capstone week 2 discussion respond

Post a thoughtful response to at least two (2) other colleagues’ initial postings. Responses to colleagues should be supportive and helpful (examples of an acceptable comment are: “This is interesting – in my practice, we treated or resolved (diagnosis or issue) with (x, y, z meds, theory, management principle) and according to the literature…” and add supportive reference. Avoid comments such as “I agree” or “good comment.”

References:

  • Response posts: Minimum of one (1) total reference: one (1) from peer-reviewed or course materials reference per response.

Words Limits

  • Response posts: Minimum 200 words

Peer discussion 1

Business Principles

The purpose of the discussion is to discuss three business principles from this week’s power point that I feel are needed to maintain safe, quality, patient-centered care that is fiscally sound. The patient population I care for is actually 340 employees at a large chemical manufacturing company. I am one of numerous onsite occupational health clinics across the globe that strives to provide quality care to the employees in order to maintain and improve workplace health and safety. I have selected three important business principles that I feel best reflect my clinic and patient needs. I will discuss how these three principles are utilized in my organization and how they impact healthcare.

Of the ten basic business principles Greg Fisher (2008) highlighted, three of them caught my attention the most as the principles most apparent at my clinic site. The first principle is to incentivize your employees for success. This holds true in two different aspects in my occupation. First, I am responsible for the health and wellbeing of the employees in this company. In order for individuals to take personal health accountability and to see value in the wellness programs, incentives are given as rewards for their efforts. The second aspect is the benefits the company and I reap for having healthy employees. This can range from lower injury rates, decreased healthcare costs, decreased absenteeism, improved employee morale, and job security for myself. Incentives help to drive people to provide best service which helps improve productivity.

The second principle I would like to discuss is to always maintain your integrity. I feel this is a great strength in the organization I work for. I work alongside other health and safety professionals with a common goal to promote health and safety so everyone returns home the way they came in. When an injury occurs onsite, the incident is entered into the Occupational Safety and Health Administration log. This enables the Department of Labor the ability to monitor workplace safety statistics. Although increased injury rates provide a negative view on the company, having the integrity to follow the policy and log the incidents without looking for a loop-holes in interpretation is something I can proudly boast my site does. Additionally, I as the site nurse am responsible for performing medical surveillance physicals to approve an employee fit for duty. The physician and I work very hard to be sure we are following best practice standards and are providing the utmost care to the employees rather than just stamping them fit for duty. By addressing health issues in employees and promoting wellness and disease prevention, helps to improve overall employee health and lower healthcare cost. Just these two examples are ways to express not just personal, but corporate integrity in order to promote health and safety.

Finally, the last principle that is essential in any successful business, is to manage your cashflow. When I assumed my current nursing role a little over a year ago, medical and office supplies where everywhere! It took months but I have finally been able to reorganize the department in order to maintain sufficient supplies without over ordering. There were so many expired items that had to be discarded that if the previous ordering system had continued would have waste a lot of company money. With a decrease in supply costs, I was able to upgrade medical equipment to better manage the employees’ health. The medical department does not bring income to the company however, with improved employee health, absenteeism decreases therefore productivity increases.

In conclusion, providing safe, quality, patient-centered care that is fiscally sound requires more than just the three business principles I highlighted today. It requires nurses to advocate for their patients right to receive safe and quality care. These principles mean a lot to me personally as I hold a lot of responsibility as the only nurse on site. I have a very supportive team and organization that I want to continue to serve with continued integrity. Wellness and occupational health and safety programs share a common goal in protecting and improving employee health and therefore should be managed together for greater efficacy (Biswas et al., 2018). I want to increase employee incentives as it pertains to their health and wellness now not only to improve their health and safety, but also to decrease healthcare cost providing a return on investment in the future.

References

Biswas, A., Severin, C., Smith, P., Steenstra, I., Robson, L., & Amick III, B. (2018, December 4). Larger workplaces, people-oriented culture, and specific industry sectors are associated with co-occurring health protection and wellness activities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(2739). http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.3390/ijerph15122739

Fisher, G. (2008).
Top 10 basic business principles [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from
https://www.slideshare.net/GregFish/top10-basic-bu…

Peer discussion 2

While nursing seems straight forward when talking about the actual art of nursing, just like any business, healthcare would be great business practices. Nurses play an integral role in ensuring that the needs of the patient are met through advocating while understanding higher roles such as a nurse manager, director of nursing, or Chief Nursing Officer (CNO). In this discussion post, I will discuss three business principles presented by Greg Fisher, discuss why I chose these business principles, tell if my current workplace practices these business principles, why these specific business principles are important in healthcare, and lastly, why these principles are important to me.

The first business principle that I will discuss is, based on the Greg Fisher power point, is “Deciding who you serve.” This business principle focuses targeting your market and who will benefit from your services by understanding who can benefit from your services (Fisher, 2008). Personally, I believe that my current employer, along with other healthcare facilities in my area, do a great job at focusing on who they serve, which are those who are sick by improving their health and well-being which is clearly stating in their mission statement (Mercy Health, 2019). In healthcare, this business principle is probably the most valuable because patients know when they feel they are being served by how well they are taken care of. If the patient feels that their healthcare needs and concerns are not being addressed, they will no longer seek your services, but will instead go elsewhere. As a nurse, I live to serve other’s, as I try to build trust and rapport with each of my patients.

The second business principle that I will discuss is employee management. This principle focuses on the employee and their efforts and dedication to the business (Fisher, 2008). For any business to run smoothly, employees must be committed to your purpose. Currently, our OR has an interim manager who does a fantastic job and letting the employees know there valued and appreciated. However, about six months ago, we had a different interim employer who never came out of her office, or behind OR doors, and employees were very disgruntled as we felt that she only had negative things to say but truly didn’t understand what we were witnessing or going through on a daily basis. You could tell that she was only there for the paycheck and truly didn’t care for us. I believe that caring for you employees by letting them know they are heard, offering incentives and awards, and by helping them is a great way for employees to work harder and smarter at their job which will in turn help your business flourish.

The third business principle that I will discuss is preservation. This business principle focuses on overcoming obstacles and bad times (Fisher, 2008). As I was explaining before, our OR has been without permanent management for a little over a year now. We have had several interim managers who do not seem to truly care about our mission and our staff. Because of this, our department and team has suffered. People are angry and felt unheard, overworked, and expandable which has affected our morale. While the department needed management, what it really desired was democratic leadership where decision making could be shared while the views of employees were valued and contributions to the vison, goals and decision were understood (Huber, 2014). Within the last few months, a longtime employee took over the management position, also temporarily, but has assisted in rebuilding our team and our willpower to succeed by not only becoming a manager but by becoming a nurse leader.

While the business principles discussed throughout this discussion are listed separately and in a matter of fact way, each principle coincides with the other. Businesses, especially healthcare facilities, take purpose, the right employees, and determination to succeed. If one link is weak, the business will fail. However, with a strong chain, business can become great and long-lasting.

References

Fisher, G. (2008). Top 10 BBP [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/GregFish/top10-basic-bu…

Huber, D. L. (2014). Leadership and Management Styles (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

Mercy Health. (2019). Our Mission. Retrieved from https://www.mercy.com/about-us/mission