Answer

CASE 1:  Your department always has issues with phone coverage when someone calls in sick or is on vacation.  Physicians, nurses and administration have all complained that there are times that they call HIM and nobody answers.  The current policy says that whoever is available covers the phone.  What are your options?  What would you recommend and why?

Support:

I would recommend that whoever is available should answer or cover calls. According to Cascio (2015), calls come in for several purposes. While some calls may be regular, others could be emergency which needs immediate and proper action.  Appropriate action can be taken by anyone and not necessarily the HIM. For example, in the absences of HIM, another nurse can receive the call and inform the emergency department that there is an accident next to the hospital and there should be a quick response to rescue those who are fatally injured. In this case, the nurse who was not supposed to pick the call has received the information and informed the authority in charge. Therefore, as per my opinion, anybody should answer the calls.

CASE 2:  Susan is 15-30 minutes late to work 2 to 3 days every week.  You have talked to her about this several times and in the last conversation you gave her a written warning.  It is now 2 weeks since the written warning and she was late again today.  How would you address this and what is your next step with Susan?

Support:

According to Anthony (2017), there are certain steps to be followed while dealing with persistent late employees. A warning letter means that other procedures such as pieces of device have not worked. Therefore, in this regard, I would put Suzan under disciplinary action.  In this case, I will suspend her for about one month with half the pay. It is in this context that she will weigh if the job is important to her. Certain disciplinary actions give employees a room to not only evaluate themselves, but also ease certain pressure which might be causing the problem. The author states that employees have different learning curves when it comes to job as well as work ethics. Some workers need subtle reminders, while others need defined penalties to get the point.

CASE 3:  The HIM Department has a policy of no personal cell phones out or on during work hours except during lunch breaks.  As you walk through the department lately, you have been noticing a few cell phones sitting out on desks and they appear to be on and in texting mode.  What should you do?

Support:

A case of having phones against the organizational rule is an intentional mistake which deserves certain disciplinary action. However, as stated by Anthony (2017), disciplinary action should follow warning action and even pieces of advice. In this case, I would go to the desk and verbally warn the employees involved.  However, if I find that the same employee had already been warned by their supervisors, then I will issue a written warning which is considered a stern step to violation of certain practices in an organization. In order to prevent this culture among other employees, I will then put a memo or notice informing the employees of consequences of such offenses.