Powerlessness in Amongst Nurses - Research Paper Example

? Case study Question 1a There are diverse issues that enhance powerlessness in amongst nurses. The rampant rate of turnover and resignation by staff is attributable to powerlessness. Powerlessness also attributes to diverse situations in the unit. Managers have a tendency to overlook the internal conflicts that exist amongst the staff. Nurses experience intense conflicts amongst each other, and they require an arbitrative party to resolve the rivalry (Manojlovich, 2007). When the conflicts are highly persistent, the nurses develop a negative attitude towards the workplace. They feel that situations will remain conflicting. Consequently, the nurses do not anticipate changes and harmony within the workplace. The negative attitude amounts to a feeling of powerlessness in the workplace. Powerless staff will relieve their negative feelings amongst each other (Carpenito-Moyet, 2007). This is according to the oppression theory. Evidently, conflict and powerlessness have a direct affiliation in the workplace. Lateral violence is also a key attribution to powerlessness within the unit. This vice amounts to bullying. Most of the minority nurses experience much adversity from majors within the unit. In this case, the majors oppress colleagues with demeaning tasks (Russell, 2012). Consequently, the patient care is significantly deprived due to the impaired relationships that exist within the staff. Powerful groups extremely humiliate and exploit the powerless groups. Nurses invest in lateral violence in the quest for power. Consequently, they render their colleagues powerless within the workplace. Evidently, lateral violence is a key attribution towards powerlessness. Question 1b There are diverse sources of power within the working place. The set ethics are potential sources of power within the workplace. Nurse and physician ethics advocate for maximum responsibility within the workplace. Each staff member ought to invest in accountability within the workplace according to the recommendations of the ethics. The ethics entail a code of conduct that applies to every staff member (Rosdahl, 2008). Upon a clear perspective, ethics inculcate responsibility and power to the staff members. This would definitely amount to professionally resolved conflicts and healthy relationships. Nursing proficiency is a source of power within the unit. Expertise has a definite positive impact to the nurses’ self-esteem. With the advancement of expertise, nurses attain a sense of authority (Manojlovich, 2007). Expertise and proficiency are attainable resources within the confines of the unit. Nurses encounter diverse challenges and experiences that enhance nurse expertise. Attainment of knowledge and skills within the unit accredits the nurse with professional influence to other workmates. In this case, the nurse with expertise will mentor and train newly recruited staff. They are in a capacity to provide a mentorship affiliation with the incoming workforce (Porter-O'Grady, 2009). Consequently, the experienced nurses gain power to induce skills to the recruited nurses. Expertise power amounts to healing supremacy. It transforms the lives of the patients significantly towards healing and recovery. Therefore, expertise elevates the power to care for the patients. Ethics and expertise are evident sources of power within the unit. Question 1c Nancy has an obligation to encourage the nurses towards empowerment. She also has an obligation to resolve the unwanted behaviors within the unit. Nancy ought to spell the impacts of negative relationships. This would involve specific and relevant examples within the nursing unit (Carpenito-Moyet, 2007). Therefore, Nancy should illustrate the ramifications of abusive relationships amongst the nurses. For example, Nancy would outline the impacts of the negative relationships to the patients. She would achieve this by showing the high mortality rate and deprived care towards the patients. Through this illustration, the nurses would be encouraged towards healthy relationships within the workplace (Manojlovich, 2007). Consequently, they would observe the rewards of collegial relationships within the workplace. Therefore, collegial relationships would dominantly prevail amongst the nurses. This would also have a significant enhancement to service delivery within the nursing unit. By taking these actions, Nancy would defuse the negative behaviors and promote healthy relationships in the unit. Nancy would also have a task to empower the nurses towards responsibility. In this case, nurses would never excuse themselves in case of negative behaviors. They would take full responsibility of their deeds in face the consequences in scheduled meetings. Nancy also has a responsibility to inculcate professional communication skills amongst the nurses (Manojlovich, 2007). This would definitely reduce the rampant conflicts within the unit. Communication would amount to formal interactions through documents and observation of etiquette in dialogue. This empowerment is attained from professional trainings among the nurses. These skills would amount to utmost empowerment of the workforce within the unit. Consequently, every nurse would feel empowered by the organization to perform adequately in their