Running an Emergency Room
Strengths
• Hospital has grown from 50 beds to 300 beds
• Icon hospital in Chicago
• Experienced staff, low turnover rate
• Nurses with master’s degree
• Head nurses and assistant head nurses familiar with managerial roles
• Management working on improving Emergency Department (ED) flow
• People seek medical care at ED
Weaknesses
• Emergency Department (ED) used as primary care by local residents
• ED transfers to clinical units taking more than 15 hours
• Patients lying on stretchers for long periods of time
• Long ED waits
• Staff nurses lacking initiative to problem solve
• Hospital’s patient satisfaction scores in overall care are declining
• Lack of initiative from nurses to problem solve
Opportunities
• Purchased by large university medical center
• Usage of nurse managers to improve productivity and function of the hospital & decrease costs and waste
• Current CEO about to retire
• Progressive approach towards patient care and staff development
• Management looking at possibly hiring nurse managers to a 24-hour schedule
Threats
• Staff used to old ways of running ED
• Medical Doctors believe nurses should blindly follow orders
• Personnel stagnant and nonproductive
• Staff resistant to change
• Negative reputation in the community
• Increase in education expenditures
• Resistance to change
Discussion
Strengths this organization has going for them is the location and the growth it has gone through time. Dr. M and the university hospital that has purchased the facility are willing and looking for ways to improve the care and patient satisfaction as well as decrease the time patients are spending in the ED and work on ways to decrease transfer times form ED to hospital clinics. There are many positive things the facility already has in place. The staff has been around for many years and is familiar with the hospital and the way it operates.
There are several weaknesses the
• Hospital has grown from 50 beds to 300 beds
• Icon hospital in Chicago
• Experienced staff, low turnover rate
• Nurses with master’s degree
• Head nurses and assistant head nurses familiar with managerial roles
• Management working on improving Emergency Department (ED) flow
• People seek medical care at ED
Weaknesses
• Emergency Department (ED) used as primary care by local residents
• ED transfers to clinical units taking more than 15 hours
• Patients lying on stretchers for long periods of time
• Long ED waits
• Staff nurses lacking initiative to problem solve
• Hospital’s patient satisfaction scores in overall care are declining
• Lack of initiative from nurses to problem solve
Opportunities
• Purchased by large university medical center
• Usage of nurse managers to improve productivity and function of the hospital & decrease costs and waste
• Current CEO about to retire
• Progressive approach towards patient care and staff development
• Management looking at possibly hiring nurse managers to a 24-hour schedule
Threats
• Staff used to old ways of running ED
• Medical Doctors believe nurses should blindly follow orders
• Personnel stagnant and nonproductive
• Staff resistant to change
• Negative reputation in the community
• Increase in education expenditures
• Resistance to change
Discussion
Strengths this organization has going for them is the location and the growth it has gone through time. Dr. M and the university hospital that has purchased the facility are willing and looking for ways to improve the care and patient satisfaction as well as decrease the time patients are spending in the ED and work on ways to decrease transfer times form ED to hospital clinics. There are many positive things the facility already has in place. The staff has been around for many years and is familiar with the hospital and the way it operates.
There are several weaknesses the