Staff Development and Team Improvement
Introduction
Davis Healthcare is situated at the heart of California in Davis Town, and it offers services to patients who need some tender care after hospitalization. The healthcare has a home environment which helps the patients stay comfortable and recover with time. However, there is a need to improve the quality of health care in the institution. Staff improvement and team development is a sure way of ensuring that the quality of services offered is optimal and to the required standards (Bendaly & Bendaly, 2012). The paper will analyze various improvement methodologies, the information technology used and various benchmarks against which the performance is assessed. Further, the essay will investigate ways in which an organization can align the performance measures to their mission and vision. The paper will also evaluate the barriers that are to be expected in the team improvement and staff development and illustrate ways in which an organization can successfully adopt the new quality measures. Staff development and training will ensure that the staff goes an extra mile while delivering services to the patients and reacts efficiently to any emerging situation.
Methodologies Used
Training
Training the medical personnel on a constant basis is a sure way of ensuring that they are up to date which any new information in the market (`Bendaly& Bendaly, 2012). Over time, scientists have implemented new ways of dealing with illnesses, which are also more efficient than the old ways. For instance, training the health care nurses would help them administer proper treatment to the patients and improve their overall health. Further, creates and improves the level of confidence in the medical staff, which makes them approach their work competently improving the patient outcomes. Training is an imperative approach when an organization seeks to retain employees because they feel valued and appreciated (Bendaly& Bendaly, 2012). The kind of training offered should be relevant, short and direct to the rising needs of the institution. While training the staff, the training manager should ensure that the nurses are aware of the company’s goals and hence align the training with such goals. Nurses that are dedicated to improving themselves should be supported and even encouraged to develop ways in which they can develop as a team. The improvement of quality of services offered in the institution will also require assessing the employee’s work habits to identify whether they are detrimental for the health care (Erwin, Brownson, Keck & Scutchfield, 2016). As such, every day should offer a learning opportunity, and the employees should improve their skills, competencies and experience. However, training is expensive and time-consuming as it has to be done on a regular basis.
Team Building Exercises
Team building is a great way of improving the teams in a company and while at it making the activity fun. Team building should incorporate sporting activities that leave the members of a team active and rejuvenated. Towards the end of the team building, different groups should gather and assess their performance over the preceding period. Areas that need improvement should be discussed and plans put in place and a plan documented with every team member made accountable for their actions. In that regard, the team building exercises should be focused on dealing with the challenges, which were experienced in the health Centre (Bendaly & Bendaly, 2012). For instance, if the problem is coordination, the team building exercises should get everyone involved so that people can learn how to work together which in the end will benefit the company. Team building should aim at solving problems, enhancing creativity, planning and developing leadership skills. The disadvantage with team building is that it is more of fun activity, and it may thus distract people from their primary focus. Further, it requires an experienced coach to explain how the team building activities are aligned to various activities in the organization.
Coaching
Coaching allows the management team to have a personal conversation with every employee and identify areas that may need improvement (Bendaly & Bendaly, 2012). Coaching allows the manager to see the attitude of the employees, which can also be a good indicator of their performance. Coaching is all about communication and understanding what the employee feels about their work environment and how they plan on improving. Coaching is a two-way methodology and both parties come to a consensus on what should be done and the habits that should be dropped. The managers should aim at using various coaching models which the most suitable one being GROW.GROW represents a goal, reality, options, and will. With that, the managers should ensure that coaching is offered routinely and also feedback from both parties is given to assess the effectiveness of the process.
FUEL is also a coaching model that stands for a frame, understand, explore and lay. It is important to frame the conversation in a way that drives positive outcomes. The coach and the staff should communicate about the current state of affairs because that forms the basis of the discussion. There is a need to explore the mission and vision of the company and devise ways in which the actions of the team member can be aligned with it (Bendaly& Bendaly, 2012). Laying out an excellent plan ensures that the company gets maximum results with a constant update on the progress. It is also good to make the goals clear meaning that they are challenging, legal, environmentally sound, appropriate and recorded. Coaching is, however, time-consuming and it requires a dedicated mind to work. For Davis health care, coaching would be the best because it incorporates communication and enables the parties involved to establish how they would improve their quality.
