Part 3: Strategic Recommendations
The basic complaint advanced by the quadruple bypass heart surgery patient and his wife is that the quality of non-critical medical care is below par and should be improved. The surgical personnel did a great job, according to the patient, but there were some few areas of concern. Concisely, the patient experienced what he terms as “near misses” and a feeling of being neglected by the medical staff. He feels that the medical personnel could do more to show some level of emotional involvement in the case and not just appear detached and largely blasé. Similarly, the patient is calling for a keener nursing staff with regard to preoperative and postoperative services. For instance, all the nurses must be aware of the doctor’s instructions with regard to the prescribed doses of medication. The following is a concise list of the proposed measures of intervention.
Possible Interventions
1. Training: The first step to addressing the above problems would be proper training for the entire medical personnel on the need for more direct interpersonal interaction with the patients and their families. According to Bovbjerg, Ormond, Pindus and The Urban Institute (2009, p. 12), medical personnel, especially the nursing staff, should be integrated into specialized care teams that aim at enhancing patient care and at the same time improves the nurses’ working much easier. Such care teams would basically take into account the development of a more supportive environment, for both the patient and the nurse. Offering patients physical reassurance, whether verbal, tactile, or both can be beneficial given the psychosomatic factors that influence recovery. Care teams can even help each other develop better care and management techniques through mutual cooperation.
2. Resources: According to Saleh, Racz and Hannan (2009, p. 336), the entire experience of a cardiovascular bypass graft should include preoperative and postoperative care, including resources to assist patients better understand how to manage their conditions as well as what to expect before and after the surgery. This kind of intervention should be part of the resources for the surgical procedure. As such, the hospital can include such vital management resources as part of the cost of the procedure, which should preferably be meted by the insurance companies or government healthcare funding. The question of funding has been the bane of the healthcare industry for a long time and is therefore not specific to the particular hospital in question. Healthcare insurance, whether private or funded by government has always been the best answer to such questions.
3. Motivation: Finally, the patients should not complain about incidences of negligence on the part of the medical personnel, most especially the nursing staff. When a nurse misses the correct dose and the patient catches the error and reports it, it indeed demotivates the latter; the patient loses confidence in the entire healthcare process and might even suffer psychological problems, which might further complicate the situation through incidences of psychosomatic ailments. The most obvious remedy for this kind of problem is to bolster the motivation of the nursing workforce. According to Burke, Ng and Wolpin (2011, p. 89), burnout and job dissatisfaction are the main contributors to poor performance among the nursing staff. This can be reduced by offering nurses more flexible working schedules for the former factor and better remuneration in the case of the latter factor.
References
Bovbjerg, R.R., Ormond, B.A., Pindus, N., & The Urban Institute. (2009). The nursing workforce challenge: Public policy for a dynamic and complex market. Urban Institute/Health Policy Center. Report to the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence. Retrieved from the Urban Institute website at: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411933_professionalnurse.pdf?RSSFeed=UI_Employment.xml
Burke, R.J., Ng, E.W.S., & Wolpin, J. (2011). Hospital restructuring and downsizing: Effects on nursing staff well-being and perceived hospital functioning. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 7(1), 81-98.
Saleh, S.S., Racz, M., & Hannan, E. (2009). The effect of preoperative and hospital characteristics on costs for Coronary Artery Bypass Graft. Annals of Surgery, 249(2), 335-341.
