By employing risk management in healthcare, the organization actively protects the patients’ safety and the organization market share, assets, brand value, reimbursement level, accreditation, and the community standing. There are various risk management policies including employee policies such as mandated overtime practices, smoking policies, dress code practices, sick leave/PTO policies, and non-discrimination hiring policies. Also, patient care policies include hand hygiene policies, falls prevention work, wound care prevention, HIPAA privacy issues, admission requirements, patient rights, and informed consent. The mandate overtime practices policy is a major concern and has to be changed. Mandate overtime policy in healthcare may be beneficial to the organization, but at the same time, it may be unhealthy for medical professionals.
Managers may be forced to keep the medical professional in hospitals to work overtime due to the great work in hospitals (Lu & Lu, 2016). Sometimes there may be more work shift than the employees available hence forcing the medical professionals to work extra hours. Mandate overtime practices policies have adverse effects mainly on the employees. Overtime increases the workload. Although working overtime is beneficial to the employees’ in term of payment, overtime policies may diminish morale and cause higher levels and fatigue. Stress and fatigue on employees is unhealthy and may make them less productive and may affect the healthcare progress. Overtime may also force other employees to quit or pursue legal avenues which may cause an adverse effect on the organization.
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Mandatory overtime policy may decrease safety and quality of care provided in the health facility. According to studies, working more than 40 hours a week may contribute to cognitive impairment which is fatigue-related (Lu & Lu, 2016). This impairment has led to errors and adverse effects that may cause harm to the patients and the healthcare professionals. There might be minor errors in medical care such as needlestick injuries, which has a high probability due to nurses’ fatigue. Studies have also shown less patient service satisfaction from nurses who have worked for shifts that have lasted for more than 13 hours (Lu & Lu, 2016). In general, nurses or medical professionals working more than 40 hours a week may lead to safety-related issues for the employees and patients.
There are various means of achieving a practical overtime strategy. It is crucial to develop an overtime plan that will decrease the high chances of health, safety, and production glitches. First is to ensure to be aware of the unwarranted overtime phase. If overtime shifts are higher, then less output from the health professionals will be seen. Therefore, excessive overtime has to be noted and the working time cycle reduced to prevent productivity failures and augmented risks of accidents. Secondly, a yearly cap should be set. To avoid unwarranted overtime phase, monthly or annual limit has to be set on overtime hours. The cap will be beneficial for the employee’s safety and health. Consequently, overtime hours will be distributed evenly. Thirdly, the restriction of overtime to days off on 12-hour timetables is necessary. With a 12-hour schedule, it is important to have a plan that restricts overtime during working days except in crises (Lu & Lu, 2016). Matching the staff levels to the work demand is also sensible. The shift should be scheduled evenly and per the workload and work demand hence reducing overtime. Also, double shifts on 8-hour timetables should be avoided, and finally caution should be used when holding the medical professionals beyond eight hours.
In conclusion, risk management aims at protecting both the employees and the patients. Mandatory overtime practices may pose server risks to the patients as well as the organization. Therefore, setting sensible overtime policy will make work for the medical staff easier and the patients will be satisfied with the care provided. Sensible overtime improves the efficiency, productivity and the safety of the employees and the patients.
References
Lu, S. F., & Lu, L. X. (2016). Do mandatory overtime laws improve quality? Staffing decisions and operational flexibility of nursing homes. Management Science, 63(11), 3566-3585.
