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Critical Thinking Case Study Critical Thinking Case Study Let It Pour: My First Assignment as Executive Assistant Introduction Faith Community Hospital has a belief in supporting the well-being and health of the citizens in the area through cooperation with partners who share the same values and vision. Faith Community Hospital is also experiencing troubles from external and internal forces that are affecting the viability of the hospital. The major problem is organizational issues facing management and staff ethical differences towards directing care to patients. When addressing this concern, the case study will also tackle the organizational processes, moral and economic issues. This case study will take an in-depth look at the troubles facing Faith Community Hospital and provide possible solutions. Case Study Analysis First of all, we need to study the problems thoroughly and efficiently.
Then we will need to isolate each of the problems that were discussed in the meeting. Once we have figured out what the problems are, we will need to analyze each problem and evaluate alternatives for each problem. After that is done we will make recommendations with corrective actions prepared for the CEO. In this case study I have identified problem and I will evaluate it. Then to solve this issue I need to break down the problem into its different elements. When I have identified the problem, then I have to define the goals.
The next step to solving our problem will be to frame alternatives. After we have framed our possible solutions we have to evaluate the impacts of our alternative solutions. Then we have to analyze the possible solutions, and after that we have to make a decision on which solution has the most positive effect on hospital. Problem: Ethics, Personnel, Policies and Management We are seeing decisions that are being made for the patients based on the particular doctors' morals, and ethical beliefs.
As the CEO stated "On one hand, we have particular patients who refuse to take certain medical services, and on the other hand, particular staff members who refuse to provide certain services. " The doctors are not following any set standards for issuing care for our patients. This is a problem that needs to be rectified. The goal that we need to accomplish is to have each doctor administer consistent care for our patients regardless of personal morals and ethics. We also need to make sure that no potential patient is refused care, regardless of the doctors' beliefs, medical coverage or lack of coverage. We also need to make sure that the decision-making is not biased by the individual doctors' ethical or moral beliefs. Faith Community currently does not implement its policies and procedures consistently.
Employees do not consistently use or adhere to policies and procedures that are in place. This has lead to staff members fulfilling Do Not Resuscitate requests without having the proper paperwork and has also led staff members to ignore a DNR request and revive a patient. In addition, The Faith Community Hospital has experienced a lack of leadership from the CEO down. The CEO does not even know what his primary responsibility is anymore and does not know how he should be handling the current situation. The CEO and management are not central figures in the organization and the lack of staff meetings has shown that. Faith Community has very weak management systems in place currently.
They have not held a full staff meeting in ten years and do not have a formal process for open dialog between management and staff. The message that management wants the staff members to receive will not be due to a lack of formal communication processes and systems. Faith Community is failing to provide consequences for actions taken that violate organizational procedure. The lack of consequences is creating a lack of accountability amongst staff members. Staff members feel that as long as they are following their own faith-based ethics that they are above accountability for their actions. Now that we have identified the goals that we need to achieve from this problem we need to evaluate the effects of our first problem.
Effects of the Problem We have some separate effects of our problem. The first being the negative media coverage that we are receiving. This is a problem that is connected to our own doctors' ethical and moral beliefs. If we are refusing proper care for our patients due to lack of medical insurance, we are likely to fuel the fire that we are letting 100, 000 patients die each year in our nation's hospitals. A second effect of the problem is that outside agencies may become harder to work with. Agencies such as Child protective Services (CPS) may not bring their cases to our hospital if they think that we will not treat patients to their liking or direction.
We currently have a case where "Child Protective Services is in the process of taking custody of a baby and threatening to file charges against us because of the way we provided services or, as they allege, failed to provide services. All this trouble, despite our actions being in agreement with the parents' wishes. " The third effect of the problem I have identified is the possibility of each patient receiving care that is different, depending on which doctor or nurse is assigned to the patient. Each patient needs to have the same treatment and care from any and all of our doctors and nurses, regardless of the doctors and nurses ethical and moral beliefs. The next effect is that the management of Faith Community has failed to consistently implement the policies and procedures of the hospital.
They have also failed to create consequences for violations of the policies and procedures. The lack of enforced consequences has bred a lack of accountability amongst the employees of the organization. Alternatives I have brainstormed four possible solutions to our problem. The first is to create standard operating procedures (SOP's) for all of our nurses and doctors to follow. These SOP's will be created by a panel of doctors and nurses. We will have to make sure that a member of the board is present in the group to keep the doctors and nurses on track and make sure that they do not get bogged down on ethical and moral issues.
These SOP's will be worded so that any doctor or nurse in our hospital is very clear on what care they need to administer in each individual case for the patients. The next possible solution to our problem is to launch a media campaign to counter the news of the number of people dying in our nations hospitals. We can use all of the available media outlets for our campaign. We have access to newspapers, radio, TV, and local bill-boards. Our campaign can target the newscasts that we are killing people in our hospitals.
