Answer

 Memorandum

To:          Staff Members, Ancillary Service Department

From:    Oliver Burrows, Departmental Manager

Date:     17/3/19.

RE: FOSTERING A SHARED VISION IN OUR DEPARTMENT

In the contemporary healthcare environment, effective leadership has become a fundamental element of healthcare systems especially for organizations which want to improve their organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Leaders have focused on influencing people towards the attainment of the mission and specific goals of their organization (Ghiasipour et al., 2017). However, in the quest to ensure the delivery of quality care services, leaders have faced various challenges which have impeded their mandates. The challenges of staff shortage especially not only in our department of allied service provision but also in others as well as layoffs due to dwindling revenues in our healthcare organizations have impeded our ability to ensure the attainment of shared mission, vision, and goals. This paper provides a description of the issues of staff shortage and layoffs in the department, ways they affect the department, opportunities for improvement, and recommendation for improvement.

Description of The Issues

                Staff shortage in healthcare is a real problem which has made the provision of patient-centered care a difficult task. Notably, the United States will need to hire more than 2.3 million hew healthcare workers by 2015 if they are to have a possibility of taking care of the country’s aging population in a qualitative manner (Combes, Elliott, & Skåtun, 2018). In our ancillary service department, the number of ancillary service providers has been way below the recommended ratio to the number of patients. A variety of positions have remained empty because our department has been understaffed. Even when we are well staffed, I have found it hard to manage the supply of staff members especially during the busy seasons because of the demanding patient load.

                In our department, I have resorted to cutting jobs/layoffs due to a whirlwind of financial pressures. Notably, the declining revenues in our healthcare facility as forced the layoff for some of the workers which have further resulted in the problem of staff shortage (Ross, 2017). For instance, in March 2018, we had to lay off more than 10 healthcare workers and even closed one of our units; the pediatric inpatient unit. The layoffs are a reflection of the financial problems that we face. In specific, the existence of flat reimbursements, escalating costs of medicines, supplies, and salaries have affected all our departments, and the ancillary service department is no exception.

Impact of These Issues on My Department

                In our department, the challenge of staff shortage has resulted in a reduction in the quality of care provided. In specific, although the department has focused on the provision of patient-centered care, such a goal has been impossible because of the number being insufficient to provide such type of care. Additionally, staff members, in the department, have suffered from worker burnout as they have had to work for long hours due to the shortage of members of staff (Combes, Elliott, & Skåtun, 2018). Eventually, the quality of care has been compromised because of reduced staff satisfaction and a reduction in the satisfaction of the patients.

                The issue of layoffs has served to reduce the number of staff members in our department which has exacerbated the problem of staff shortage. Notably, with the existing number of staff members being insufficient, layoffs have served to increase the problem and further become detrimental to the quality of care provided (Ross, 2017). With a reduced number of staff members; because the department has had to let some of us go due to financial pressure, the goals of providing quality care have been abandoned. Members of staff have had to work for long hours which has not only resulted in burnouts but also in reduced productivity and failure to attain the organizational mission and goals.

Opportunities for Improvement

We have various opportunities for improvement in our department especially in the adoption of communication, collaboration, and teamwork. In our department, there have been problems in the manner in which communications have been exchanged between staff members and the patients as well as other healthcare professionals. As such, we have an opportunity to use communication in the provision of patient care as well as the improvement of patient satisfaction. The absence of poor communication among members of staff and between the patients and staff members have resulted in low patient satisfaction scores and illnesses (Ghiasipour et al., 2017). However, we have the opportunity to improve our communication skills.

Each of the staff members has worked as individuals and have failed to collaborate in the provision of quality care. As such, the physicians, nursing practitioners, and us; the ancillary service providers have functioned individually. The net effect of such discordances has been a reduction in the rates of satisfaction of the patients coupled with the decreased quality of care provided. However, we have a perfect opportunity to collaborate with other departments and healthcare professionals to ensure improved quality of care.

An opportunity exists for us to improve on the manner in which we work in the quest to deliver ancillary services. Some of us have viewed themselves as more important and thus have failed to unite with others towards the attainment of a common vision. The effect of disunity and individualism has been the failure to achieve common goals and the setting of different targets. As a result, our department has not managed to achieve its set goals. We, therefore, have to seek ways to improve and become a team geared towards the attainment of a common/shared vision.

Recommendations

Based on the various opportunities for improvement stated especially those to do with communication, collaboration, and teamwork, various recommended solutions should be adopted in our department. One of those is that we should continue to gain communication skills which will enable us to have effective communication with our patients and effective interpersonal relationships (Foronda, MacWilliams, & McArthur, 2016). Additionally, we should collaborate with other professionals in healthcare such as the physicians and the nurses to ensure the provision of quality care. Moreover, we should work as a team and avoid acting as individuals if we are to achieve a shared vision of quality care for our patients. Deploying open communication, mutual trust and respect will also be vital techniques towards collaboration and teamwork in the attainment of a common vision.

In sum, staff shortage, as well as layoffs, have affected the ability of our department to achieve is the core mandate of providing patient-centered care. Both issues have seen a reduction in the number of ancillary service providers which has led to burnouts. Some of the opportunities we have are on how we can deploy communication, collaboration, and teamwork in the quest to achieve our shared vision. Through effective communication and collaboration with other practitioners, we can ensure quality care services. Additionally, teamwork can ensure that we a united front in the quest to attain our shared vision of quality patient care.