Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to W Umiker.
Regulatory agencies now require more than credentialing, quality assurance, and educational programs to prove that health care workers are competent. There is confusion over exactly what competency is and how we can assess it in an environment of strict cost restriction. This article presents an overview of the current situation and some techniques for assessing competencies. Emphasis is on clinical laboratory approaches.
The success of health care institutions depends largely on how committed its employees are. Profiles of personal commitments can vary markedly. Major components of all these profiles are: dedication to employers, bonding with fellow professionals, and loyalty to one's work group or team. We discuss how employers and leaders can create a culture that features more commitment. The rewards and risks of personal commitment and the characteristics of committed employees are presented.
There is much more to organizational culture than the diversity issue. Establishing or changing a corporate culture is challenging for employers, management, and supervisors. In this article, the authors describe the importance of corporate culture, explore the roadblocks to improving it, and relate how successful managers and supervisors cope with this challenge.
Downsizing remains a constant fixture of the organizational landscape. The process causes severe emotional stress on departing employees. It places functional and emotional strain on survivors. This article provides practical advice for executives and supervisors on how to minimize the traumatic effects of these staff reductions. It also discusses how staff reductions can be more efficient. Emphasis is on the importance of training following a downsizing.
Throughout the health care industry, technical and professional employees are moving into supervisory roles, usually without preparation for this major change. They often are frustrated during the transition period. This article discusses how to decide whether supervision is for you and how to prepare for the new role. Several tenets of leadership are offered in the health care setting.
Many health care organizations are cutting costs by eliminating or reducing their recognition and award systems. Salary increases and bonuses are harder to come by. To compensate for these losses at a time when morale is flagging and stress is increasing, it is imperative for supervisors and managers to fine-tune their recognition and reward skills.
What would you like people to say about you at your wake? Your answer to that question provides a strong clue about what your personal mission statement should include. It may also inspire you to draft such a document. If it does, you may find some helpful suggestions in this article.
Outcomes assessment and management are playing an increasing role in reducing costs and providing better customer satisfaction. In this overview we describe some outcomes applications and techniques, including benchmarking and clinical pathways. Some outcomes undertakings are complicated and may be frustrating, but most are rewarding to patients or health care providers or both. Challenges are discussed and laboratory applications featured.
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Today's health care institutions need employees who are knowledgeable, committed, competent, motivated, and flexible. New management styles, mission statements, and incentives have little impact on these essential characteristics if they are not supplemented with career development programs. This article provides an overview of career development programs and the elements necessary for successful applications of these programs, with an emphasis on the importance of mentoring.
With change comes conflict. Conflict can be positive or negative depending on the attitude and skills of the participants. Collaborative conflict is characterized by an approach in which people attack problems rather than each other. Essential components of collaborative conflict resolution include selection of basic technique, preparation for confrontation, and viewing the situation from the other person's perspective.
Resistance to workplace changes is always to be anticipated. It can be minimized by insightful planning, and overcome by competent leadership. This article provides practical advice for both planning and leadership tactics.
Violence in medical institutions is escalating and is not limited to emergency departments and psychiatric units. Employers, administrators, and supervisors share responsibility for controlling these assaults. Preventive measures are expensive, but not as expensive as the lack of safety control. Nor can safety be measured only in terms of dollars. This article offers a practical strategy for protecting employees, patients, and others from being assaulted.
Beset with job uncertainty and shifting responsibilities, today's health care supervisors are faced with frequent decisions that impact their careers and professional status. To stand pat and avoid change usually involve greater risk than taking chances and may result in job loss. To make bad decisions can also be detrimental. The goal of this article is to encourage one to accept accountability, to avoid the "victim complex," and to make decisions more effectively.
Health workers engage in negotiations at work and at home on a daily basis. The ability to negotiate is a vital part of interpersonal skill. The paradigm of negotiation strategy is undergoing a profound shift from power pressure to an egalitarian form of problem solving or value-added approach that is much more likely to result in win/win outcomes. The basic principle of this refreshing innovation is similar to what we learned about brainstorming and creative problem solving.
In today's highly competitive atmosphere, the survival of health care institutions depends largely on the ability to provide value-added services (VAS) at the lowest possible cost. Managers must identify their customers and delineate the needs and expectation of those customers. A strategy for satisfying these needs and expectations is essential. While technical advances and reasonable charges are important, a successful "high-tech," "high touch" approach demands the combination of process reengineering and employee training in customer relations.
The loyalty paradigm is evolving as part of our cultural modifications. We must enunciate our own standards and temper them with realism. Employers can seldom promise permanent jobs, and employees are reluctant to hitch their stars to one organization. In health care institutions, ethical considerations may result in divergent allegiances. The new loyalty paradigm is affected by the movements toward participative management and team building. A number of suggestions are offered for enhancing a pragmatic form of loyalty.
Optimism is worth striving for. It may prolong your life. Our self-image is determined early in life, largely by what our parents have told us. Self-esteem is based on self-efficacy, self-respect, acceptance by others, and by our own subconscious mind.