The third solution that I have brainstormed is to have a hiring campaign for both nurses and doctors. If we can control the hiring practices, we can hire people that are closely matched as far as ethical and moral beliefs. This would make our care that we disburse to our patients more consistent. It would also make for an environment that would be better to work in for the doctors and nurses.
Everybody would be on the same level as far as morals and ethics. Next solution is to implement screening process. The human resources department of Faith Community needs to implement an adequate screening process from new hires. It should look for employees that truly believe in the proper interpretation of the mission statement and that take responsibility for their actions. The fourth solution is to establish strong management system. This would make process of communication within organization more flexible and allow to use human resources more effective.
Now that we have framed our possible solutions we have to evaluate the impacts of our alternative solutions. Basically we need to evaluate all of the possibilities of each solution (positive and negative) and see which solution will work the best for our situation. Possible Impacts of Alternatives Solution # 1 (standard operating procedures) Doctors and nurses could feel "bird-dogged" by management and quit. They may not feel that they can adjust their methods of treatment just to satisfy a procedure. The proposed procedures may not cover all of the possible scenarios that the doctor or nurse may encounter. Doctors and nurses may feel that their morals and ethics are being forced to change.
Resulting in tension between the different departments and also towards the administration of the hospital. Solution # 2 (media campaign) The media campaign will cost money that we do not have to spare. This will be discussed in the next problem I have to figure out. The media campaign could be seen as a mud slinging act to counter the allegations made by the media about the nation's hospitals killing patients.
We are not in the media business; we are in the saving people business. Solution # 3 (hiring campaign) The hiring campaign would take too long to find quality people that are closely matched ethically and morally. What would we do with the doctors and nurses that we have now? We can't just fire people just because their morals are a little different. By implementing screening process, the employees that should be hired will be more likely to follow procedure and should be a better fit for the organization.
Solution # 4 (establish strong management systems) The hospital should establish more formal management systems that include staff meetings and avenues for communication. These processes should be used consistently and communication should never break down. The management team should also start the process of incorporating information communication practices into the culture of the hospital to ensure that all employees are operating on the same wavelength. Now that we have analyzed the possible solutions, I have to make a decision on which solution has the most positive effect on our hospital.
I have made the decision to use solution # 1. We need to create standard operating procedures for our doctors and nurses to follow so we can provide consistent high quality care foe every one of our patients. The management of Faith Community must consistently enforce the established policies and procedures of the hospital. They must also create consequences for failure to follow polices and procedures. This will create accountability for those who choose to be violators and greatly reduce the number of violators.
I now have to explain my rationale for my proposed solution, I am sure that the CEO will want to have some excellent reasons behind my decision. I have decided to implement standard operating procedures (SOP's) for our hospital so there is no confusion at all on what a doctor or nurse is supposed to do in any scenario that may arise regarding the care of our patients. Benefits of this solution Patients will know what they can expect as far as quality consistent treatment that does not depend on getting assigned to a particular doctor or nurse. This will make the patient feel better about choosing our hospital for their medical needs.
The patients can feel comfortable with any off the staff that they have treat them. They don't have to worry about the doctor or nurse skimping on care for the patient. The procedures will be written by a group of doctors, nurses, and hospital administration, to make sure that the morals and ethics of each of the groups affected are not compromised. They will have to come to a unanimous consensus in each of the SOP's before they can be adopted.
Financial costs can be more easily tracked and budgeted. If we know what we are going to do in each situation, we can estimate costs very closely. This will eliminate big cost swings form doctor to doctor. If they are following the SOP's they should be performing the same treatment or procedure for the same ailment. I think that the CEO will see that this is the correct solution for the problem that we are experiencing. Conclusion Faith Community Hospital does have its share of internal and external problems.
Each problem is not insurmountable though, and with a good plan of action it will be able to increase its revenue and narrow its range of responsibility. The organization must be willing to make short-term concessions and enforce processes that are new or existing. The hospital needs to be active in the community through public awareness campaigns and the CEO needs to be focused on external problems. The future looks bright at Faith Community Hospital and the solutions will facilitate the hospitals mission to serve the community. Bibliography: CSS/ 330 Critical Thinking and Computer Logic Course. (2005) Case Study Analysis Material. Preparing Case Study Analysis.
Problem Solving Tools and Techniques. The University of Phoenix. Epstein, Richard L. (1999) Critical Thinking. New York: Wadsworth Publishing Company. Morgan, N. (2001). Put your decision making to the test: Communicate.
Harvard Management Communication Letter, 42 (11) Rodgers, W. & Go, S. (2001). Cultural and ethical effects on managerial decisions: Examined in a throughput model. Journal of Business Ethics, 31 (4), 355 - 367. Elder, L. & Paul, R. (2002).
Critical thinking: Distinguishing between inferences and assumptions. Journal of Developmental Education, 25 (3), 34 - 35. Von, V. H. (2000). Research in action: Leadership and the decision-making process. Organizational Dynamics, 287 (4), 82 - 94.
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Research essay sample on Critical Thinking Case Study
