Introduction
Grady memorial was founded by Henry Grady in 1892 with the main aim of assisting the poor. The headquarters for the organization are at Atlanta GA. Grady grew from a common nursing home to a renowned nursing centre with a medical school, eight neighboring health centers, extensively supportive care facility as well as one of the main HIV/AIDS centers. Grady has been involved with various medical schools like Emory University School of Medicine and Morehouse School of Medicine. This has been extensively influential to the medical operations of the medical organization.
The success of the organization is driven by commitment of the management to the vision, mission, goals and core values of the organization. It contains a well analyzed organizational structure that oversees various types of activities in the organization. The organization has a definite culture making it outstanding among its competitors. As a large and successful organization, Grady memorial has exclusive markers of success that may be influenced by various nursing roles that it undertakes and reflected by the overall financial status of the organization (Grady, 2013). However, following excellent management of the organization, it has been easy to manage the exclusively high number of employees undertaking variant duties in the organization.
The mission of the organization is anchored on improvement of health of the community through provision of quality, comprehensive healthcare in a compassionate, culturally competent, ethical, and fiscally responsible way. Grady is exclusively interested in service for the segregated of Fulton and DeKalb counties. It also extends care to residents of metro Atlanta and Georgia. Grady’s success is built on the basis of clinical excellence, innovative research, as well as dynamic medical education and training.
Organizational structure
Grady Memorial is governed by an executive team with composition of a board of directors. The chief executive officer (CEO) of the organization is John Haupert. The executive Vice president of the Chief Operating officer of the organization is Christopher R. Mosley, who is an extremely experienced healthcare leader. The chief Financial Officer of the healthcare organization is Mark Meyer, who joined the organization in 2012 from Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas. The chief legal officer of Grady is Timothy Jefferson who joined the organization in 1998 as the health system’s general counsel. He has extensive healthcare management experience. Grady’s chief of staff and executive vice president of medical affairs is Curtis Lewis, who is a trained interventional radiologist. He manages approximately 2000 physicians and is in charge of physician’s training. The Chief Nursing Officer who is also the Senior Vice President is Rhonda Scott. She is supposed to oversee nursing contracts, improve nursing, physician and patient satisfaction. The chief human resources officer is Larry Callahan with 25 years experience in human leadership. Deborah Cancilla is the Chief Information officer for the organization. Lindsay Caufield is in charge of planning and marketing. Kelvin Holloway is in charge of medical affairs at Grady Health System. Craig Tindall is the senior vice president and in charge of clinical operations in the organization. Mathew Hicks has been the vice president of Government relations since 2011 (Grady Health, 2013).
Grady has a board of directors; Thomas Bell, Sharon Bent-Harley, Pete Correll, Thomas Dortch, Andrew Evans, Henry Grady III, George Lemuel Hewes, Pierluigi Mancini, Robert Miller, Aasia Mustakeem, Rev. Joseph L. Roberts, Jr., Joe W. Rogers, Jr., Michael Russell, James E. Stephenson, Pamela S. Stephenson, Louis W. Sullivan, and Sam A. Williams (Grady Health, 2013).
The CEO is in charge of all management activities while the chairman oversees the board of directors.
Forms of leadership in Grady memorial
Leadership is an extremely significant determinant of success of an organization. Leadership may be defined as a process of social influence in which an individual can solicit the assistance of others in the achievement in the achievement of a common mission. There are various forms of leadership, which may be mainly determined by the type of organization. However, in the same organization there may be a range of leadership styles depending on the departments within the organization. In Grady hospital there are variant forms of leadership depending on the positions occupied by different people.
According to Rhonda Scotts who is the Chief Nursing Officer, Grady has a range of forms of leadership. The hospital has three main forms of leadership servant, and transparent leaderships, and shared governance. Each of these forms of leadership is unique in terms of execution.
Scotts rated servant leadership as the main leadership style in Grady Organization. This is a form of leadership involving sharing of power where the leader gives other persons’ needs priority and assists other individuals to perform and develop to the highest level possible (Clark, 2009). The seniors in Grady are respectful of juniors and are always ready to encourage them to high performance. She said “I do not expect anyone to do anything I am not willing to do myself”. She feels that she is supposed to do more than anyone else.
She also emphasized on transparent leadership, whereby truth and transparency should be the driving force for leaders. Scotts argued that issues should be handled with on open book such that no one will be denied facts about a given issue. This is practical in Grady rendering the positive development being witnessed in the organization. Transparency is usually linked to accountability since if there are no facts presented the individual should take the blame if anything wrong occurred in one’s line of operation (Clark, 2009). Therefore, nurses and other leaders in Grady remain transparent with their patients to ensure no ill thing surpasses patients without their acquaintance.
