Improving Quality Service in Nursing - Term Paper Example

Running head: Improving quality service Improving Quality Service Outline 0. Executive summary 2.0. Introduction 3.0. Discussion 3.1. Tangibles 3.2. Performance appraisal 3.3. Training 3.4. Compensation 3.5. Employee empowerment 4.0. Methodology use 4.1. Archival research or historical method 4.2. Observation 4.3. Survey research 4.4. Content analysis 5.0. Conclusion 6.0. Recommendation 1.0. Executive summary This paper focuses on improving the quality of services that the nurses’ display in a London based general hospital. As the human resource manager, there are some management tools that I must use in order to increase the quality of services that the nurses apply in the hospital. One of the management tools that need to be used is the tangibles. The outward appearance of the place and the nurses is a big key to the satisfaction of the customer. Performance appraisal is also an additional management tool that I will use if the quality of services that the nurses portray is to improve. Training of the nurses is another management tool that I have used to tackle the issue of delivering poor service quality. This will assist the nurses in performing their duties well. They will be taught ways of communicating with the patient and employing empathy in their communication. Employee empowerment is also a fundamental management tool. Compensation and using methodology study to determine what the clients want to be changed in the system is also an essential management tool that can be used. 2.0. Introduction The quality of service that the nurses display is fundamental in that it greatly contributes to customer loyalty and profitability. This does not only increase the profitability but it also creates a good brand name for the institution. According to Parasuraman & Zithaml (2002), if an organization provides a positive service quality, then the customer’s intentions are affected. It is most likely that the customers will also behave in a positive manner. Some of the benefits that the organization receives from a positive service quality is that the organization receives praise, customers are likely to prefer the organization more than the others and the volume of the purchases done will increase. The human resource strategies will high affect the quality of services that will be provided. To increase the quality services that the nurses display, then there are some fundamental things that the nurses should be aware of. 3.0. Discussion 3.1. Tangibles The outward appearances of the nurses is a key factor in which the customer will decide whether to continue with the services of the hospital or not. Improving the outward appearances of the nurses will contribute a lot to the customer’s satisfaction. According to Lucio & Roper (2011), improving the outward appearances of the employees helps a lot in the satisfaction of the customer. Since the hospital is a public place in which a multitude of people come in, then the outward appearances of the nurses must be looking good (Chowdhary 2006). Additionally, if the outward physical appearances of the nurses do not meet the outward physical appearance of the institution, then the efforts will be futile (Susskind et al, 2003). It is recommendable that the physical appearance of the hospital should be well groomed. The physical appearance of the hospital should imply that the customer is in a hospital. The place should also be well groomed. A bin for putting in litter should be well available. In short, the place should be well cleaned and in a capacity to met the outward physical appearances of the nurses. 3.2. Performance appraisal The human recourse management team should also involve themselves in evaluating the performance of the employees if they want to improve the quality of services that is to be offered. Performance evaluation is an important management tool which the human recourse management uses to evaluate employees. The Human recourse manager uses this to motivate the employee to improve or continue performing according to the companies standards. In a hospital institution, performance evaluation or appraisal will assist the human resource management to provide a quality service. The performance evaluation process should occur in a range of 9 months to 12 months. If the nurses are aware that a performance appraisal process is concurrent, then the nurses will work hard to ensure that they are not eliminated from the institution. They will make sure that they meet the standards that are required of them to attain. After the performance evaluation task, the employer will determine which measures to take against the employee. If the employee has not met most of the goals set for the organization, then it means that the organization actually needs to replace that employee (Beer et al, 1985). Another task that can help the employer in evaluating the employees’ performance is by issuing a self-assessment evaluation. This helps the employee to determine his or her own weak points before the supervisor is to evaluate them. This helps the employee and employer to have a smooth sail when evaluating and helping the employee to work towards attaining the set goals of the company. 3.3. Training If the human resource management is willing to improve the quality of services that his or her employees are to deliver, then the human resource management is required to do to organize training for his or her employees. Training helps the employees in so many ways. One of the things that the employee gains in training is that the employee becomes innovative. Another added advantage is that the employee becomes quite conversant with new information and technology in the market. Training assists in reducing the number of employee turnover. It also assists in enhancing the image of the organization. In a hospital set up, if the human resource is willing to improve the quality of services that the nurses display, then training is a fundamental task for the nurses. Part of the training for nurses might include what a good quality service entails (Watt, 2007). The nurses should be taught what they are required to do. Additionally, the human resource management might invite a motivation speaker to address the nurses. If the human resource management of the hospital indulges him/herself in training of the employees, then it is with no doubt that the quality of service that will be provided will be commendable (Ulrich, 1998). 3.4. Compensation Compensation is another fundamental task that the human resource management team is required to engage themselves in if the quality of the services offered by their workers is to improve. Compensation is the paying of employees and providing incentives for them. The task of determining the wage and salary is the human resources’ task. They are responsible for developing payment systems that attain the specific objectives that are set for the company. This includes the employees’ quality, retention, motivation and satisfaction (McConell, 2003). Their target is to come up with wages and salaries level that are compatible with the investment of the company in relation to the set goals. In designing the wage system of the company, the system should not be discriminative. The system should be in a position to offer equal pay to people regardless of their gender. Actually, there are acts that govern the wages of the employee. If an employee believes that they are underpaid, they can sue the management team. Therefore, it is actually wise to create a salary and wage system that favors all the workers in the organization (McConell, 2003). If the human resource manager is to improve the quality of services which the nurses offer, then s/he has the duty to design a program that rewards employees who have done a good job. This assists the workers to aim for high performance in the nearby future. This kind of system enables the employer to come up with a relationship that will motivate the employees to take ownership of the business plan (Armstrong, 1999). Designing a reward system also assists the human resource management to cater for the emotional need of its employee. 