Efficient care service center consists of professionals with varied skills and competence to discharge their mandate. Usually, a healthcare institution attracts a pool of skilled, semi-skilled and completely unskilled persons with each person performing a significant and distinct role in the treatment process. Acute-care hospital offers surgical services and medical care to patients with an unexpected serious medical problem that needs immediate assessment and treatment. Considering the condition of the patient and the nature and urgency of treatment required, the acute-care hospitals have different types of professional for proper service delivery.
Types of Professionals in acute-care hospitals
The collegiality of the professional with different training and background determines the success in service delivery for the patients. The composition of the professionals in the acute care centers is based on the services they intend to offer. An acute care basically offers services touching on critical care, urgent care, short-term stabilization, pre-hospital care, emergency care and trauma and acute care surgery. It is therefore based on this services that the professional are derived.
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Minor surgery falls within the domain of a typical acute care unit. The persons allowed to carry out search surgery are the subspecialty surgeons or the general surgeons. These category 0f surgeons have a narrow field of practice and experience, however, the mini surgery carried at the acute care levels are within their zone of comfort. The general surgeon are persons who are “broadly educated in and exposed to all the essential content areas of general surgery, including the alimentary tract; the abdomen and its contents; breast, skin, and soft tissue; the endocrine system; head and neck surgery” (Farnandez-Cruz 2014), their scope of knowledge may also touch on the basics of pediatric surgery; surgical critical care; surgical oncology; transplantation surgery; trauma/burns; and vascular surgery. These are professionals who graduated from various medical schools before rendering their services to the acute. For a surgeon practice in the acute cares centers, they must meet the credentials such as the absence of Medicare sanctions, must have a state license and have accreditation to practice.
Clinical psychologists are common faces in the acute care centers; they meet the patients at different levels such as behavioral, emotional and mental. At the acute care hospitals, their assignments revolve around counseling of patients, Assess family caregivers for depression, anxiety, grief and exhaustion and “provide psycho-education to family caregivers about their loved one’s disability or illness and about the best means of sustaining themselves through the period of caregiving” (apa.org). Among their credentialing requirements includes adherence to the licensing and certification guidelines stipulated by the state and the professional associations. Most clinical psychologists are graduates with Bachelors in education, psychology or sociology.
Just like clinical psychologists, physical therapists also conspicuous figures an ideal acute care centers, their education requirement are leveled at the graduate level where they earn at least physical Therapy (DPT) degree from an accredited medical school. Their duties include the help patients reduce pain and improve or restore mobility - in many cases without expensive surgery and often reducing the need for long-term use of prescription medications and their side effects. The physical therapists also have to adhere to the same regulations and laws that bound the subspecialty surgeons.
The role of nurse practitioners in the acute care hospitals is quite diverse; they strike the balance between the patient care need and the shortage of physicians in the hospitals. To become an acute care nurse practitioner, one needs to complete an advanced-practice program to earn either a master's degree (MSN) or a doctoral degree in nursing (DNP) for which they learn of best practices such as health promotion and maintenance and clinical reasoning.
Importance of screening potential employees
Understanding the backgrounds of a potential employee and assessing their skills and other qualification helps the institution doing recruitment to greatly organize their workforce in accordance with the interest of the employee and allow the organization to maximize the full potential of their employees. An effective screening process is a fundamental procedure that brings a full range of benefits to the organization.
First, the organization is better placed to tap into the best minds that are aligned with the principles, values and beliefs of the organization. Organizations with most qualified employees will enjoy increased production or service delivery to the people, helps in minimizing the cost of further training that would otherwise have been spent in building capacity among the workforce. In the healthcare sector, the need for screening the background of the employee is critical because if the recruits’ educational backgrounds to determine their qualification and the kind of duties and responsibility that falls within their zone of skills, knowledge and competence.
