The Role of a Nurse Manager

The role of a nurse manager is enormous because he/she should take responsibility for human resources management, the culture of retention, team building, and conflict management. In this respect, John Robbins, the newly appointed chief management of the Uptown Hospital, has managed to conduct an extensive overview of organizational pitfalls existing within the employed environment (Agoritas, 2009, p. 70). Specifically, the manager failed to define the existing problem until new volunteer physicians entered the working setting and introduced new behavioral patterns and approaches to medical treatment. For instance, the reluctance of the old staff to cooperate and share the experience with the new members pointed out the inconsistency policy of organizational culture (Kovner et al., 2009). The manager did not provide a strong collaborative model within which the physicians working for the hospital should act. As a result, because all principles were based on familiarity and conventions, no strategies were introduced for the staff to face organizational change.

Lack of collaborative and communicative techniques led to discrepancies in opinions and medical approaches to health care delivery. In other words, organizational culture has not been established which gave rise to confusion and organizational disorders. Most importantly, managers appointed for each department failed to integrate the main organizational strategies and impose equal influence on each member of the nurse staff. On whole, the organizational infrastructure of the hospital was destroyed because of low morale and the absence of ethical codes within the organization.

According to the manager, one of the precursors of the identified problem included cost management that created several misconceptions and biases leading to miscommunication and reluctance to collaborate. On the one hand, cost management seems to be stable due to the low rates of turnover within the department. However, slow internal movement decreased the ability of the staff to adapt to new changes and approaches to medical treatment, which, predetermines the quality and safety of treatment. Old-fashioned approaches initiated by experienced managers relied primarily on firmly established traditions. In such a way, innovations and novel opportunities introduced to the organization were rigidly confronted by the managers and their subordinates.

One of the most serious shortcomings of Robbins’s management lied in impossible to recognize the problem. The manager failed to scan the environment and define the main source of discontent among his employees. Lack of understanding and communication, as well as inability to stand organizational changes, contributed to the distortion of culture. In this respect, the failure to consider human factors in a management system can lead to significant systemic errors (Okes, 2008). In this respect, a hospital needs to introduce three steps to solving a problem. These steps involve defining the problem, highlighting the main causes, and evaluating data that either underscores the causes or eliminates those. Working out consistent steps can contribute to shaping permanent models and patterns for fighting organizational problems. In addition, an overview of nurse cases can also allow providing viable solutions to the problem. Hence, Williams (2008) provides a case of improper management and premature conclusion leading to irrelevant actions. Hence, the significance of a root cause analysis is especially increased concerning this situation.

References

Agoritas, S. (2009). Short Case 2: Manager Moral at the Uptown Hospital. IN A.R. Kovner, A.S. McAlearney., & D. Neuhauser. (Eds.). Health services management: Cases, readings, and commentary (9th ed.). Chicago: Health Administration Press. pp. 69-71.

Kovner, A. R., McAlearney, A. S., & Neuhauser, D. (Eds.). (2009). Health services management: Cases, readings, and commentary (9th ed.). Chicago: Health Administration Press.

Okes, D. (2008). The human side of root cause analysis. Journal for Quality & Participation, 31(3), 20-29.

Williams, L. (2008). Liability landscape. The value of a root cause analysis. Long-Term Living: For the Continuing Care Professional, 57(11), 34-37.