The case study is about a medical institution that has failed to provide safety to its medical staff, patients, and visitors. By the institution not providing safety and protection to medical staff, patients and its relatives, there is a high risk that individuals might get hurt or hurt others. The lack of management control can be extremely costly to the facility. Lack of management can also lead to stressful situation and other problems to associates. Managers play many roles in an organization, however; one of the most critical roles that they need to engage is controlling. Controlling guarantee work regulations and discipline while it allows to get the things done in a manner which is expected . In this case study, management team has forgotten that safety comes first. The case also talks about the lack of security that the hospital is facing. Because of lack of security, a nurse was chased by a patient.
The management team along with the administration of the center are either contributing with the safety of its employees nor with patients. Furthermore, they are violating the employee’s right to be safe because they are not providing a safe work environment. Because of the high risk that medical staff might encounter when working with patients with behavioral disorders, managers should implement a security guard who will be walking around the facility every hour or so. In addition, it is recommended that a security camera system is installed in the facility in order to better monitor patients and medical staff. The management team should set high priorities when it comes to safety in general. One of the main goals of managers is to ensure employees are motivated to work and I believe that with such unsafe work environment employees of Greenville Community Hospital (GCH) are not motivated to keep working there.
If Rosemary had been injured, the administration of the hospital had been blamed for this. The reason I say this is because they are responsible for providing a safety work environment for all employees. In addition, patients with secondary drug abuse issues were being place in a non-secure unit. The situation of Rosemary being chased by the boyfriend of a patient could have been avoided if this type of patients had been remitted to their respective room with a high security system. This also had to do with the rooms assigned for those patients were relatively expensive and overbooked. If the visitor had attacked another patient then the hospital would have faced serious problems not only because they are not providing a safe work environment to its employees but also because they are not protecting its patients. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 employers are required to provide a safe and healthy place of environment (Niles 2013, pg 37). Therefore, GCH is entitled and must provide a safe environment to its employees, patients, and visitors. In addition, healthcare providers have the responsibility to assure all medical staff are treated fairly and with dignity (Buchbinder and Shanks 2012, pg 433). In this particular case, based on ethical standards GCH has the ethical obligation to make the right choice and protect all individuals in the organization. In addition, it would be a great idea that the hospital put in practice the principle of nonmaleficence which means “to do no harm” (Morrison & Furlong 2104, pg 47). Putting in action this principle, the CGH will be avoiding some of the issues that are already facing. To do no harm not only means physical harms. For instance, not taking the correct security measurements to protect its employees and patients is a way of causing harm.
The design of a mental health facility is a crucial factor of patient care. The design of the facility influences how services are provided and the effectiveness of care delivered. (“Mental Health Design Guide,” 2010 ) Most importantly, the design of the facility influences the beliefs, expectations and perceptions patients have about themselves, the services received, and the medical staff taking care of them. In addition, the design can also impact the beliefs and behaviors of the medical staff and how they interact with patients and the environment. Since the main focus of the facility should be the safety of patients, healing and safe environments can be designed. Moreover, a familiar, warm and welcoming environment very often help patients to enhance their connection to their surrounding (“Mental Health Design Guide,” 2010). A significant component of patient safety is patient engagement. Once patients feel connected with medical staff, they are more likely to look for these people in moments of anxiety, which can avoid a personal crisis. Therefore, it is critical that the environmental design of these patients promotes staff interaction and discourage isolation.
The cost of installing a panic alarm in patient’s rooms, nurses’ stations or safe rooms is going to cost less money than not taking the necessary measurements and letting a patient hurt a medical staff or another patient. Even though the installation of such alarm may have cost money to the hospital, I believe is worth it because this is a way to prevent someone from getting hurt. If the hospital would have taken this alarm into consideration before the incident happened, then perhaps Rosemary did not have to run , instead she would have gotten help from the security staff. Having some secure rooms where only medical staff had access, would allowed Rosemary to hide in there instead of being chased and running for her life.
The fact that medical staff is working with patients with such behavior as described in the case study, there should be more security implemented in the hospital and it is urgent to create an action plan in case an emergency occurred. Therefore, managers should be willing to use a sequence of ever-changing mechanisms and techniques to meet employee’s need (Richards-Gustafson, 2011). In order to protect employees, managers should create a safety training where employees use knowledge of their environment to comprehend issues are putting people in dangerous situations. For instance, employees should receive a training in regards of different types of code that hospital uses whenever there is a fire, bomb threat or hostage situation. By doing this, all employees know what actions are required in regards of the information received and can use it in their advantage. Using a common terminology allows emergency management/response personnel to clearly and effectively communicate with each other.
In conclusion, it is crucial that the management team takes into consideration the importance of providing a safe work environment to patients, visitors and employees. By improving the security of the hospital, patients will feel more secure and medical staff will not be thinking about be on danger or wanting to quit their job. Controlling has a great value and significance in an organization. Therefore, it must be used by managers to support the organization in reaching its goals and objectives. An effective control system can lead the organization to succeed and attain reasonable development. Therefore, an immediate reflection is needed to be made by the administration of the Greenville Community Hospital in order to comply with safety work environment that ought to be provided to employees, patients and visitors.