providers and critical decision making

What are the severe repercussions of making poor decisions in a healthcare setting? Critical decision-making is a crucial component for healthcare providers to take into account, as the question shows. Making the appropriate choices when necessary obviously has a big impact on averting events that could have been prevented in the first place (Shelestak et al., 2015). All healthcare personnel working in a healthcare environment have a duty to act morally to avoid upsetting events like the loss of lives. When healthcare personnel are aware of both their organizational objective and their job responsibilities, decision-making can be made easier in the healthcare setting. Although healthcare institutions have leaders whose responsibility is to ensure the smooth flow of operations, each healthcare provider should play an important role in decision making to prevent negative outcomes.

Consequences of Failing to Report

From the presented case study of Mike, it is evident that the technician’s failure to report to work results to drastic impacts. For example, the general workflow within the identified institution is significantly impacted. Apparently, failure to report to work means that the institution will lack the right personnel qualified to assist in the diagnosis and the treatment of illnesses through by conducting tests on tissues. Therefore, the general operability of the healthcare institution will be significantly hampered since the patient will not be provided with the right medication by the doctors if they do not provided the right diagnosis. Mike’s failure to report to work can also result to other negative patient outcomes. For example, the failure to administer the right drugs by the pharmacy technician may worsen the patient’s case therefore resulting to death.

Another common consequence for failure to report is potential job loss. Evidently, Mike’s supervisor can consider his behavior of failing to report to work as unethical and unprofessional therefore costing him his job. Apparently, his failure to show up to work paralyses all the hospital’s activities which means that the position of the lab technician should be undertaken by an individual who is ready to work at all times. Therefore, it is advisable that Mike should have taken into consideration all the potential outcomes of his decision of failing to show up to work to avoid all the outlined consequences.

Impact on Patient Safety

Mike’s decision of failing to report to work had significant negative impacts on the general safety of the patients. It is evident that the main role and responsibility of a lab technician is to assist in the process of diagnosis and treatment of diseases (Heidari & Ebrahimi, 2016). Factually, when the lab technician fails to report to work, the other healthcare practitioners available in a healthcare firm will find it difficult to dispense their duties. For example, the doctors will find it difficult to establish the major health problem that a patient is suffering from. The presented situation means that the chances of misdiagnosis of the patient’s condition are high. Also, the chances of being provided with the wrong treatment is magnified. Therefore, when the lab technician fails to report to work, the general level of patient safety is significantly at threat.

Furthermore, Mike’s failure to report to work increases the potential risks for litigation. As is, his failure to report means that another healthcare personal will have to cover up for him. In cases where the personnel is not qualified, chances of error development are higher therefore affecting the ethical frameworks established for operation in healthcare institutions (Johansen & O’Brien, 2016). With such quality failure, litigation claims may arise especially from patients whose safety were jeopardized from the services delivery by the healthcare firm. Therefore, it is also a fact that Mike’s failure to report means that the general quality metrics of the firms are also affected. Also, Mike’s failure to show up means that the workload of the other departments are also affected. Apparently, someone must cover up for Mike to ensure the hospital continues to function as anticipated. The presented situation means that the other hospital departments will have an increased workload.

Mike’s Manager

As Mike’s manager, I will focus on addressing the presented situation with him by scheduling a one-on-one meeting. During the meeting, I will seek to establish the main reason why he failed to report to work. Additionally, I will explain to him the potential consequences of his actions and ensure he understands the negative effects of his decision. According to Latif et al. (2016), communication is the most important way of resolving workplace issues therefore directing the employees to make effective decisions. To ensure he does not repeat the same mistake, I will have him sign a letter of commitment showing that his failure to report to work as a result of uncalled for reasons will cost him his job. With this, all the other employees will see the seriousness of reporting to work as required within failure.

Conclusion

To conclude, making healthy decisions is an important factor for consideration for healthcare professionals. Apparently, their decisions directly affects quality, workload, and the general patient safety. Therefore, it is recommended that employees should always make the right decisions at all times to avoid the presented concerns.

References

Heidari, M., & Ebrahimi, P. (2016). Examining the relationship between critical-thinking skills and decision-making ability of emergency medicine students. Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine, 20(10), 581-586

Johansen, M. L., & O’Brien, J. L. (2016). Decision Making in Nursing Practice: A Concept Analysis. Nursing Forum, 51(1), 40-48. 

Latif, R. A., Mohamed, R., Dahlan, A., & Mat Nor, M. Z. (2016). Concept Mapping as a Teaching Tool on Critical Thinking Skills and Academic Performance of Diploma Nursing Students. Education In Medicine Journal, 8(1), 67-74. 

Shelestak, D. S., Meyers, T. W., Jarzembak, J. M., & Bradley, E. (2015). A Process to Assess Clinical Decision-Making During Human Patient Simulation: A Pilot Study. Nursing Education Perspectives (National League For Nursing), 36(3), 185-187.