Developing Organizational Policies
Workplace hazards is a national issue that undermines the quality and efficiency of healthcare services. It affects the motivation of nurses to continue working in a risky environment. There are two competing needs that affect workplace hazards. They include the desire to reduce the cost of delivering healthcare services and lack of efficient training (Phillips & Miltner, 2015 – Research Paper Writing Help Service). The cost of treatment requires employing various professionals who will be responsible for various tasks. When the cost is reduced a healthcare facility reduces the number of nurses working in an organization. The high workload leads to exhaustion which exposes the nurses to injuries on their legs, face, and hands (Phillips, MacKusick & Whichello, 2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online). The reason is that when they are tired they cannot reason keenly on what they are doing thus leading to injuries. It is essential to note that workplace hazards are minimized since healthcare organizations do not invest in quality treatment equipment or tools.
Lack of proper training is another competing need impacting workplace hazards. When the nurses are not well trained on how to take precautions during treatment procedures, they end up exposed to injuries (Phillips & Miltner, 2015 – Research Paper Writing Help Service). Healthcare facilities desire to minimize the injuries to avoid losing their talented nurses. However, most nurses are not trained regularly on how to maintain safety in their work. Nurses should be trained on how to use new equipment, prevent their hands, legs or faces from being hurt. Training will also help reduce emotional damage that occurs due to lack of training on how to handle emotional distress (Rainer, Schneider & Lorenz, 2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online). It is important also for the nurses to know the channels to use to report assault cases. Therefore, if the nurses are trained they will know how to deal with different situations.
Relevant Policy
The relevant policy includes preventing workplace hazards and reducing the severity of the injuries if they occur. The policy involves training the nurses regularly on how to avoid behaviors that may expose them to hazards (Phillips, MacKusick & Whichello, 2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online). However, when the hazards occur, the victims should be compensated and provided with the relevant treatment. They should also be provided with a period to stay at home to nurse the injuries. The policy will be inclusive of both controlling the hazards and responding appropriately when the injuries occur. The policy will ensure the nurses are provided with the relevant support to guarantee them that the healthcare facility is concerned about their welfare (Phillips & Miltner, 2015 – Research Paper Writing Help Service). Therefore, nurses will be motivated to work in the healthcare facility and reduce the rate of turnover.
The policy will require the support of the top management and the nurse leaders to ensure it is successfully implemented. The focus of the policy will be to ensure the nurses can work confidently to provide excellent treatment to the patients (McCaughey et al., 2016: 2024 – Do my homework – Help write my assignment online). The confidence will be drawn from the assurance that their welfare is already assured. For example, most nurses fail to give their best since they are not assured that the hospital will appreciate their efforts. The assurance includes compensation for the nurses who get hurt including temporary and permanent injuries. Additionally, the policy will include the improvement of the workplace environment to provide a conducive place to work in (Rainer, Schneider & Lorenz, 2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online). The conduciveness will involve upgrading the floor to avoid falling off a slippery floor. It will also provide adequate response mechanisms to prevent severity of the accidents if they occur.
Policy Critique
The policy has ethical challenges since it will focus more on the nurses compared to the patients. The basic duty of a healthcare facility is to take care of the patients. However, in the current case, the policy may override the interest of the patients (McCaughey et al., 2016: 2024 – Do my homework – Help write my assignment online). The reason is that it may overemphasize on the welfare of the nurses and thus overlook the dire needs of patients. For example, nurses working with sharp objects may experience injuries on their hands. Additionally, nurses dealing with chemicals may have burns on their hands or other parts of their bodies such as lungs (Phillips & Miltner, 2015 – Research Paper Writing Help Service). In this case, giving such nurses a week off to recover from their condition may be a disadvantage for the patients. The challenges may also hinder the realization of ethical standards. Therefore, the policy has ethical challenges which may need to be addressed before the full implementation.
The healthcare policy has various weaknesses such as the need for a massive investment in the welfare of nurses. The implementation of the policy will require nurses to be compensated if they are injured while carrying out official duties (McCaughey et al., 2016: 2024 – Do my homework – Help write my assignment online). The financial implications may affect the profitability of the healthcare facility. On the other hand, many nurses may be off duty in case they are injured. The positions need to be filled with other nurses who should be hired on a permanent or temporary basis. However, the policy has various strengths since it will consider the welfare of nurses which is disregarded in many cases (Phillips & Miltner, 2015 – Research Paper Writing Help Service). It will give the nurses the motivation and commitment to offer their services diligently. The program will also attract the best talents in the nursing industry.
Recommended Policy
The best policy to balance the competing needs involves training the nurses to use automated healthcare equipment. The reason is that most of the workplace hazards occur when nurses are using manual equipment. Automation will reduce the workload and the number of nurses required to carry out specific tasks (McCaughey et al., 2016: 2024 – Do my homework – Help write my assignment online). For example, nurses will not be worried about injuries during surgery since artificial intelligence systems will be used. The nurses will only require specialized training to utilize the equipment safely. It will balance the competing needs since it will cut the cost of running the treatment procedures and reduce human involvement in delivery of healthcare services. It will thus be easy to reduce workplace hazards efficiently (Phillips & Miltner, 2015 – Research Paper Writing Help Service). The automation will also involve Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) which will record instances of assault or harassment against the nurses. It will balance the ethical considerations of enhancing the quality of service to the patients and protecting the nurses from injuries.
The existing policies have ethical shortcomings since the nurses with a low level of skills may be laid off since the health facility is looking for a qualified professional who can carry out multiple tasks (McCaughey et al., 2016: 2024 – Do my homework – Help write my assignment online). The process of laying off nurses presents an ethical dilemma since although it is meant to improve the quality of service, some nurses will end up jobless. For example, nurses will be replaced with automated services that check the health status of a patient. However, the ethical shortcomings are meant to provide the best quality of service to the patients and reduce workplace hazards that affect the welfare of nurses.
References
McCaughey, D., Kimmel, A., Savage, G., Lukas, T., Walsh, E., & Halbesleben, J. (2016: 2024 – Do my homework – Help write my assignment online). Antecedents to workplace injury in the health care industry: A synthesis of the literature. Health Care Management Review, 41(1), 42-55.
Phillips, G. S., MacKusick, C. I., & Whichello, R. (2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online). Workplace incivility in nursing: A literature review through the lens of ethics and spirituality. Journal of Christian Nursing, 35(1), 7-12.
Phillips, J. A., & Miltner, R. (2015 – Research Paper Writing Help Service). Work hazards for an aging nursing workforce. Journal of Nursing Management, 23(6), 803-812.
Rainer, J., Schneider, J. K., & Lorenz, R. A. (2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online). Ethical dilemmas in nursing: An integrative review. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 27(19-20), 3446-3461.