profession. Question 2a There are essential details that I should collect from my working force. I would collect prescription details made by a nurse to specific patients. This would assist in evaluating the rate of accuracy in the prescription process. A deprived rate of medical prescription would definitely amount to adoption of the eight hour shift. This would act as a source of firsthand information to the council. An appraisal of the calculations and medical recommendations would determine the rate of accuracy vividly (Porter-O'Grady, 2009). I would also take the respective working schedules for each nurse. This would show the span of time spent within the workplace. Subsequently, I would conduct a comprehensive comparison of the working schedule and the prescriptions made by the respective nurses. Keen observation would be invested in the prescriptions conducted after the eighth hour of the working shift. This would be the trend in evaluating every nurse within the unit. The schedules would also show the trend in punctuality. Extended shifts would also have a negative impact on the subsequent job attendance. Therefore, lateness in subsequent shifts would be definitely attributed to the length of the previous shifts. The contents of the schedules and the accuracy rate would substantiate an implication for change. The eight hour policy would therefore be highly recommended by the council due to the presentation of facts within the documents. Question 2b Additional information would also be paramount for the advocacy of the eight hour shift. For instance, weekly reports from the nurses would be essential for the meeting. The reports would entail honest feedback on the individual’s progress within the unit. Nurses would therefore have a platform to comment on the trends within the unit. In this case, the nurses would comment on their fatigue during the extended shifts. They would also have utmost liberty to recommend for necessary adjustments. Definitely, this would be a paramount advocacy towards the implementation of the eight hour shift. These reports would reinforce the implications of the schedules and the prescriptions. Nurses would provide feedback about the errors and fatigue at the prolonged shifts (Rosdahl, 2008). The reports would take the nature of questionnaires or comprehensive essays to report the trends of the existing shift. I would also collect reports and feedback from the patients within the unit. These documents would take the nature of a questionnaire containing feedback from the patients. The questionnaire would engross comments and reactions about the existing schedule. In this questionnaire, patients would comment on the attitude and performance of the nurses during the shift (Porter-O'Grady, 2009). They would clearly spell the intensity of healthcare they would get from the nurses across different times within the schedule. Their feedback would definitely affirm the implications of the nurses’ reports. They would also enhance the implications of the schedules and the prescriptions. Presentation of these materials to the council would definitely amount to a major adjustment towards the schedule. Question 2c I would use diverse methodologies to educate the workforce on the role of shared governance in policy change. Firstly, I would formally train them towards the maximum utilization of resources within the unit. This is a key merit of using shared governance (Porter-O'Grady, 2009). Through showing the workforce of the advantage, they would realize its role. In shared governance, the unit’s resources are fully accounted for, and put into use for the universal interests of the workplace. In this case, each resource surrounding every individual has a role and objective within the organization. This training sensitizes the workforce against resource wastage and mismanagement. The subsequent effect is the pre-dominance of low quality services. Therefore, revealing the advantages of shared governance will help the workforce learn of its role in policy change. Maximum involvement of the workforce also helps them learn about the significance of shared governance in policy change. Through direct involvement, the work force satisfies the values of shared governance as they also learn of its significance. These are the key methodologies I would use in educating my workforce. References Carpenito-Moyet, L. J. (2007). Nursing diagnosis: Application to clinical practice. Philadelphia, Pa: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Manojlovich, M. (2007). Power and Empowerment in Nursing: Looking Backward to Inform the Future. American Nurses Association. Vol.12. Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/ OJIN/TableofContents/Volume122007/No1Jan07/LookingBackwardtoInformtheFuture.a spx Porter-O'Grady, T. (2009). Interdisciplinary shared governance: Integrating practice, transforming health care. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Rosdahl, C. B., & Kowalski, M. T. (2008). Textbook of basic nursing. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Russell, P. M. (2012). Lateral Violence in Nursing. California State University, San Marcos. Retrieved from https://csusm- dspace.calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.8/148/RussellMary_Spring2012.pdf.pdf?sequ ence=2 Read More