs in different entities. The levels of commitment exhibited by these professionals are raising concerns. Considering that private hospitals are enterprises where stakeholders expect maximum return on investment Indeed, such declining levels of commitment by senior healthcare professionals to teaching jobs in private hospitals should elicit more concerns. Noteworthy, the business model is that of value for money, and any prospect worth consideration is that which adds value to their brand, at minimal risk and cost. Nonetheless, senior healthcare professionals equally have immense expectation on what employers have to offer in return for their long and hard earned expertise and experience. Therefore, there is need for an intricate balancing of the interests of both parties, a situation that concerns private hospitals more than senior healthcare professionals. The question is, are private hospitals ready and able to engage senior healthcare professionals on employment terms that befit their worth and expectation? References Baker, N. (2007). Social work through an interpreter. Social Work, 26, 391-397. Bal, P. (2009). Communicating with non-English speaking patients. British Medical Journal, 283, 368. Bot, H. (2005). Dialogue interpreting in mental health. Amsterdam, NY: Rodopi. Buss T F., and Paul N. (2009). Expanding access to health care: A management approach. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe. Gulliford, M., & Myfanwy, M.(2003). Access to health care. New York: Routledge. Riley W., Davis S.E., Miller K.K., Hansen H.E., Sainfort F., Sweet R. (2011). Didactic andSimulation Nontechnical Skills Team Training to Improve Perinatal Patient Outcomes ina Community Hospital.The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety,7 (8), 357-364. Salas, E., Almeida, S. A., Salisbury, M., King, H. B., Lazzara, E. H., Lyons, R., et al. (2009). What Are the Critical Success Factors for Team Training in Health Care? The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 35(8), 398-405. Victorian Quality Council Secretariat (2010). Promoting effective communication among healthcare professionals to improve patient safety and quality of care. Melbourne, Victoria: Hospital and Health Service Performance Division, Victorian Government Department of Health. Read More