Question

You are the new Chief Nursing Officer at University in the Stars Medical Center, a 350 Bed State of the Art Medical Center affiliated with a University Medical Center across the street from your hospital. The medical center is world renown for having state of the art treatments and research protocols. They were an industry leader in introducing the electronic medical record eight years ago and recently implemented a medication bar coding system that has improved patient safety. More than 50% of your nursing staff have a BSN or higher degree and 62% are certified in their specialty area. You were very impressed with the intelligence of the nursing staff when you interviewed and their commitment to professional excellence. Since beginning in your role two months ago, you have developed concerns about an organizational culture in your department that seems cold and uncaring. You have noticed that technical expertise is heavily valued and most of your nursing management staff seem to operate from the medical model versus any nursing theoretical framework. In reviewing your patient satisfaction data, you notice that patients seem pleased with their treatment outcomes but your staff is consistently receiving scores of less than 70% agreement in areas that involve caring about the personal well being of patients and their families. In reviewing a profile of your nursing staff, you notice that the medical center seems to be a place where new young graduates come to gain experience but your retention of staff for more than 2-3 years is very low. You determine that it is time to confront the issue of what you perceive as an uncaring work environment. You are personally grounded in a Caring Nursing Philosophy and would like your staff to consider implementing this as a theoretical framework for your Nursing Service. Answer the following Questions What background information in your medical center and department would you want to carefully review prior to presenting your viewpoints to your staff? What groups or individuals would you initiate discussions with as a first step?

Answer 1

Some of the background information which has to be carefully reviewed prior to presenting the view points are

• Knowing the type of employment the nurses are enrolled like in permanent or on contract basis where they cannot leave the organization in between the specified period of time .
• The benefits, perks ,appreciation ,etc., provided to the nurse and the job satisfaction of the nurse working
• The feedback of the staff on whole in regards to any changes or needs

The discussion has to be first initiated with the organization's administrative professionals.This can enable to understand any loopholes and thror acceptance or rejection to proceed forward or not.