Leadership is mainly influenced by communication, where excellent communication methods define excellence in an organization. Grady has employed various forms of communication which are highly reliable following their efficiency and fast delivery of messages. Email is recognized as major tool of communication in the organization. Also, the top leaders hold meetings severally among themselves as well as with junior staff to encourage performance and listen to problems (Borkowski, 2009). Also, there is a newspaper known as Inside Grady which highlights issues about the organization from time to time as they arise. Grapevine is also a major communication method where messages are passed to individuals by word of mouth.
Dr. Scott also argued that leadership comes with change which may be challenged or influenced by the various categories of people. She said that there are those people who want to see change take place without participation, others seek change with extreme determination, and others want to see change but they do not participate.
Interview with a non-administrative employee who is a nurse in the hospital, he argued that the organization has both supportive and participative form of leadership. Supportive leadership is a form of leadership where the management offers extensive support to junior staff for execution of certain duties (Borkowski, 2009). In this case, the nurse experiences exclusive support by the management to offer excellent services and support to patients. Nurses are involved in management advice as dictated by participative form of leadership.
Grady services and products
As a highly reliable healthcare organization, Grady extends massive services and products to patients. Possession of a line of services and products has made the organization extensively reliable. One of the services is Premier Level I trauma center in Atlanta, which is efficiently managed to deal with accident emergencies in the hospital. Also, the organization has the Regional Coordinating Hospital for all disasters, which may be either man-made or natural. It has also extended 911 ambulance services within the Atlanta city.
At some point, trauma may advance to stroke. This encouraged the organization to form of joint commission designated Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center. It also has one of the two ABA/ACs/State Verified Burn Centers in Georgia. The organization also houses the Regional Perinatal Center and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Also, Grady has 6 Neighborhood Health Centers situated in Dekalb and Fulton counties. It is also a center for HIV/AIDS and it constructed the home for cancer in Georgia as well as Diabetes Detection and Control Center. The healthcare facility built the first global 24 hour comprehensive Sickle Cell Center. Lastly, Grady houses one of the nation’s largest community mental health programs.
Size of the organization
Grady is an extremely large medical organization. The size for any medical organization is determined by the amount of facilities. Grady has 953 licensed beds, which is an indication that it is one of the largest medical facilities in Atlanta. The organization is also keen on ICU services thus possession of 90 ICU beds. However, it contains approximately 37 NICU beds, which extends excellent services by the organization to the public.
The organization has also built a reliable infectious Disease Center to deal with the increasing levels of infectious diseases. To save the society from ill health practices, the organization has developed Crestview Health and Rehabilitation Center. The organization also has made exclusive investment on children’s Healthcare by coming up with the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding.
Types of employees
Following the large size of Grady healthcare the organization contains a large number of employees. These are people of different categories depending on the work that each one of theme does in the organization.
The first group of employees is that of physicians. These are medical practitioners entrusted the diagnosis, as well as recommendation for patients. Grady has approximately 2000 physicians. They ensure that all patients who visit the hospital are well treated beginning with high professionalism in consultation.
The organization also has a large number of nurses, who are given various responsibilities depending on their ability. The organization has a large number of departments, which call for extensive support for physicians. Nurses are the mainly renowned assistances to physicians. However, one physician may command several nurses depending on the duties assigned to the given department (Giltinane, 2013).
Also, Grand memorial has employed various support lending individuals. This may be indicated following existence of laboratory technicians who are extremely useful in diagnosis process as they make recommendations to physicians. There are also ambulances attendants who are individuals entrusted the role of ensuring emergency patients get to the hospital in the fastest and safest means possible. They book medical attention for trauma patients.
Like any other organization, Grand memorial consists of casual employees. These are junior employees who offer services that are not directly linked to nursing in the organization. They ensure the place is clean, security is available and minor activities of the organization are sorted out accordingly (Moran, 2012).
Finally, there is the executive department which oversees all activities of the organization as they take place. They are in charge of the management, of the entire organization as well as various departments in the organization. Such departments include human resources, finance, medical services, legal affairs, and marketing (Sun, 2001).
Financial status
This is an organization enjoying an extremely high level of income following the high investment made for service delivery. As per 2012 financial report the organization was operating at revenue of $ 701.9 million. Most of the finances for the organization come from donors. The success of the department is built upon excellent management of financial resources. The organization reports minimum losses following efficiency through management of funds in the organization. This has been achieved through entrusting qualified individuals the finance department.
Culture
The organization has developed a culture of customer service, quality and safety. This is an extremely significant element in the organization. It focuses on personal excellence for nurses for them to extend excellent services to patients. Such a culture is usually developed through availability of excellent form of leadership in an organization and willingness of practitioners to offer services. The organization can always go extra mile to guard the health of a patient. This has been implanted among all nurses as well as physicians (Kríve, 2013).
