Risk Management

So we are at the end of the semester, I can't believe it! We are summing up the semester discussing Risk Management. I can see how important Risk Management is in the hospital setting.

Risk Management is not just about tracking what went wrong but it is about tracking what went wrong so new procedures and checks can be made to avoid it ever happening again.  We have to file incident reports at work when something isn't done right. For example, if an antibiotic is missed or never run, an incident report is filed which states what happened and how it affected the patient. These reports are filed even if no adverse affects were identified. This can be intimidating unless you understand why they are filed. However, if you know that the Risk Management Department was notified by these filings because they want to find a common thread or error and put policies into place to avoid further mistakes, it makes perfect sense.

The bottom line of Risk Management is to keep the patients safe and provide the best and safest care possible to our patients. I read an article entitled Patient Safety, Risk, and Quality published by ECRI Institute (2014) addressing Risk Management. Their study shows that when risks are monitored both with patient care and improved quality of service both physically and financially, both the hospitals and patients win.

Risk Management is yet another aspect of Leadership that, if refined, creates a quality leadership and improved team support.

I  have enjoyed learning about Leadership this semester and will continue to strive for excellence in leadership at work as well as excellence in team work. I believe that teamwork and leadership provide a solid foundation for excellence in patient care.

ECRI Institute (2014). Patient safety, risk and quality. Retrieved from: https://www.ecri.org/components/HRC/Pages/RiskQual4.aspx

It's All About Motivation

This week we focused on Motivation. This is something that we work on all the time at work. We want to motivate people to do their best at work. Face it, work can feel monotonous. But, for the most part, employees want to their best, they just need to stay motivated.

We discussed ways to motivate people at work. We brainstormed to find different things that would help staff do their best. Some of the things we covered included monetary gifts/bonuses, gift cards, food, recognition, competition, and things like that.

Money... we discussed how increases in salary or bonuses are only effective for about six months. After that time, employees feel that it isn't enough. My opinion... it's a good place to start.

Recognition and competition... I think this is an effective concept. People are by nature competitive, at least we were in nursing school. So, chances are, so are nurses. Recognition is always a great thing. We like to have feedback on our performance at work and recognition is a way to do that.

Food... Well who doesn't like food, right?! At our work the manager provides a staff appreciation dinner brought in once a month. It is definitely a morale booster.

During the time iCentra was started at my work, management worked hard to motivate the staff. I think many of the staff felt as though they had the rug pulled out from under them with a new computer charting system. In addition, we were all asked to take mandatory extra shifts and people were getting burned out. Here are some of the things my department did for us. We received thank you gifts, bonuses for extra shifts, dinners were brought in, we played a spin wheel for prizes, they purchased us a massage chair, they brought in a masseuse a couple times a month and they made a point to recognize employees.

I appreciate all that my work did to help us through the transition. The only thing I didn't like was to work an extra shift. However, I do appreciate all they did to make it the best for everyone. Motivation is the key to employee retention and is something that should be regularly reviewed, revised and enforced.