Strengths •Hospital has grown from 50 beds to 300 beds •Icon hospital in Chicago •Experienced staff, low turnover rate •Nurses with master’s degree •Head nurses and assistant head nurses familiar with managerial roles •Management working on improving Emergency Department (ED) flow •People seek medical care at ED Weaknesses •Emergency Department (ED) used as primary care by local residents •ED transfers to clinical units taking more than 15 hours •Patients lying on stretchers for long periods of time •Long ED waits •Staff nurses lacking initiative to problem solve.
•Hospital’s patient satisfaction scores in overall care are declining •Lack of initiative from nurses to problem solve Opportunities •Purchased by large university medical center •Usage of nurse managers to improve productivity and function of the hospital & decrease costs and waste •Current CEO about to retire •Progressive approach towards patient care and staff development •Management looking at possibly hiring nurse managers to a 24-hour schedule Threats •Staff used to old ways of running ED •Medical Doctors believe nurses should blindly follow orders •Personnel stagnant and nonproductive.
•Staff resistant to change •Negative reputation in the community •Increase in education expenditures •Resistance to change Discussion Strengths this organization has going for them is the location and the growth it has gone through time. Dr. M and the university hospital that has purchased the facility are willing and looking for ways to improve the care and patient satisfaction as well as decrease the time patients are spending in the ED and work on ways to decrease transfer times form ED to hospital clinics.
There are many positive things the facility already has in place. The staff has been around for many years and is familiar with the hospital and the way it operates. There are several weaknesses the facility has to work hard to improve. The patients need to be taught and reminded that the emergency room is not a place to seek care due to lack of primary doctor. This action by the patients is adding to longer wait times to seek medical care. The facility needs to analyze why patients are not seeking care with a primary doctor in the community.
Management needs to speak to staff and listen to their needs and concerns to discover reason for lack of initiative from staff to take action needed to empower the staff to take leadership roles or offer training to those candidates that already poses leadership skills. When the staff feels appreciated and supported by management they in turn provide better care to their patients which in turn will improve the patient satisfaction and regain the trust in the community. The opportunities to improve patient flow and staff satisfaction are many.
Since the facility has been purchased by a teaching university, there will be many opportunities for nurses to learn new skills and gain greater education by returning to school to obtain their bachelors or masters. With the staff returning to school there will be opportunities to hire and train staff nurses into managerial roles with the advantage that they’re familiar with the facility and the expectations patients have for their care. With the hiring of a new CEO, new ideas and well thought out plans can be presented to the new CEO and explain how the facility and the department will benefit from those changes.
Of course when there are changes in the horizon there are also threats that can become huge obstacles along the way. This is where the true test will come to the light and management must be ready and armed with the right tools. There will be great resistance to change from both nurses and doctors in the department. They have learned to feel comfortable with the flow. For many years the operation of the department has operated in the same manner that management will need to be able to show why change will benefit not only the department but the staff as well.
Once the staff and doctors can see how they will benefit either the change they will be more willing to accept and embrace the change. Recommendation To improve the productivity of the staff, management need to provide the staff with the tools they need to feel empowered to take ownership of their actions and feel proud of the medical care they deliver to their patients. Management need to promote and embrace nurses going back to school to advance in their education levels and offer training or tuition reimbursements or flexibility for those nurses that choose to go back to school to further their education.
If the staff does not feel or see support form management, they will not change nor will they be interested in making any effort to improve productivity in any manner. Management needs to earn the respect and trust of the staff and once those are achieved, the staff will be willing to make any needed changes to improve production both in the department and the hospital setting. Sources Chapman , A. (2012). Retrieved from http://www. businessballs. com/swotanalysisfreetemplate. htm.