In the world where terrorism has almost been taken hostage and the ideology has consistently informed the beliefs its members to take actions that are never decent in the eyes of the right thinking persons in the society. In the hospitals where most patients are vulnerable and least defend themselves, screening the background of the possible employees provides proper mechanisms for which safety and security and security of the patients can be entrusted in their hand. Similar, going by the fact that “FBI statistics show a large percentage of incidents employees/managers have to deal with on a daily basis include minor assaults, domestic violence, threats, harassment (to include sexual harassment), stalking, and physical and/or emotional abuse” (Frasca, 2017). Understanding the historical data regarding the employee helps in making the decision on the best place to their employee where they may not be overwhelmed or their emotional strength stretched beyond limits. Such understanding should be considerate for patients’ safety and security.
Next, an effective screening process of the employees is important to the organization is that it aligns the organization towards the compliance with its regulations and rules set forward to ensure quality. This goes beyond the just fulfilling the company regulations but also meet the state and international standards of best practices. In the health sector, the accreditation organizations provide framework for which the screening process is hinged. Similarly, screening helps in decreasing negligence hiring risks which usually tend to leave the company liable for mistakes done later by the employer. “When incidents occur that a company could have prevented knowing an employee’s past, lawsuits are filed, and companies often suffer immeasurable damage to their reputation because of it” (Frasca, 2017).Therefore, the importance of this process is that it helps the organizations enjoy the holistic understanding of its employees and always be liable for the issues touching their employers.
Progressive discipline and the importance of effective termination procedures
Usually, it is not always a smooth ride for employees in any organizations, failures and mistakes are part of their roles within one’s realm. However, there should be measures for taming or correcting the failures of the employees. Progressive discipline, therefore, refers to “a step-by-step process designed to modify unacceptable employee behaviors, which also allows for discipline to start at a higher step based on the severity and circumstances of the situation” (Vanderbilt University 2015). The aim of progressive discipline is not to rein terror or cast a hard line position to be towed by the employee, but rather to assist the employees by precisely and clarity of voice inform them of the nature of the problem and alert them of the consequences that might befall on them if the mistake reoccurred. In the application of this strategy, those in the leadership positions have great influence in the management and implementation, they should, therefore, remain objective, fair and consistent in exercising their mandate to avoid victimizing their subjects. The progressive discipline is triggered by verbal warning in which the employee is informed or reminded of the policies regulations of the organization. Failure of step triggers warning served through writing. “If the conduct addressed by the written warning is repeated or additional problems occur within a 12-month period, discipline may progress to a final written warning, which may include an unpaid suspension” (Vanderbilt University 2015). This is the third step; however, severe failures may land the employ directly at this stage. Termination of the contract is the final stage.
Finally, an effective termination procedure is important to the organization as it not save the organization for the embarrassment of legal battles that they encounter as result of the un-procedural termination of contract and violation of the rights of the employers. Similar, it is good relief for the organization to do away with the employees who not observe the laws and regulations and perform to the expectation set. Such a proper and effective termination also impacts the economic conditions of the organization; if done properly, “it would also increase the assets of the qualified plan, potentially leading to reduced fees per participant” (Dejong & Urwitz 2015). Therefore, an effective termination procedure allows the organization to stabilize its economic conditions, maintain the good public image and solve the internal challenges.
References
Fernández-Cruz, L. (2014). General Surgery as Education, Not Specialization. Annals of Surgery , 240 (6), 932–938. http://doi.org/10.1097/01.sla.0000145966.00037.87
Psychologists’ Roles as Direct Service Clinicians. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2018, from http://www.apa.org/pi/about/publications/caregivers/practice-settings/direct-service/index.aspx
Frasca, R. J. (2017). Benefits of Pre-Employment Background Screening. Retrieved February 16, 2018, from http://activescreening.com/6-benefits-of-pre-employment-background-screening/
Vanderbilt University . (2015). Progressive Discipline. Retrieved February 15, 2018, from https://hr.vanderbilt.edu/policies/progressive-discipline.php
Dejong, R., & Urwitz, J. (2015). What to Think About Before a 403(b) Plan Termination. BENEFITS LAW JOURNAL , 25 (5). Retrieved February 16, 2018.
