It is important to consider some factors when making plans for the recruitment of people to work at St. Patrick’s Nursing Home in order achieve the good results. According to Nazarko (2002, p. 112), the process of recruiting employees can be very complex at times. There are some factors that should be considered in order to have the right workforce. I have worked in this field for the last two years, and from my experience, I believe that the first factor that must be considered is the academic qualification of the prospect employees. Before hiring an employee for a specific task, it is important to ensure that he or she has the right qualifications that meet the requirements for the job. Each of the employees should be scrutinised in order to determine their level of education, and the selection must be based on merit.
According to Ryan and Hill (2007, p. 83), experience is very important when dealing with patients. Practitioners who have experience in the field may have a superior capacity to address various issues at St. Patrick’s Nursing Home. For this reason, the second criteria that will be used when planning to recruit individuals into the firm will be their experience in the respective fields. Employees who have worked in the fields they apply for will get a better chance than those who have no experience at all. Grundy (2006, p. 49) says that nursing is a very sensitive field and it requires personnel who understand what they are doing from a practical perspective. It is for this reason that it is recommended to hire more experienced employees (Coyne, Timmins & Neill 2010, p. 59).
The achievements of the employees in the past experiences will form another important basis that would define individuals to be hired. Connolly (2009, p. 47) notes that talents and other unique skills of people can be detected by reviewing their past experiences. Such talents and skills may play an important role when planning to make changes within an organisation (Sellman 2011, p. 121). They always bring new approaches of addressing tasks in a firm (Thornbory 2009, p. 73). At St. Patrick’s Nursing Home, it is clear that such talents are needed to improve quality of service delivery. Clients have complained about the quality of services delivered at this facility, and this strategy will be the first step towards delivering quality services.
Finally, I will consider government regulations and company policies about recruiting new officers. According to Pittman (2005, p. 38), sometimes the government may define the composition of employees within an organisation in terms of gender, age, or any other demographical factors. It is important to respect such government policies when hiring employees in order to ensure that the firm operates within the law (Winkelmann 2006, p. 61). In other cases, the management may have other factors that are traditionally considered important when hiring new employees (Brykczyńska & Simons 2011, p. 57). These traditional policies will be respected as long as they are in line with changing environmental forces.
According to Pereira (2006, p. 28), “Legislative and policy frameworks of the home country may influence the selection, recruitment and employment of individuals within an organisation.” The government may develop legislations to define how employees should be hired in order to promote equity, or for any other reason that is meant to promote social welfare. When planning to hire individuals to work in St. Patrick’s Nursing Home, some legislative and policy frameworks may affect this process in various ways. According to the policy framework set by the Department of Health in the United Kingdom, anyone who wishes to work in the country as a registered nurse must have received his or her training in accredited colleges in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, West Indies, Hong Kong or China. This is a requirement that would have a massive impact in the recruitment process at St. Patrick’s Nursing Home.
The ministry has also developed a policy that requires the registered nurses to be fluent in both spoken and written English. This is so because they are expected to handle patients who may not know any other language other than English. For this reason, they have to be able to speak the language effectively in order to be considered for a position of a registered nurse in any organisation within the firm. According to Norman and Ryrie (2013, p. 80), the British Council’s English Language Test is always a common exam that is administered to foreigners who are interested in working in the local British firms. This policy requirement will define type of people that this firm can hire. In case the firm wishes to hire foreigners, especially because of their willingness to accept lower wage rates compared to the natives, then these policies must be followed.
The government of the United Kingdom has enacted some legislative frameworks to define the process through which foreigners can be allowed to work within this country. According to Basford and Slevin (2003, p. 56), “In order to practise as a nurse in the United Kingdom, one must get the relevant work permit and immigration status.” This applies to nurses from the countries mentioned above. Callara (2008, p. 19) warns that, “It is important to take into account that registration with the UKCC does not entitle one to work in the UK as a registered nurse or midwife.” This means that the law requires such an immigrant to follow all the laid procedures before he or she can be considered for a position in any organisation within the country. These legislative and policy frameworks will define who a firm can employ. The management of St. Peter’s Nursing Home must understand all the legislative frameworks when hiring employees in order to avoid cases where its actions may be considered illegal.
When these government policies have been successfully met in the process of recruitment, selection and hiring of the new employees, the management should develop a paradigm shift in the management of employees. The problem of low morale due to what employee describe as poor remuneration should be dealt with first. If it is within the ability of the firm to adjust salaries of the employees upwards, this should be done immediately to improve their service delivery. The workplace environment should also be improved to be more favourable than it was before. Stressors at workplace should be identified and eliminated as soon as possible to ensure that they do not affect service delivery of the firm. The management should then develop organisational behaviour that focuses on commitment to the delegated duties, and the need to follow all the procedures when handling patients and during the patient handover when changing shifts. This will help address the current problems affecting this firm.
List of References
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Callara, L 2008, Nursing education challenges in the 21st century, Nova Science Publishers, New York.
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Coyne, Timmins, F & Neill, F 2010, Clinical skills in children’s nursing, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
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