Health Care Communications Paper

HCS/320

Hearing the word crisis automatically sets off alarms inside all of us. When it comes to a crisis situation that is going to go affect a large quantity of people we know that fear becomes even more heightened. When you are the one who needs to be making others aware of the situation the most important thing to be sure is in place is order, and of course correct information. Having a set group of individuals and a set order of who is in charge of what makes the process easy for those to understand and also easy for others outside of that team know who they need to turn to for what. In crisis situations everyone is obviously dealing with stress so it can impair judgments, and knowing a set order or knowing certain people to look too during times will ease the stress and make situations a little less complicated. Of course these teams cannot control the situations as a whole, but they are implemented to help relay information, get people to safety and so forth. Inside the organization there will be many people working together as a team to be sure that things are progressing as information is coming in. This will be for all crisis situations not only this one in particular. This will be our “go to team” for all emergency situations. This team will consist of individuals that have undergone training in CPR, emergency situations, and also stress management. According to Foote (2012)” Leaders should quickly assess the type of crisis, the help they need to shape their response, the status of information available, and the potential scope of damage”. This is not only for their benefit, but also for the safety of the other employees. These employees will be notified immediately of when situations are occurring and will already know course of action to take in certain emergency situations such as fires, flooding, and intruders inside the premises. During all other situations each person of the team will be notified of their duties, where to report, what floors/ employees they are in charge of, and what portions of the situation they are supposed to be handling. The main people inside on inside of the business will be the Owners, Administrators, Managers of each department and select individuals from each department. These people will all work closely together in these times and have meetings quarterly to keep up on information as needed and training will also be done as required to keep up with certifications. Outside of the organization the people that will be communicating are of course the main new channels, mayors, and key players in the community. These people may also include those people working for the center for disease control, and in this case the water company and those who would be involved in environmental/ biohazard areas of health issues. These people are not only going to be speaking to the community, but also to healthcare professionals to make them aware of the situations and what they may be encountering. They would be communicating back and forth as to not leave anyone in the dark about the situation and to be sure the public is aware so they first can take initiatives to keep themselves safe and alert on the issues. They of course will be in contact with healthcare professionals so they could have facilities ready to treat certain types of illnesses if a mad rush of individuals with the same problem would be rushing into the facilities. The news stations would be keeping up again on the information to keep the public alert as needed and to be sure that as many people a possible were being notified about the situation. This also allows people from other areas to know what is happening in case overflow of people from certain cities and towns seek refuge/ assistance in bordering towns or cities. There could be different advantages and challenges when communicating with the public. One advantage is the fact that the public will possibly have the chance to prepare for whatever crisis is about to come upon them. This may give them the opportunity to get out of the area if needed or prepare their homes. They may also have the chance to stock up on supplies or know what kinds of things they are going to need to avoid. When communicating with the public we know that people talk, so the news will spread fast so we can see this as another advantage. We can also see people speaking to each other as another challenge. More often than not information is passed incorrectly when it is going between different sources. Even if the information is very important we tend to see key parts are left out when people are in high stress situations. The public also becomes extremely paranoid when it comes to high stress situations. People begin to start bombarding the stores to stock up on goods, rushing to pack to get out of the towns, working to board up their homes and also taking other means of shelter if necessary. People in crisis situations have a hard time focusing on how to separate the stress they are feeling and how to assess and handle the situations in a calm manner. This can also be true when working inside the organization. We know that everyone is obviously on high end when a crisis is occurring or about to occur. According to (Thiessen & Ingenhoff, 2011), “learning from a crisis becomes a crucial step for crisis communication management”. Staying calm and working through the processes as a team many times can be a struggle. Inside the organization is may be a challenge to let the people in charge take the lead and tell you how to handle the situation if your own health/ life may be in danger. One the other side of this if you are unable to handle the situation, it may be better that someone else is taking the lead and telling you what you should and should not be doing to protect you and other coworkers. In this crisis situation there are many different types of communication that will be used. We will be using verbal communication, written communication, and nonverbal as well. All of these things will be used inside and outside of the organization. Also incorporated into this will be the use of social media, involving network television (news) and the internet. Everyone inside and outside of the organization will of course be verbally speaking to one another. This will be the main form of communication. On the other side of this there will also be text messages, internet blogs, wording at the bottom of new headings, and so forth in the written form of the information that needs to be relayed. To improve the communication I think that all of these forms need to continue to be used, but it needs to be stressed that all information needs to be complete and correct. Many times the media begins to release information that has not be approved or confirmed and it puts people into an uproar. This will cause more panic and unnecessary concern. We need to allow the appropriate people to begin the chain of communication and the processes of communication follow a format between the correct people, reaching the public with complete information last after it all has been confirmed. We can always enhance communication by using all technological media advancements that we have. Today many of us are using smart phones that have internet capabilities. Also many of us are using social media networks. By passing the information by these means they are hitting mass amounts of people at one time just as the news would, only its right at our fingertips. The difference between the news and these new capabilities on the phones it the phones will many times alert us when something is going on, to reach the news the television must be turned on. The media has many opportunities during this time because as they are connected to everything they are staying on top of the information and making sure that information is being passed to the public. The media also communicates back and forth between their own channels so it allows each network to enhance their own information and keep up as things are changing rapidly. Not only can the organization reach the media, but so can the people so this allows a whole new portion of communication to open. Nothing is limited communication wise when all forms are used and also when all channels are involved.

Reference Page

Foote, L. M. (2012, August). Honing Crisis Communication Skills: Using Interactive
Media and Student- Centered Learning to Develop Agile Leaders. Journal of
Management Education, 37(1), 79-114. doi:10.1177/1052562912455419

Hicks, N. J., & Nicols, C. M. (2012). Health Industry Communication: New Media, New Methods, New Message. Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook.

Thiessen, A., & Ingenhoff, D. (2011). Safeguarding reputation through strategic, integrated and situational crisis communication management. Corporate
Communications: An International Journal, 16(1), 8-26. doi:10.1108/13563281111100944