Decision making is a goal-directed and powerful tool that uses a systematic process in the aim of choosing between different options. In the practice of healthcare, it is vital to have effective decision making method for effective treatment and delivery of quality choices to all the parties involved. My method of decision making is one that entails effective and useful choices. I use the consensus method to make my decision in healthcare. In any given practice, there are numerous participants and employees. When one tables a decision, it is vital to discuss with the rest of the parties involved whether there are any oppositions of additional information privy to the decision. It is only passed when a majority of the individuals involved agree to it. This is an effective communication tool and the decisions made are agreed upon by the whole group (Sources of Insight).
The problem that is rampant in the practice and threatens its existence is the lack of staffing with nurses and CNAs. The management would like a superior hob completed with patient care, and require the nurses to clock out on time regardless of whether they are done with their task of not. As per the census conducted, there were four CNAs, a charge nurse and two LPNs per 65 patients. It is difficult for quality work to be completed in time due to lack of staff members. In some extreme cases, there are those patients who are not attended to due to the scarcity of healthcare providers.
Nurses are overwhelmed when passing out medications, when new patients are to be admitted, charting and discharging patients. It is overwhelming to note that all work has to be completed before a nurse ends their shift, or else they will get a write-up of the work not done. There is an array choices that can be undertaken, some logical and others extreme. The nurses can complain to the manager about the extra work they have to do in their shifts, or they can equally divide the work amongst themselves. They can demand more staff or ask the management of the practice to admit only those patients that the nurses can handle.
An advantages of the practice is that it has the potential to hire more nurses hence have less workload on the current ones. This is a situation that plagues different practices across the country. With more nurses, the patients can be comfortable, and there will be no nurse who is overwhelmed by the workload that they have. The disadvantages are that the existing nurses might have to work for longer shifts, as opposed to their standard time. They have to cover the extra workload and fill the gap for those nurses that are not there. This might lead to backlog and low quality work.
There are some conflicts in decision making that arise when it comes to resource allocation in a practice. The demand for healthcare exceeds its affordable supply hence resource allocation is inevitable. Practitioners must be ethical in their quest to give individuals the best resources, and allocate each to its most efficient use. There are dilemmas that arise when practitioners have to decide how much capital to spend on different products and priorities to give to each (Singer & Mapa).
These dilemmas are in the form of decisions such as whether practitioners have to decide whether to purchase more equipment for treatment or broaden their facilities to incorporate and accept more patients. There are internal and external forces that influence these decisions by the management. They include scope and size of the practice and the manner with which these facilities can cater to the needs of the patients. The management has to weigh the number of patients that the facility can hold and the efficiency of the staff in ensuring that patients will get top notch care.
This article by Jacobson, Ralph and Campion, B notes that there are definite problems in healthcare that require urgent solutions. Health care professionals have perfected their art and skills in problem solving. When they fail to find appropriate results, they are of the opinion that they have used tow wrong problem solving method. Any failures in attempts to solve any problem lead to the practitioners’ belief that not finding solutions leads to personal limitations. The authors, however, note that the main challenge to practitioners is their inability to deal with paradoxes (Jacobson & Campion).
They ought to understand that any failed attempt to solve problems in healthcare stems from their inability to deal with paradoxes. These are the situations that appear to resist any solutions. The audience for this article is all those practitioners who are faced with a problem solving dilemma, and are not sure of the right path to take in their decision making process. This article is significant in the sense that it dictates guidelines for effective decision making hence practitioners face less dilemma in their choices. The author concludes that practitioners should understand how to deal with both problems and paradoxes. One should make decisions based on the resources available (Jacobson & Campion).
References
Jacobson, Ralph & Campion, Brian. Problem Solving: Not Good Medicine for Health Care. The Physician Executive. Jan-Feb. 2008. Retrieved on 6th Feb 2013, from http://healthcarecollaboration.typepad.com/healthcare_collaboration_/files/ProbSolvingJacobson1_08.pdf
Singer, Peter & Mapa, Joseph. Ethics of Resource Allocation: Dimensions for Healthcare Executives. Retrieved on 6th Feb 2013, from http://www.longwoods.com/content/16387
Sources of Insight. Decision Making Methods. 8th Aug. 2008. Retrieved on 6th Feb. 2013, from http://sourcesofinsight.com/4-decision-making-methods/
