IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE COURSE OF
PRINCIPLES OF NURSING HEALTH
CARE ADMINISTRATION
BY
JOSE TIRSO DAYRIT
TO
MRS. VIVIAN RUBARES
SEPTEMBER 25, 2010
1. Training and Education
Hospitals are expected to make sure their employees keep up on the
latest regulations, procedures, and technology in their field. When finances
are low, one area they tend to cut back on is training and education. This
puts them at risk of potentially losing money on newer and better revenue-
generating procedures, not being prepared to treat patients with new
knowledge, and losing both cash and revenue by not properly coding claims.
Give 3 solutions to this problem that will help enhance training and
education.
a. Choose the right training courses
One of the nurse manager's hardest jobs is to decide which training to
give the staff. Keeping their state's requirements in mind, nurse managers
must choose training courses in collaboration with a committee of senior
staff, physicians, hospital administrators, and the nurses themselves. Which
courses the committee chooses is largely a matter of which skills are needed
most in your clinic or hospital unit.
Nurses who take courses in their practice area get the most benefit
from continuing-education courses. Poll nurses to find out what training they
need and what courses they would like to study. If the same training or
course is offered using different instructional methods, let nurses choose
which instructional method is best for them.
b. Mind the budget
Budgets are always a concern in the healthcare field, and training
budgets are no exception. One way to cut back on training costs is to rely on
drug-company representatives and equipment manufacturers to provide you
with in-service training instruction and materials. Another way is to
carefully compare the different training courses and instructional methods to
find courses that fit your budget.
Attending conferences and workshops can be expensive because staff
has to travel to these programs and be absent for longer periods of time.
Still, conferences and workshops give staff members an excellent
opportunity to share ideas with peers and find out how other organizations
manage healthcare issues. So even though they're more expensive, the
benefits they bring can justify the higher costs.
There are tools that can help you assess your training budget and keep
track of training costs. For example, you can use the Training Budget
template to record or project quarterly training costs across several
categories, calculate your annual training costs, and compare them to your
budget projections for training.
c. Keep your staff up to date
Whether or not your state requires nurses to continue their education,
most nurses feel compelled to do so because healthcare advances so quickly
and because their profession bids them to keep learning. As a nurse
manager, make it your goal to steer your staff toward the best and most
appropriate training that time and budget permit. The health of your nurses'
careers, your organization, and your patients will benefit.
2. Patient Safety
Patient safety is a major concern, not only because of malpractice
lawsuits and bad press, but because of high fines by federal and state
regulators for safety violations. Patient safety concerns include medical
errors and new diseases that are not only dangerous, but can spread easily.
Still, with fewer nurses and trained technical personnel, patient safety
is always worrisome.
Give 3 solutions to this problem regarding patient safety.
a. Ask questions if you have doubts or concerns
Ask questions and make sure you understand the answers. Choose a
doctor you feel comfortable talking to. Take a relative or friend with you to
help you ask questions and understand the answers.
b. Keep and bring a list of all the medicines you take
Give your doctor and pharmacist a list of all the medicines that you
take, including non-prescription medicines. Tell them about any drug
allergies you have. Ask about side effects and what to avoid while taking the
medicine. Read the label when you get your medicine, including all
warnings. Make sure your medicine is what the doctor ordered and know
how to use it. Ask the pharmacist about your medicine if it looks different
than you expected.
c. Get the results of any test or procedure
Ask when and how you will get the results of tests or procedures.
Don't assume the results are fine if you do not get them when expected, be it
in person, by phone, or by mail. Call your doctor and ask for your results.
Ask what the results mean for your care.
3. Resource Allocation
Utilitarianism seems to find a place in the area of resource allocation.
Resources are finite, and therefore a certain form of rationing is built into the
system. Ethically, the problems arise in dealing with the terminally ill, the
very aged and those who have not cared for their health during their lifetime.
Can doctors refuse treatment for all or any of these cases? If a doctor does
refuse, can he claim that he is serving the greater good? In other words, is
the violation of the right to health care for those cases permissible?
Give 3 solutions to this problem regarding resource allocation.
a. Increase efficiency
By curtailing waste and unnecessary care, providers can be more
efficient. Methods include evaluating health technologies and expanding
prevention programs.
b. Distribute resources equitably
The basis of distribution is value-based and can take many forms:
strict equality, access to a determined level of care, access to an equal
opportunity for care, limiting access to people responsible for their health
problems, and access based on age or other factors.
c. Adopt managed care plans
Managed care has been offered as an organizational structure that
hopes to distribute healthcare resources more efficiently and wisely by
having physicians review policies that balance the healthcare of the
individual patient (and the cost of caring for that patient) with the goals and
costs of providing healthcare to the entire group.