Information Technology
The use of information technology can enhance quality standards and performance of Davis healthcare employees. The electronic health recording particular would come in handy in ensuring that the staff document all the activities conducted within the healthcare and the process reduces incidences of idle time. Health information technology would also be useful in reducing small time errors and enable different stakeholders to assess whether the activities in the health care are up to standards (Ball & Douglas, 2009). The use of information technology can also track various illnesses that seem to be recurring and hence come up with strategies that ensure that the deal with the situation. The health information technology would also enable the patients to access the information concerning their health online and thus be well informed on their progress over time. The electronic health record would be quite useful in documenting the patient files and even the drugs administered to them by the nurses.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking will enable the healthcare to measure its performance against the industry best standards and as such evaluate the areas that need improvement. The milestones allow the staff to assess the time used to improve and the effectiveness of their new plans in the delivery of quality services (Bogetoft, 2012). SWOT analysis is a benchmark that the health professionals can use to assess their performance within a specified period while checking on their strengths and weaknesses. The use of graphs can evaluate whether the agreed performance is achieved. Finally, the revenue share profit portfolio is a good indicator of the effects of staff improvement to the healthcare.
Mission Vision
The quality improvement plans should be compared to the company’s objectives for them to be effective. The performance of the staff is expected to be in tandem with the management goals and expectations. The quality measures assess whether the employee’s activities match the enterprise’s expectations and check their shortcoming. During coaching, the staff is reminded of the company’s goals and objectives which also enable them to evaluate their progress (Bogetoft, 2012). Finally, the performance and quality measures are used to administer the proper training to the organizational member to ensure that everyone is up to date with what is expected of them.
Barriers
The obstacles that can impede quality improvement would be the attitude, management structure, and financial constraints. If the attitude of the workers is not right, then no amount of training will change their mindset or even their work ethics. The management should be flexible enough to allow their staff to improve consistently without feeling intimidated (Agyeman, Theurer, Munthali, Alide & Neuhann, 2014). Lack of funds can also prevent the health staff from engaging in activities that can improve their quality standards. Additionally, the financial resources play an imperative role in determining the quality of staff and employee development plans. As such, Davis Healthcare should acquire the required financial resources to enhance the effective development of staff.
Successful Implementation
The implementation of new strategies is among the daunting tasks, especially for new strategies. However, the process starts with the communication of the new approaches about the new quality measures put in place so that the staff and team members can be knowledgeable on what is expected of them. The organization’s goals and mission should be structured to reflect the new quality measures so that it is easy for everyone to follow. Additionally, the management should ensure they give the staff enough time to acquaint with the new performance measures and there should be a structure set for accountability for every team (Davis & Stoots, 2013). The nurses should volunteer in developing new quality standards to ensure they are incorporated in the new strategies.
Conclusion
The combined efforts of every group involved in our system will be a challenge. There is no doubt that when great things happen, work has to be done accordingly. Despite and still, with the combined efforts of everyone involved, the aforementioned improvements will be implemented. The administrative staff, the employees, and all proponents of the system, working together to reach a higher level of service will, admittedly, be an effort that will not always seem to come together. However, there is no doubt that the effort will change, and benefit this system. One step at a time, working together, despite some differences, will make for a standard that will require time to implement smoothly, but it will be well worth the challenge to be a possible leader, and a benchmark to other systems.
References
Agyeman-Duah, J. N. A., Theurer, A., Munthali, C., Alide, N., & Neuhann, F. (2014). Understanding the barriers to setting up a healthcare quality improvement process in resource-limited settings: a situational analysis at the Medical Department of Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi. BMC health services research, 14(1), 1..
Ball, M. J., & Douglas, J. V. (2009). Performance Improvement Through Information Management: Health Care's Bridge to Success. New York, NY: Springer, New York.
`Bendaly, L., & Bendaly, N. (2012). Improving healthcare team performance: The 7 requirements for excellence in patient care. Toronto: John Wiley & Sons Canada.
Bogetoft, P. (2012). Performance Benchmarking: Measuring and managing performance. New York: Springer.
Davis, C., & Stoots, M. (2013). A guide to EHR adoption: Implementation through organizational transformation. Chicago, IL: Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.
Erwin, P. C., Brownson, R. C., Keck, C. W., & Scutchfield, F. D. (2016). Principles of public health practice.
Rosenthal, J., Gauthier, A., & Arons, A. (2010). State Strategies to Improve Quality and Efficiency: Making the Most of Opportunities in National Health Reform. Commonwealth Fund.
