IMPROVEMENT IN THE HEALTH (NURSING) SYSTEM
Improvement in the health (nursing) system
Nurses are an important part of the society. According to Dorothy Johnson’s behavioral systems design, the human being is a system that when disrupted, nurses assist in restoring the system to normal functionality (Johnson 1990). According to the American Nurses Association (ANA), the nursing profession is faced with several challenges that hinder the full dispensation of the duties as a nurse should. Some of these challenges include staffing problems, mandatory overtime and lack of security when handling patients. All these problems can be tied to management of the organizations. If the management at this point is improved, there will be an improvement in the nursing system.
The model generated to solve the problems associated with the nursing sector would be of great impact to the stakeholders in the sector. The nurses would be the primary beneficiaries of the improved system of nursing. With the enactment of the model, there would be improved working conditions. The increase in the number of nurses would translate to there being less workload for workers on a certain shift of duty. The same would mean that they will face less fatigue and dispense their duties with ease. From a logical point of view, a happy worker is more likely to carry duties more effectively than an unhappy worker. It shall, therefore, be of great benefit to the sick people in need of the nurse’s attention as they shall get the best treatment from the workers.
The long run impact of implementation of the model would be an increase in faith of a certain health center in the hearts of the public. From an economic point of view, the quality of service is the one that do market a particular firm. In this case, the health centers are the firms and the sick are the clients. An improvement in the management of the centers, which in turn solves the problems associated with the nursing profession, would build the people’s faith in the services provided at the hospitals. With the safety in the working conditions improved, there shall be an increase in the number of people willing to join the nursing profession. The same shall assist in increasing the labor available for hire at the hospitals.
Change model overview
Just as there are models, such as the neuman’s system model, that assists the nurses in their daily duties, there are also models that help assist the nurses to work towards change. The Rosswurm and Larrabee’s model, on the other hand, is a model that assists the nurses in the process of changing towards evidence based practice (Rosswurm & Larrabee 1999). With the times changing, there has been a need for change in health institutions from traditional and institutional driven practices to evidence-based practice and, hence, the model for change to the evidence based practice assists in achievement of the same (Rosswurm & Larrabee 1999). The change model is most especially useful due to the manner in which it has put the transition. According to the model, the change happens in stages.
Step 1: assess the need for change
According to the development to evidence based practice, the first step to the attainment of modification is assessing the current situation and determining whether the change is necessary for the situation. In the case of the problems at hand, the queues that are seen at hospitals are evidence of inadequate personnel. It is clear that the health workers are understaffed in comparison to the people that they are expected to serve. If one stays in the hospital long enough, they also can realize that the nurses work for longer hours than they should, proof that they work overtime. To get information of safety, interviewing of the nurses would be the best thing to do.
Step two: link the problems interventions and outcomes
As earlier quoted, the right way towards finding solutions for problems is always identifying the problems first. In the context, money to hire more workers cannot be termed as a problem. The fact is that the health center management teams put too much effort into other areas of the institution set up, such as purchase of drugs, which they forget the drug administrators are not working in the best possible conditions. Training and direction of the hospital management into making the correct decisions would be a remedy to such problems. With effective training and guidance, in the next few years, hospitals would start operating at optimal levels because of the increased labor supply.
Step three: synthesize the best evidence
With the current experiences at health centers, there is a need for change in the health sector, particularly, the nursing subsector. With clear confirmation from the services rendered in hospitals, change is needed for the benefit of all stakeholders in the setup. As earlier quoted, increase in the quality of services offered increases the efficiency of service and, therefore, change in the current system would be a blessing to every person involved.
Step 4: design practice change
It follows the application of the design after the problems and ways of solving the problems have been deduced. In the cases of the problems at hand, the best way to ensure that all of them are solved would be to improve the management skills of the managers. This can be achieved through seminars, of which, every health institution manager shall be obligated to attend. At the seminars, the managers shall be impacted with insight on how best to improve their organizations. It is in these seminars that the priorities to solving the problems at hand will be set
Consequently, after the seminars are over and it is noted that almost, if not all, the managers have been inducted on how to solve the problems in the health service industry. The next step would be for the state to provide personnel that will go round hospitals checking the performance of the establishments and giving advice to the managers on areas that they need to increase in the organizations.
Step five: implement and evaluate the change in practice
Having attended several seminars, the institution managers shall have no excuse to not improving the conditions at their places of supervision. They should be expected to have improved the conditions at the health centers within the first two years after the step to train them was taken. It is after this period that the government should dispatch people to go assess the performance of the managers in addition to providing them with the help in situations where they seem to be having problems.
Step six: integrate and maintain the change in practice
It is the nature of humans to forget. The fact that the managers have been doing things in a different manner over the past many years, it would be rather difficult for them to fully adapt to giving priority to working conditions. It is, therefore, important that they be equipped with strategies in how to maintain good conditions for the workers even after evaluation by the state is done.
Implement and evaluation plan
The design is known as so due to the stages that it contains and that help the designer achieve his or her objective (Manu 2007; Vicere & Fulmer 1997). The managers shall be given enough time to adjust their places as per the guidelines given at the seminars. They shall be required to direct the human resource management to advertising for job positions and hire new workers. In addition to that, they shall also be required to direct the financial and procurement officers to cut down the institution’s spending on drugs and other equipment and channel the funds towards improvement of the worker’s safety.
During the time when the managers are putting their houses in order, the government should at this time be hiring and training people to help the doctors manage the problems identified. The people hired should not be too many since one inspector could be posted to assist managers at health organizations. Their number should, therefore, be not equal to the number of establishments in need of assistance.
Steps to maintain change
Conclusion
The plan towards the attainment of a better system of nursing system for the workers is a good and highly recommendable proposal. The strategy is workable since it does not involve much capital and touches on areas that are of great concern to the society since health is not an issue that can just be ignored. The fact that the design has a measurable amount of time after which to measure and check for results also makes it credible.
References
Johnson, D. E. (1990). The behavioral system model for nursing. Nursing theories in practice (pp. 23-32). New York: National League for Nursing.
Manu A. (2007). The Imagination Challenge: Strategic Foresight and Innovation in the Global Economy. California: Peachpit Press
Rosswurm M.A., Larrabee J.H. (1999). A Model For Change to Evidence Based Practice. Journal of Nursing Scholarship. 31(4), 317-322).
Vicere A. A., Fulmer R. M. (1997) Leadership By Design, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