3.5. Employee empowerment If the type of service provided by the nurses is to improve, then the nurses must be empowered. According to Laura (2010), empowerment of employees is not a given right, it is a favor done by management to their employees. Empowerment of employees should be given to employees who display the will to do it. The chance to become empowered should be a right and not a privilege. What empowerment of employees is all about is employees knowing the given boundaries that they should make decisions without consent or authorization of their employers. Employees who are not empowered come to job to follow their employer’s orders. They do not know the goals of the company. They just wake up, come to job, do whatever the boss requires them to do and then when their work is finished they go home. They have no goals to neither worry about nor accomplish simply because the boss never told them of any. Any change that is to occur is the boss responsibility. They have nothing to lose. These kinds of employees are underpowered and the outcome of the company is low. Nurses who are empowered to come to job usually provide a good quality services to the workers. Nurses who are empowered know what they are required to do in their job. They understand clearly the tasks that are set for them. According to Bens (2000), empowered employees work together as a team. They have a team spirit. Additionally, when they come to work they are motivated to do a good job. They understand that they do not require the order of the boss to perform certain tasks. They acquire information through educational meetings, the press and any other available sources and bring fresh and new ideas to the company that will help in achieving the goals of the company. If the nurses are empowered, then the quality of the services provided by the nurses to the patients will improve. 4.0. Methodology use If the quality of services provided by the nurses is to improve, then a research should occur. The research should be directed to the customers and the nurses. The customers should be interviewed or asked to fill questionnaires in which they will be asked to give out their opinions in which they consider a good quality service should entail (Richard, 1994). This will help in improving the quality of services exhibited by the nurses. In addition, the nurses should also be asked to fill to a questionnaire in what is hindering them to provide a quality service to the patients. Some of the methods that can be used in getting the customers and nurses’ view are listed below. 4.1. Archival research or historical method There are various journals and articles that have been written before in connection to improving the quality of services offered by the employees. One of the most sufficient and effective methodology that can be used is the historical method. This method entails drawing up evidence using secondary materials such as journals or articles. It is an effective method since it does not entail much work to be done. After drawing up the evidence available, then the human resource manager can use it to improve the quality of services offered by the nurses to the patients. 4.2. Observation The observation method is yet another methodology that can be used in improving the quality of services that the nurses offer to the clients. This method uses the data which has been collected by the observer to come up with a conclusion (Schneider et al. 1998). The method entails using the sight senses to record information about a certain social phenomenon in which in this case is poverty. In this type of methodology participation may or may not be included. In this case, the human resource management can be the observer. The data that the researcher acquires can either be analyzed qualitatively or quantitatively (Zeithmal et al., 1990). 4.3. Survey research In this kind of methodology, the researcher uses the data that they have acquired from the field, analyses it then comes up with a summary. This kind of methodology entails using data which is gathered from questionnaires or interviews from a particular group of sampled people. The interview questions or the questionnaire questions that are used might either be closed-ended or open-ended. The data that is acquired from the survey might either be analyzed statistically on a computer or manually. If the contents of the interviews or the questionnaires are put together, then the human resource manager will understand on which areas he or she can improve in order to improve the quality of services offered by the nurses to the customers (Martin, 2003). 4.4. Content analysis Content analysis is a kind of methodology in which the researcher analyses contents from a previous interviews, observation or questionnaire done then come up with a conclusion. If there is no time to conduct an interview or issue questionnaires, then the human resource manager can look at previous interviews, observation or questionnaire done then they can get a glimpse of what to do in order to improve the quality of services offered by the nurses. The issues addressed in the interviews or questionnaires can then be eliminated so as to improve the quality of services that the nurses offer to the clients. 5.0. Conclusion There are several techniques that the human resource manager can use in increasing the level of services that the nurses offer in a hospital. One of the areas in which the human resource manager should address is the tangibles. The outward appearances of the nurses is a key factor in which the customer will decide whether to continue with the services of the hospital or not. Improving the outward appearances of the nurses and the facility will contribute a lot to the customer’s satisfaction. Performance appraisal is an important management tool that with which the human recourse management uses to evaluate the employees. The Human recourse manager uses this to motivate the employee to improve or continue performing according to the companies standards. If the performance evaluation is properly planned, this can change the relationship between the employee and employer to be a worthwhile collaboration. Training of the nurses is also a key element in which the human resource manager should use if they want to increase the quality of services offered. Employee compensation and empowerment is also fundamental if the human resource manager is to increase the quality of services offered. In conclusion, if a human resource manager will use the detailed methods above, then chances of the quality of services that the nurses will offer improving will be very high. 6.0. Recommendation If management tools are used to improve the quality of services provided by the nurses, then the human resource manager is supposed to understand what the work of the nurses entails. This will help the management in understanding each nurse and areas they have to improve on if they are to deliver a quality service. The management should be willing to use funds if they are to improve the quality of services offered by the nurses. Funds will be used in training and compensation of the nurses and the outward appearance of the institution if the outward appearance of the institution is to change. References Armstrong, M. 1999. A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. Kogan Page Limited. Beer, M, et al. 1985. Human Resource Management. New York: Free Press. Bens, I. 2000. Facilitating With Ease: A Step-by-Step Guidebook. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Chowdhary. 2006. Self Appearance and Clothing. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers. Inc. Laura S. 2010. 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