Summary of the Organization
The organization in question is a medium size hospital, offering both general and specialized care. The staff works to promote the well-being and health of individuals, providing various healthcare services, referring people to specialized care, and informing the public about current public health issues. The main products of the hospital are different types of healthcare services, including consultations, prescriptions, and screenings. Some types of services are provided at a premium, while others enjoy insurance coverage. The values of the organization are supporting the community through the provision of various types of care. In addition, the process includes advocacy, local awareness, and policy support. The mission statement of the organization is to remain a reliable and successful healthcare provider, satisfy the needs of its clients, and demonstrate an adherence to leading principles of medical care.
Where is Gemba Focused
Gemba will be focused on the part of the hospital where nurses work. This includes the staff and physician’s offices, halls of the hospital, resting areas, and other places frequented by nurses. This focus for the Gemba walk seeks to understand the daily routine of nurses. The work of these healthcare professionals is vital to the functioning of the rest of the hospital. Therefore, leaders must be adequately engaged with the work of nurses.
Gemba Overview
During my Gemba walk, I spent considerable time moving through corridors, taking in the atmosphere and pace of the busy hospital. I visited the staff desk, and checked on individual doctor rooms, as long as they were not especially busy. I took note of the doctors and nurses who were especially swarmed with clients, as well as those who seemed to not have any work to do. I observed the process of healthcare delivery, and how nurses communicated with the patients, administered medication, and informed their clients about various health-related concerns. In addition, I saw how the staffing of the hospital was handled, how the staff distributed resources, kept up with the paperwork, and worked with the flow of clients. As my primary focus, I observed nurses in all of their duties.
Long-Term and Short-Term Opportunities
One of the larger goals I want to resolve is the currently persistent staffing issues. While many nurses were working on the day of my Gemba walk, some of them had their hands full dealing with documents, medication, and patients, while others seemed to not have enough things to do. That is why the current distribution of work is arranged, not enough nurses can deal with taking in patients or directly administering treatment. We will use data analytics and include expert opinion to deal with this issue, as the use of computers in staffing decisions was shown to be effective (Spetz, 2020). In addition, the reception desk seems to work inefficiently, taking a considerable time to move through each patient.
A smaller change I would like to see is the introduction of better organization within doctor’s offices. In many of the offices I visited, patient records and other information were simply piled up on the desk, restraining access to the necessary data and presenting a security risk. Aside from cleaning up the workspace and allowing doctors to take more advantage of their tables, I think more efforts should be started in digitizing health records and keeping information in a more accessible format (“Moving towards digital hospital records,” n.d.). This would rid the hospital of paperwork, enhance security through the means of encryption and password access, as well as allow the inclusion of new digital solutions.
References
Moving towards digital hospital records. (n.d.). Hospital News. Web.
Spetz, J. (2020). Leveraging big data to guide better nurse staffing strategies. BMJ Quality & Safety, 30(1), 1-3. Web.