Organizational Improvement in Nursing - Term Paper Example

The nurse supervisor studies surveys and other quantitative and qualitative data as a basis for implementing significant changes to improve the health care facilities’ current service quality.

Currently, the changes in the present organization’s health care policies are too slow. This is understandable because some persons deter the unfavorable effects of change. On the other hand, some health care subordinates feel disgruntled with the disparity between current health care policies and the real situation in a typical patient-nurse relationship. The current policies are too outmoded or too general. The policies are made without regular consultation from the most affected persons – the nurse subordinates.  The current health care policies are implemented without conducting an in-depth survey of the real situation within the wards and other departments of the health care facilities.

Paul Bate (2007) reiterated the nurse supervisor should not focus on gathering data as an end. On the other hand, the nurse supervisor must implement a timely gathering of relevant data to update and enhance the health care facilities’ present patient-based policies. The timely surveys are useful in terms of assigning subordinate nurses’ duties to effectively alleviate the patients’ room conditions.  Specifically, the nurse supervisor must use the statistical data that includes the number of patients on each ward, floor, or branch in a hospital or health care center as a basis to reduce or eliminate nurse burnout.  In addition, the nurse supervisor should use the gathered statistical data to retain and promote the services of subordinate nurses having statistical remarks of “above average, superior, excellent, or outstanding” survey comments.

Further, Diane Huber (2006) opined the nurse supervisor must use the findings of the patient surveys, management surveys, and peer surveys as a basis for canceling the services of the nurse staff with comments of “unsatisfactory, poor, needs improvement” survey comments. The nurse supervisor can improve the services of the health care facilities by incorporating the comments and suggestions of the patients, peers, and management as a starting point for implementing more realistic patient-based health care policies.

For example, management will act on the survey criticisms from patients that include “the air condition in the ward should be increased” as a foundation for improving the health care facilities’ services. In response to the survey findings, the health care facilities management can install another air condition unit to improve the patients’ current room discomfort. Another patient’s comment stating that “the nurse response to the client’s request for immediate medical attention should be improved” must be addressed by the nurse supervisor; the nurse supervisor can assign one more nurse to the ward, floor, or branch to increase the nurse response quality so the patients will have faster and better healthcare services.

Further, Arnold Kaluzny (2006) theorized the nurse supervisor will observe each nurse subordinate during rounds to each patient within the ward, floor, or branch of the health care facility.  The nurse supervisor will use the survey findings and personal observation as evidence to confront each nurse who fails to comply with the service standards or policies set by the health care facilities management. The nurse supervisor will use the nurse subordinates’ statistical work findings as a starting point for the next seminar’s healthcare service enhancement topics. The brainstorming seminar will focus on encouraging all the seminar attendees to freely bring out suggestions, complaints, criticisms, and comments with the aim of improving the unfavorable policies currently implemented.

Furthermore, Peter Reid (2007) emphasized the nurse supervisor can use the client survey findings as a basis for hiring more nurse personnel. The new nurses will be assigned to areas where there are repeated incidents of nurse staff burnouts and a tight nurse-to-patient ratio. Burnout occurs when the nurse has to care for the health issues of more than the number of patients a nurse can normally handle effectively and efficiently. The overwork scene may affect the mental and physical stability of the average nurse. The nurse supervisor may help the nurse staff during times when the nurse staff is on the brink of burnout as a show of support for the subordinate nurses.

BASED ON THE ABOVE DISCUSSION, the nurse supervisor must implement timely patient-based surveys to gather relevant quantitative and qualitative data; the relevant painstakingly gathered data will serve as the basis for implementing changes to the health care facility’s current lackluster service quality. The nurse supervisor must gather survey data from patients, management, health care peers, and other affected parties as a basis for improving the current health care facilities’ service quality. Based on the survey findings, the nurse supervisor can hire more nursing personnel to alleviate the patients’ requests for faster and better patient health care services. Indeed, the timely gathering of relevant statistical data must be implemented as a basis for perking up the current service quality of the health care facilities.