Position and number of employees
Because the newly integrated product is a laser machine, the staffing plan requires employing experienced professionals who are technically aware of all peculiarities of laser’s work. Specifically, apart from two full-time surgeons and two nurses assisting them, there should be technicians that would take control of tuned work of the equipment. Maintenance and housekeeping will ensure a continuous and safety work of surgeons and their assistants. Finally, there should be a manager who would be on guard of all procedures associated with laser work. The functions of housekeeping will also be imposed on technicians. Nurses will serve as receptionists; will be responsible for communicating with patients, appointing the session dates, and writing down the information about patients for the surgeons to keep track of the patients’ medical cards.
While asserting the type and number of position, particular reference has been made to the problem of nursing shortage with regard to nurse-patient ratios. Apart from stuffing shortage, the quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery largely depends on the successful work of the ancillary personnel. In this respect, White (2006) states that hospitals should take into account the standards released by JCAHO in 2002. The effectiveness of the staffing process is identified by “a minimum of four indicators, including two human resource indicators – such as overtime use – and two clinical indicators – such as patient falls – and to determine the effect of the indicators on patient outcomes” (White, 2006, p. 24). The analysis of the organization’s data, therefore, allows to adjust to existing staffing standards with regard to the ratio analysis.
Justifying position with regard type and number
Because there will be two rooms equipped with laser machines, two surgeons and two nursing assistants will be enough to ensure high quality of healthcare services and effective treatment. Hiring two technicians for two devices will not be cost-efficient because the equipment is relatively new and technical bugs are not likely to occur. However, hiring one more technician for this position is possible at later periods of exploitation if the equipment fail to meet the technical standards. Judging from the functions that should be performed by assisting nurses, two specialists will suffice for this position. In case nurses will not be able to cope with their direct responsibilities, the stuffing plan will further predict hiring a secretary who would share some of the nurses’ responsibilities. Hence, the surgeons’ assistants should be able to accept a patient, write down the information into the medical card, and transfer the data to the surgeon. Because the surgeon is able to serve only one patient at a time, nurse will not be overloaded with responsibilities and will be able to cope with the patients flow. Nurses should also be initiated into the peculiarities of laser procedures in order to explain the patients the basic steps of accomplishing the session. Once the background information on nursing processionals is acquired, it is imperative to prepare three basic components of operating budget which involves expense budget for the nursing staff, the budget for expenditures other than staff services and, finally, the revenue budget (Finkler & Knowles, 2000, p. 263).
Along with the rest of the hired personnel, surgeons should go through a retraining program to ensure that their professionalism and competence conform to the established standards. More importantly, they should be familiarized with technical peculiarities of the equipment and how it should operate. This precaution measures can enhance patient security and provide a high quality care. Further, surgeons should learn all peculiarities of carrying out the procedures that are more concerned with patient communication. In this respect, certain ethical and moral aspects should be concerned.
Professional criteria for hiring a manager of the laser department should involve such qualities as effective interpersonal skills, leadership skills, and conflict management skills. Aside from personal qualities, a manager should be able to take control of information flows within the department to immediately identify the problem and provide viable solutions to it. In this respect, a decision making process is an important attribute of effective management (Dreyer, Forde, & Nortvedt, 2011). More importantly, managers must be engaged in addressing the issue of budgeting the staff, including the development of budget schemes and social packages.
Number of Hours Worked
Both surgeons and nurses should work on a full-time basis to ensure regular acceptance of all clients. Regarding the predicted number and hours of patient attendance, the staff will have about 3-5 patients a day and about 15-25 patients a week with regard to the complicacy and duration of the session. Because no recovery period is required, nurses and surgeons will be fully engaged into the procedure. In emergency cases, patients will be allowed on weekends and, therefore, there will be one surgeon and one nurse on duty. In this respect, surgeons and nurses will work for six days a week with one day off.
While arranging the work of technicians and secretaries, specific attention should be paid to productive and non-productive hours. Apparently, the major workload should be in the first part of the day, which will be about 70 % of total amount of patients per diem. The technicians and secretaries should actively cooperate with surgeons and nurses to ensure effective patient treatment. Judging from the fact that each procedure lasts about 2-3 hours, the surgeons will be able to accept 3-5 patients a day. On weekends, the number of patients can be significantly lower and, therefore, the allowance hours will be in the first part of the day. In this respect, nurses and surgeons will wok on a part-time basis.
Salary and Total Benefits Costs for Each Position
Introducing favorable salary and benefits scheme improves the working conditions within an organization and provides a favorable ground for increasing safety and quality of patient treatment. In this respect, regulating cost and benefits analysis more effectively will allow the hospital to take a greater control of expenditures and profits. Introducing a new service, therefore, is always a risky business and it should be carefully managed in order to prevent significant financial losses (Shamliyan et al., 2009). A manager appointed for handling the new department should pay closer attention to the financial issues to accurately allocate financial resources.
Assuming that $ 40000 was allocated for employing the new staff, the resources will be presented as the following:
- Manager $ 6 000
- Surgeons – $ 14 0000
- Nurses – $ 10 000
- Technician – $ 5 000
- Secretary – $ 5 000
The above-presented salary calculation is worked out in accordance with the responsibilities and obligations imposed on each position. Judging from the salary distribution, the major responsibility on the new department is assigned to a manager and surgeons who should monitor and ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of laser treatment. Apart from creating acceptable salary schemes, bonus packages should also be available for the employees of the department. At this point, pension schemes, sick leaves, and rewarding plans should be worked out specifically for the division. Much concern should also be connected with planning an effective training course. The task of a manager, therefore, is to ensure that all employees meet the competency requirements. The training course will develop specific lectures where the personnel will be able to learn more about the specifics of working with laser equipment including safety measures, accident prevention, and maintenance. The information about principles of laser machine function should be available to all members of the staff. Hence, $ 10 000 will be spent on advancing knowledge on technology and innovation. The investment does not only enhance personnel’s knowledge, but also sustains the image of our state-of-the-art center.
Overall, the given plan of staffing the new department seeks to accomplish several goals. First of all, because the primary goal of our organization is improving the quality of health care services, introducing laser equipment can significantly reduce the risk of surgery intrusion, as well as create a less stressful environment for patients. Second, implementation of new technological devices provides the hospital with wider access to scientific innovation and expands nurses’ experiences in evidence-based practice. Finally, evaluation of staff competences can also contribute to defining major problems as management level. Better awareness of drawbacks and pitfalls can provide viable solutions for further development of the hospital.
References
Dreyer, A., Forde, R., & Nortvedt, P. (2011). Ethical decision-making in nursing homes: Influence of organizational factors. Nursing Ethics, 18(4), 514-525.
Finkler, S. A., & Kovner, C. T. (2000). Financial Management for Nurse Managers and Executives. US: Saunders.
Shamliyan, T. A., Kane, R. L., Mueller, C., Duval, S., & Wilt, T. J. (2009). Cost Savings Associated with Increased RN Staffing in Acute Care Hospitals: Simulation Exercise. Nursing Economics, 27(5), 302-331.
White, K. M. (2006). Policy spotlight: staffing plans and ratios. Nursing Management, 37(4), 19-24.