Final Project
The Maxim Healthcare Services are a United States based healthcare provider with a presence in more than forty states in the country. The paper would concentrate on the branch located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization offers healthcare services and in that vein employs thousands of staff including nurses of various qualifications and leaning such as Registered Nurses, Licenses Practical Nurse, Certified Nurse Assistant, among others. It is imperative to note that the organization has diverse healthcare facilities and arrangement with nurses being employed in the following service departments: homecare nursing, travel nursing, emergency nursing, internal clinical services, among others.
The work arrangement is flexible and depends on the contract provisions between the employer and the employee. On the overall, Maxim Healthcare Services are an organization informed by the need to provide healthcare services to the citizenry in America. It is noteworthy that the organization operates under the free enterprise system in the United States of America. However, its main objective is the provision of healthcare to the citizenry and not merely to earn profits.
Overview of the job position and reason for selection
The emergency nurse is a qualified registered nurse, abbreviated as ER Nurse RN. This position plays a critical role in three main departments, these are, the intensive care unit, the critical care unit and the medical surgery. The job position confers essential roles to the nurse in the mentioned departments. The main roles include: planning, implementing and evaluating patient care, assessment of signs and symptoms indicative of the patient’s condition, performs interventions and remedial actions in response to priorities in the work place in consonance to the hospital policy and the patient care outcomes and conditions, ensures patient care needs are fully addressed and that patient comfort ability is maintained to the best interest of the organization, ensures implementation of the doctors’ recommendation and advise including interpretation and administration of the diagnosis and prescription from the doctor, among other auxiliary duties. In appreciation of the roles of the emergency nurse, it is essential to elaborate on the essential position that the emergency nurse plays in the work environment. The nurse is there to provide continuity in the medication process. The doctors diagnose illnesses and prescribe medication while the nurses are left to care, evaluate and monitor the patient’s progress and condition.
This job position was selected for its essential role in the overall treatment, recuperation and monitoring of the patient. It illustrates the special role that nurses play in the administration of healthcare services. It negates the stereotype that nurses’ roles are often merely auxiliary. It puts into perspective the contribution of nurses and especially in the emergency department hence my motivation to cover and analyse it.
Job position in the organizational hierarchy
In the healthcare industry and specifically the hospital setting, the hierarchy is often flatter entertaining only three main levels or job groups, these are, the management, the skilled personnel and the semi-skilled personnel. All healthcare professionals involved in the active discharge of medical services fall in the second hierarchy. The nurses hence fall in the skilled personnel category. In this hierarchy, the nurses fall below the doctors. A keen evaluation of the hierarchy places emergency nurses under the doctors and physicians and in the same level as other nurses.
Challenges in recruitment and retention and the importance of the job position
It should be noted that emergency nurses do not have a definite time of service. However, as is the case in the Maxim Healthcare Services, emergency nurses work on rotational basis. They serve in the various mentioned department on a shift often of eight hours. In addition, the nurses work in teams. For instance, team A of ten nurses could man critical unit B for eight hours and then exit to allow team B to proceed for another eight hours. The challenges often arise in the risks and inconveniences experienced. Cases of night shifts, exposure to blood borne pathogens and toxic and chemotherapeutic chemicals increase the risks inherent in this profession. Generally the turnover is low. Nurses are often committed to their work and would seek alternative solutions other than quitting. Some of teetering challenges the organization often grapples with in relation to retention is the shift programming, the salaries and allowances, continued training and the annual and maternity leave programs. Recruitment programs are often handled through intense interviews with the pooled recruits being a blend of experienced and fresh graduates. The training and orientation often presents challenges especially for fresh graduates primarily because of the expectation gap from the college experience to real workplace environment. However, on the average, the recruitment and retention is often handled effectively through the human resource department.
The importance of the job position lies in the fact that these personnel provide continuity in medication processes. They evaluate, implement and regulate the medication process as prescribed and instructed by the doctors. Their role is essential in the overall administration of healthcare services especially given the critical conditions in the emergency set ups.
Interesting Aspects
Some of the striking aspects that I liked in this job position was the organization places on emergency nurses. In appreciation of their critical roles, the organization ensures all their employment grievances are listened to and addressed. In addition, the nurses’ remuneration is subject to a progressive review each year, as at 2012, the average annual income in Indiana was $64000.
References
John Hopkins Medicine. (2013, March 3). Departments and Centres. Retrieved from John Hopkins Medicine: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/about/centers_departments/
Lee, T. H. (2012, August 2). Care Redesign — A Path Forward for Providers. The New England Journal of Medicine, 466-472.
Maxim Healthcare Services. (2013, February 23). About Us. Retrieved April 4, 2013, from Maxim Healthcare Services: http://www.maximnurses.com/about/
Maxim Healthcare Services. (2013, March 3). Registered Nurse - RN - Critical Care. Retrieved April 4, 2013, from Maxim Healthcare Services: http://www.maximnurses.com/jobs/facility/IN/Registered-Nurse-RN-Critical-Care/0/83326.html
Wexner Medical Center. (2013, March 12). Healthcare Services . Retrieved March 26, 2013, from The Ohio State University : http://www.medicalcenter.osu.edu/patientcare/healthcare_services/Pages/index.aspx
