Scenario About Critical Decision Making

A scenario about Critical Decision Making

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

A scenario about Critical Decision Making

Consequences of Failure to Report

When it comes to Critical Decision Making in healthcare and nursing, there are certain things that should always be kept in mind. For starters, the decision made should always be in light of the Hospital or Clinic's policies and vision. It is evident that every healthcare organization prioritizes it's patient's health and safety. Mike the lab technician's scenario is very clear. He has been coming late for quite some time and has been warned by his supervisor that another late will lead to termination.

Mike is the sole provider for his newborn and wife, and he cannot afford to lose the job. In light of the scenario, Mike is late again even though he left 20 minutes earlier from his house (Kon, Davidson, Morrison, Danis, & White, 2016). He gets caught up in the traffic because of an accident on his way to the hospital. When Mike reaches the hospital on the last minute he is faced by an ethical dilemma. He notices a spill on the floor on his way to his department. Upon looking at the spill he contemplates that whether he should report it or let the concerned department deal with it. He is amid a tough situation since he has already been given a warning by his supervisor about the termination. If Mike stays back and reports the spill, chances are that he will not be able to reach on time. However, Mike takes the hard decision of ignoring the spill and prioritizing his family.

By looking at the case it is obvious that either reporting or avoiding to report both have negative consequences for Mike. If he makes the decision of reporting the spill there is a high possibility that he will be late again, but if he does not report the spill there is indeed a chance of someone slipping and hurting themselves. However, Mike’s failure of not reporting the spill leads to a patient falling and getting hurt. The patient ends up getting badly hurt and might even have a broken hip. Now Mike is facing a dilemma in which he has to make a confession that he failed to report the spill which led to the patient getting injured, this can lead to direct termination.

The fact that Mike failed to report the spill has led to a negative impact on the facility. His ignorance has led to a patient falling, which is quite costly in terms of both the hospital resources and time (Kon, Davidson, Morrison, Danis, & White, 2016). Other than that, there is a negative impact on the patient as he/she got injured. The injuries have resulted in extended hospital stay, decreased the independence of the patient and further has raised depression and created a fear of falling.

Impact of Failure to Report

Mike’s failure of reporting ended up causing an overall negative impact. He initially thought that the decision will only be impacting him but it affected every facet involved. By not reporting the incident the safety of a patient was compromised. It is a priority to keep a patient safe since a patient injury or fall can have an impact on both the sufferer as well as the healthcare facility. Apart from the negative impact on the patient, the healthcare facility will be facing an issue in regards to finances as well. It is obvious that if an almost recovered inpatient faces an injury due to the facility’s fault, it will be liable to nurse back the patient back to health on its own expense (Stiegler, & Gaba, 2015). A prediction of the CDC further makes the picture clearer. They have forecasted that the whole cost of injuries caused by falling will rise up to 67.7 billion by the year 2020. This fact puts fall injuries in the list of 20 most costly medical conditions.

Adding to the negative financial impact that a patient fall or injury can bring to a healthcare facility, there are legal issues that can surface as well. The patient might sue the healthcare facility for its carelessness. If the patient decides to sue the healthcare facility it will further lead in the usage of resources and various expenses. Further, legal actions do not go unannounced or unnoticed. If an individual takes legal action against a healthcare facility it will also bring about negative publicity with it, which will further bring a decrease in the facility's satisfaction scores and ratings. Once a facility gets bad publicity that too of a legal nature, the effects stick for quite some time (Stiegler & Gaba, 2015). Word of mouth further damages the reputation of the clinic and it takes years to build the patient trust and restore the image of the facility. Additionally, the working staff will also be impacted by the patient's fall. They will be burdened with the extra workload, since the nurses will have to do added assessments and monitoring, added occupational and physical therapy, added radiology tests, added ortho consults and finally added case management.

The Role of the Manager

The event that has been described by the scenario serves as an opportunity and example for the leaders to further guide their staff so such mishaps can be avoided. Being Mike's manager the first thing that will be done is to use the management and evidence-based leadership to help motivate the workers. It is a fact that employees who are more involved harvest better outcomes. The employees can only get more involved if they are satisfied and productive. Before the manager takes a decision it is necessary he/she reflects on Mike's scenario thoroughly (Reichenpfader, Carlfjord & Nilsen, 2015).

After getting a clearer picture of the stance, the manager also needs to gain knowledge in regards to Mike’s job description, inclusive of salary and schedule, evaluations and the previous staff that he has worked with. This step is necessary as it will help the manager figure out if there are any environmental factors that are causing job dissatisfaction for Mike and making him appear late for work every day. It is essential that the manager also takes rounds and have a session with the staff to make sure that everything is in check. When taking these sessions the manager should try to have one on one session with all staff members. In these sessions, the managers should discuss both professional as well as the personal life of the worker, asking them about their family and life. This will give the manager an insight into the staff member's life and help them see what triggers the employees to work.

In Mike’s case, he has a newborn baby. This can be a significant factor that he is not getting a full night's sleep and is unable to wake up early on time for his shift. The manager should give some penalty to Mike so he does not fail to report again, but his job should stay secure (Reichenpfader, Carlfjord & Nilsen, 2015). His shift timing can be changed so he can raise his child as well as provide for his small family. It is a small yet effective step. The punishment will help show other employees carelessness will not be ignored but if there are certain personal factors they will be catered to.

Conclusion

The scenario mentioned above is indeed a reality and are recurring in the world of healthcare. Managers or leaders are responsible to make sure that all the workers working under them are satisfied so they are able to give there 100% to the patients. The implementation of management and evidence-based leadership helps ensure that there is a connection between the employee and the leader, further, it helps harvest sustainability in the workplace.

References

Kon, A. A., Davidson, J. E., Morrison, W., Danis, M., & White, D. B. (2016). Shared decision making in intensive care units: an American College of Critical Care Medicine and American Thoracic Society policy statement. Critical care medicine, 44(1), 188.

Stiegler, M. P., & Gaba, D. M. (2015). Decision-making and cognitive strategies.

Reichenpfader, U., Carlfjord, S., & Nilsen, P. (2015). Leadership in evidence-based practice: a systematic review. Leadership in Health Services, 28(4), 298-316.