Paper Example. Summary of the Interview

The interview with the healthcare provider went well, with insights into the profession being gained. Most importantly, I got a first-hand analysis of the issue affecting the healthcare provider at the workplace. The interview questions revolved mostly around the healthcare provider, where she provided background information about his medical career. The name of the respondent to the interview is Mary Hillary, a nurse at Odion Medical Center. The first question required the doctor to describe herself and his medical career background; this was an excellent opportunity to get to know the nurse.

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Nonetheless, personal details were irrelevant to the interview. Other questions of interest required the healthcare provider to describe her current working environment; this included her current role, what she likes about the working conditions, and what she dislikes. This question provided the chance to gain insights into the issues that affect healthcare providers, a problem that can benefit from an interdisciplinary approach. I used specific interview strategies to make the interview useful. The interview was recorded and transcribed; the advantage of this was that it allowed a thorough examination of what the healthcare provider was saying; it also permitted more in-depth analysis of the respondent’s answers. Apart from recording and transcribing, I ensured that the interview was ethically sensitive by ensuring that the interviewee appreciated the reason for the meeting. I explained to him what the interview was all about. The questions asked, comprised direct and indirect questions, specifying questions follow-up questions, and interpreting issues (McCarthy, 2020).

Identified Issue

The identified issue is workload at the workplace. The healthcare provider complained about the amount of work she has to do daily. From the interview, the reason for excess workload was a shortage of nurses in the industry, meaning some workers have to do extra work. She complained that she felt challenged by the amount of workload at the workplace. According to a survey report by CareerBuilder, shortages in the number of healthcare providers are hitting the industry hard; this is especially true when it comes to nurses (Fagerström et al., 2018). In the report, it is identified that a crucial turnover challenge in healthcare workers who take more responsibilities beyond levels of their comfort. This shortage implies that the available staff must segment a significant workload, which ultimately pushes some of the employees to the brink of exhaustion.

Workload determines the stress levels at the workplace. Studies show that almost all professionals are faced with the challenge of workplace stress (Fagerström et al., 2018). However, the profession of healthcare, in particular, is the most prone to workplace stress. The profession is made up of a significant group that can be impacted by stress at the workplace as a result of their unique work environment. From the interview with the nurse, this is true. The respondent complained about the amount of workload she was getting at the hospital and the stress as a result of the high workload. Other studies have pointed to the fact that a high amount of workload at the workplace is directly related to high levels of stress at the workplace (Lee and Jeong, 2018). This issue calls for sensible and feasible guidance concerning the organization of job-related stress and the health of healthcare providers. For the guidance or an interdisciplinary approach to work, it should reflect a logically effective method to stress and the organization of stress and be custom-made to the precise needs and setting of the healthcare providers; this is so when dealing with groups or organizations. By proposing an interdisciplinary approach, this paper looks at the various ways of handling the issue of a high amount of workload at the workplace.

Potential Change Theories and Leadership Strategy

Nurses' workload is a commonly reported problem within a variety of hospitals across the country and on a global scale. A study by the British Medical Journal found that a staggering 86% of nurses were reported to have ended their shifts without being done with tasks they were required to do as a result of lack of time (Lee and Jeong, 2018). Undelivered care is believed to be the number one reason for the significant decrease in the value of care given and the safety of patients. Nonetheless, nurses still have so many hours left in a day to perform all the necessary tasks. For that reason, an interdisciplinary approach should be utilized that reduces the nurse’s workload significantly, which in turn reduces the stress levels of the healthcare providers and ultimately increases the quality of healthcare provided and safety at the workplace.

Several scholars have looked at the issue of high workload among nurses in healthcare facilities. Several solutions have thus been proposed; one of these is making the nurse-to-patient ratio lower in hospitals; this can reduce the workload and consequently lead to reduced stress levels among the nurses, high-quality health care, and safety at the workplace and precisely that of the patient (Lee and Jeong, 2018). Apart from that, another proposed mechanism is the introduction of hourly purposeful rounding. This solution has been said to improve the perceptions of patients regarding nurses’ responsiveness in units where this initially may have been a challenge (Van Den Oetelaar et al., 2016). One of the above approaches has a cost around it, while the other means that the nurses have to change the way they perform their work. Among these two approaches, the one that involves making the patient-to-nurse ratio is the most reliable. Thus, it is the one that should be implemented. For the implementation, a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle should be incorporated.

Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Cycle

The PDSA model meant to improve things lays an outline that can be used for the development, test, and implementation of changes that lead to development. The structure is grounded on the methodical technique, and it restrains the instinct to take quick action with the knowledge of a cautious practical study (Magnuson et al., 2020). The four stages involved in the framework include the plan, the do, the study, and the action step.

The Plan: The planning stage involves the changes that need to be tested or implemented. In this case, the plan is the implementation of making the patient-to-nurse ratio minimal. This step will involve the creation of a formal patient-to-nurse ratio plan. Some metrics will have to be laid out to measure the performance of the plan.

The Do: The carrying out of the implementation. After the plan has been laid out in the plan step, carrying out of the plan comes next. The Do step will involve the actual implementation of the plan. The right ratio of patient to nurse will be laid out and executed.

The Study: This stage involves measuring the outcomes agreed upon in the planning stage, before carrying out the implementation and then after the execution and reflecting on what impact the change has had and determining what has been learned. After the plan has been implemented at the organization, and the right ratio put in place, the metrics set at the plan step will be used to measure the outcomes of the plan. Depending on the performance, improvements can be suggested.

The Act: This involves planning the next full implementation. The improvements in the Study step are enacted upon this step. The plan can be rolled out on a larger scale at this step.

References

Fagerström, L., Kinnunen, M., & Saarela, J. (2018). Nursing workload, patient safety incidents, and mortality: an observational study from Finland. BMJ Open, 8(4), e016367. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016367

Lee, S., & Jeong, I. S. (2018). A Resource-Based Relative Value for Clinical Research Nurses’ Workload. Therapeutic Innovation & Regulatory Science, 52(3), 313-320. https://doi.org/10.1177/2168479017731585

Magnuson, S., Kras, K. R., Aleandro, H., Rudes, D. S., & Taxman, F. S. (2020). Using Plan-Do-Study-Act and Participatory Action Research to Improve Use of Risk Needs Assessments. Corrections, 5(1), 44-63. https://doi.org/10.1080/23774657.2018.1555442

McCarthy, C. (2020). Develop successful interview strategies for virtual and traditional formats. Student Affairs Today, 23(5), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1002/say.30773

Van Den Oetelaar, W. F. J. M., Van Stel, H. F., Van Rhenen, W., Stellato, R. K., & Grolman, W. (2016). Balancing nurses’ workload in hospital wards: study protocol of developing a method to manage workload. BMJ Open, 6(11). http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012148