The organization has also nurtured culture for excellence in professional nursing practice. This is developed through availability of various supportive professional bodies in the organization. They define the extent to which nursing remains professional. Such bodies are Nursing Leadership Council, recruitment, retention and engagement council, professional development and education council, nursing research council, and quality and safety council. The leaders are vulnerable and extremely useful to patients as well as the organization (Moran, 2012).
Markers of success
As a successful organization, Grady may be marked by various elements. The first and most significant element is the leadership of the organization. The organization has an extremely reliable leadership that has been extremely transformational to service delivery in the organization. There is a clear organizational structure that makes the organization attractive and it is an indication of the success of the organization (Grady Health, 2013).
The other marker of success would be the number of patient visitors. In 2012, the organization had approximately 62000 patient visits. This is an indication of the reliability of services form the company in Atlanta. There are enough beds in the hospital making it the largest in Georgia. Also, report indicates that 25% of physicians in Georgia received training at Grady. The hospital is also surrounded by 6 health centers with major medical schools. Also, the organization treats approximately 107000 patients in the emergency department every year. Also, the success of the organization may be marked by possession of 23 intermediate and critical beds. It has the best burn center in the United States (Grady Health, 2013).
The willingness of donors to fund the organization is a sign of success of the organization. Grad has extremely high revenue which mainly results from donations.
Nursing role within the organization
Nurses are of extremely critical significance in any hospital. In grad they also play extremely fundamental roles.
However, the roles for nurses may be categorized following existence of various categories of people in the department such as chief nursing officer, nursing leaders, advanced practice registered nurse as well as registered nurse. The chief nursing officer is in charge of establishing the vision and providing leadership in the entire strategic and operational planning, administration, organizational, clinical, and educational leadership in the entire health system. Nursing leaders are supposed to oversee staff collaboration, in line with the defined vision and goal for the organization (Grady Health, 2013).
However, individual nurses have unique roles that they are required to undertake. The first and the most common role for nurses is treatment. Once diagnosis report is received from physicians, it is the duty of a nurse to determine how the patient will be treated. They offer advice to patients on how to recover easily as well as use the prescribed medicine accordingly for quick recovery (Grady Health, 2013).
They are also required to maintain proper environment for patient care. They educate patients as well as families on healthy practices and treatment modalities. They also assure continuity of care for patients through coordination of the acre across settings as well as among caregivers. They are also in charge of effective communication in the organization by being excellent information managers (Grady Health, 2013).
On the other hand, professional nurses are entrusted the role assessments, nurse diagnosis, planning, coordination and identification of outcomes. They also practice patient advocacy, performance improvement and teaching (Grady & Malloch, 2013).
In Grady nurses are also responsible of sustaining ethical and discipline among fellow employees. They prescribe the code of conduct for nurses. They help in critical decision making processes for the organization (Grady & Malloch, 2013).
Conclusion
Grady memorial is an extremely fundamental organization that has surpassed the original goal of serving the poor to serving everyone with any health problem. The organization is built on an extremely attractive mission and vision. It enjoys one of the most outstanding organizational structures with a reliable form of leadership. It offers a wide range of services which make it attractive to a lot of people rendering it reliable. The pool of leadership is full of experience and exposure. All employees in the organization are fundamental in service delivery. Nurses have unique roles which are mainly defined by duties allocated as well as the available job.
References
Borkowski, N. (2009). Organizational behavior, theory, and design in health care. Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Clark, C. C. (2009). Creative nursing leadership & management. Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Giltinane CL (2013) Leadership styles and theories. Nursing Standard. 27, 41, 35-39.
Grady Health. (2013, January 21). Grady Health System 2012 Annual Report. Retrieved December 11, 2013, from http://www.gradyhealth.org/PDF/reports/Grady_2012AR.pdf
Grady Health | Atlanta can't live without Grady. (2013, January 12). Grady Health | Atlanta can't live without Grady. Retrieved November 11, 2013, from http://www.gradyhealth.org/
Grady, T., & Malloch, K. (2013).Leadership in nursing practice: changing the landscape of healthcare. Burlington, Mass.: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Kríve, J. (2013). Building Effective Workforce Management Practices Through Shared Governance and Technology ¡Systems Integration. NURSING ECONOMICS, 31(5), 231-249.
Moran, M. (2012). Atlanta's living legacy: a history of Grady Memorial Hospital and its people. Atlanta, GA: Kimbark Publishing, LLC..
Sun, P. (2001). Sickle Cell Disease In Pregnancy: Twenty Years Of Experience At Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY, 184(6), 1127-1130.
Tomey, A. M. (2009). Nursing Leadership And Management Effects Work Environments. JOURNAL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT, 17(1), 15-25.
