Analysis Of Alex Knight's Theory Of Constraints

A shortage of nursing staff in a healthcare center is a great burden for all involved. For the nurse, it is overwhelming and even potentially dangerous to take on the grand responsibility of many patients to care for. For the patients, the burden lies in getting the care they deserve. For the hospital it is the burden of staying afloat financially and utilizing resources to the fullest. This tug-of-war between nurse, patient, and administration is key to many legal issues in healthcare. Who is responsible if any part of this relationship goes awry? What are some solutions to help mitigate the burden? Is there a “magic number” in staffing ratios? Understaffing nurses in healthcare is a gray area, with definitions that cannot be defined indefinitely. What laws are involved and the debate if it should be a legal issue at all is up for discussion. This paper will analyze and discuss the topic, elaborating complications and implications this issue has in nursing.

The sector, health, that I have chosen includes a variety of people from ranging from elderly too adult too teenagers, children and baby’s. A hospital is a health care institution which provide treatment for many diseases and conditions.

Throughout this course I have learned about the various challenges that impede productivity and efficiency at today’s hospitals. These issues facing the modern healthcare organization come in varying forms from technological, staffing, and financial to name a few. There are no limits to what hospitals can face in these modern technologically savvy times. Below are the major issues that today’s hospitals are facing, though there are many facets to these topics it will be described as best as possible to meet overall challenges:

While there is still much to learn about financial operation of a health organization, I feel that I have better understand of most of the fundamental principles that apply to a broad spectrum of businesses. Upon reflection this understanding of financial principles also reinforces the need to have a fundamental base of knowledge, but simultaneously services to illustrate the vast body of information that there still is to learn. The allied health community assignments were useful in a general sense, in that they allowed a student to apply some of the concepts that they have learned. This “hands on” approach was helpful because it added context to the lectures and readings. As an exercising in doing the work of an administrator, the allied health community exercises required the student to research additional information about the topics assigned and this allowed me to further mentally cement the concepts.

In the article, “Choice within constraint: An explanation of crime at the intersections,” Stacy De Coster and Karen Heimer attempt to explain crime by using intersectionality. This explains a topic by connecting different social categories such as race, gender, class, etc. The authors provide several examples of different “intersections” of these categories to explain crime and motivations to commit crime. Initially, the authors describe the ideas of “hegemonic masculinity… competitiveness, independence, rationality, and strength” and “hegemonic femininity… dependency, passivity, purity, and weakness”. Studies determined that people who believe these are the characteristics of each gender will use resources available to live this way. Conversely,

The organization depends on the Hospital Administrator to keep interaction with the community and relay solutions to any problems that may arise (Wolfe, 2013). The service of program development also impacts the hospital either positively or negatively. The organization depends on the administrator to keep ahead of development and always think outside the box for new innovative ideas from medical treatments all the way to managerial structure to improve the performance of the organization as a whole. Finally, the organization is dependent on all of its employees to function and is very dependent on the administrator not only to hire the best employees, but also retain the employees, and evaluate the employees as necessary to keep them functioning at their highest capacity (Wolfe, 2013).

As it begins we meet Ms. Freeman, she and her husband have been working for Mrs. Hopewell for four years. She kept them for so long because she didn’t think of them as trash but yet they were good country people. The First thing that we learn about Ms. Hopewell is that her previous worker says she was the nosiest woman on earth. But Ms.

This book has an introduction, a total of 20 chapters, and a conclusion. King organizes her book by expressing how her daughter, Josie, passed away at age four due to a hospital error. She then gives contextual information about the family in the following chapter, leading up to when Josie was first taken to the hospital, and how Josie’s passing enabled King to revolutionize the healthcare industry regarding patient care. King narrates the novel in first person, and reveals her experience in a chronological order.

Hospitals need to measure performance in key areas that affect patient flow and capacity, and identify the drivers of capacity constraints and key opportunities for performance improvement.2 “Identifying real drivers of capacity constraints and key opportunities for performance improvement can be achieved by: Monitoring how many cases are being diverted from the hospital, understanding how systems and tools are functioning for patient admission, discharge, and transfer, determining the efficiency of activities such as bed tracking and control, patient transportation, housekeeping, and care delivery.3”

If the hospital focuses on processes, people and resources, this can be achieved at the most cost-effective way as possible. Manatt (2013)

The Waiting Room is a documentary about the truth of public hospitals. This film follows the patients, and the staff of this ER waiting room, and how insufficient the system is for them. While we watch the staff work as hard as they can to treat all the patients possible, we come to the realization that there is a major shortage in the needed room space, and supplies to treat all of these patients in a timely manner. Our healthcare system is very flawed in the way it treats the people in need, and there is no way of knowing if there will be any major change to help these people get the care they need.

Hospitals in the recent times are facing a myriad of challenges ranging from the financial crisis to poor management among others. Healthcare management of these institutions is forced to devise tactical measures to ensure that patients are provided with high-quality care despite the rampant challenges. Most health care facilities are recording low-quality organizational performance in one or more areas. These challenges are aggravated by the fact that even though resources are meager, the number of patients being served is increasing by the day (Hertz, 2010). This essay addresses some of the issues associated with low performance at Alameda County Medical Center. This health care facility is among the many located in California that are struggling with management and performance challenges. Even though this hospital has managed to attain financial stability in the recent financial years, more needs to be done to achieve high-performance levels in all areas.

The book I chose is If Disney Ran Your Hospital, 9 ½ things You Would Do Differently by Fred Lee. Curiosity was my main motive of selecting this book. Its title grabbed my attention and inspired me to find out how the Disney, the happiest place on Earth, would do business differently than a hospital. On one hand, Disney, a make-believe world of fantasy and fun, holds no resemblance with the hospital, where an imagine of anxious and sick patients dominate. On the other hands, there are many similarities. Both facilities have to manage hundreds of employees, have different departments with distinct functioning, and provide a variety of services to people. Nonetheless, from the business point of view, the Disney is running a much more effective, safe, and efficient operation. The only way to satisfy the curiosity is to read the book.

While Dr. Susan Heitler begins to understand the concern between Richard and Judith, she documents her observation and offers her insight about what she learned about their relationship and what the issue is. Dr. Susan Heitler initiates an effective plan of action to achieve the objective of what Richard and Judith need before the session. She explains to Richard and Judith what she wants for both of them to do which is to go back to good humor. Dr. Susan Heitler continues to explain to the couple that in order for them to proceed, they must learn new skills for talking about their issues.

Memorial Hospital Case Study uses a series of communication between different level and functional hospital employees to paint a picture of how this hospital operates. This paper will analyze and summarize key characteristics underlining the organization structure, management style and leadership, identify major challenges and recommend workable solutions.