Conflict Resolution in Healthcare Case Study Order Instructions: Read the following Case Study. Discuss the following in your assignment:
-Develop the argument you would be advancing if you were in George Mann’s position.
-Develop the argument you would advance if you were in Sally Carter’s position.
-Assuming the position of the CEO, Jane Arnold, render a decision. (Document your decision in whatever detail may be necessary, complete with an explanation of why you decided in this fashion).
-Based on your responses to Questions 1–3, outline whatever steps—policy changes, guidelines, payroll requirements, etc. —you believe should be considered to minimize the chances of similar conflict in the future.
Conflict Resolution in Healthcare Case Study Guidelines
The assignment should be a minimum of 5 pages, excluding the title page and reference page.
Utilize a minimum of 5 references, only 1 can be the textbook.
Fully answer all questions above and follow proper APA guidelines.
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CHARTING A COURSE FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION: “IT’S A POLICY”
The setting is an 82-bed hospital located in a small city. One day an employee of the maintenance department asked the supervisor, George Mann, for an hour or two off to take care of some personal business. Mann agreed and asked the employee to stop at the garden equipment dealership and buy several small lawn-mower parts that the department required. While transacting business at a local bank, the employee was seen by Sally Carter, the supervisor of both human resources and payroll, who was in the bank on hospital business. Carter asked the employee what he was doing there and was told the visit was personal.
Upon returning to the hospital, Sally Carter examined the employee’s time card. The employee had not punched out to indicate when he had left the hospital. Carter noted the time the employee returned, and after the normal working day, she marked the card to indicate an absence of two hours on personal business. Carter advised the chief executive officer (CEO), Jane Arnold, of what she had done, citing a long-standing policy (in their dusty, and some would say infrequently used, policy manual) requiring an employee to punch out when leaving the premises on personal business. The CEO agreed with Sally Carter’s action.
Carter advised Mann of the action and stated that the employee would not be paid for the two hours he was gone. Mann was angry. He said he had told the employee not to punch out because he had asked him to pick up some parts on his trip; however, Mann conceded that the employee’s personal business was probably the greater part of the trip. Carter replied that Mann had no business doing what he had done and that it was his—Mann’s—poor management that had caused the employee to suffer.
Mann appealed to the CEO to reopen the matter based on his claim that there was an important side to the story that she had not yet heard. Jane Arnold agreed to hear both managers state their position.
Conflict Resolution in Healthcare Case Study Reference
McDonell, C.R. Health Care Supervision 2nd Edition. Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2011
Conflict Resolution in Healthcare Case Study Sample Answer
Healthcare Case Study
Question 1: Argument to advance if I were in George Mann’s position
In the setting, which is an eighty-two-bed hospital, George Mann is a supervisor in the maintenance department. The employee who wanted to leave the hospital premises asked for permission from his supervisor for some time off to attend to some personal business and the supervisor, George Mann, approved the employee to leave premises for 1 or 2 hours. While out of the hospital premises, the supervisor asked the worker to go to the equipment dealership and purchase a number of lawn-mower parts needed by the maintenance department. The worker did not punch out to indicate he was gone (McDonell, 2011).
In essence, the employee should be paid for the 2 hours that he was gone since although he attended to personal business, he also attended to an official task assigned to him by his supervisor – the task of going to a garden equipment dealership to purchase lawn-mower parts for the hospital’s department of maintenance. As George Mann, I strongly consider that the staff member needs to be paid for those two hours as I am the one who led that employee to believe that he will be paid. Furthermore, I strongly believe that despite the two hours which the employee spent on personal business outside the hospital premises, it was time that was utilized well given that it actually saved me a trip out of the organization to the equipment dealership to purchase those lawn-mower parts myself – it saved me time that I used to do other crucial tasks in the hospital.
Question 2: Argument to advance if I were in Sally Carter’s position
The employee should have punched out when he left the hospital premises to indicate that he was actually gone. The personal business of the staff member was, in fact, the greater part of his trip outside the hospital and for this reason – even though the employee’s leaving was approved by his supervisor – he should not be paid for the time period that he was actually not working. The employee’s supervisor, George Mann, should not have allowed the employee to go out on personal business on time that should have been spent working at the hospital organization. The company’s long-standing policy stipulates that any staff member of this hospital has to punch put when he or she leaves the hospital premises on personal business. The employee, in this case, is not exempt from this policy and because he never punched out, he was in violation of the company policy. All in all, as Sally Carter, I strongly believe in the company’s policy and the action which was sanctioned by the employee’s supervisor was really in violation of the company policy.
Question 3: Decision to render assuming I am Jane Arnold, the chief executive officer
Supposing that I am the organization’s chief executive officer, I will thoroughly listen to the statements of positions made by Sally Carter and George Mann. I will then work closely with these two people in order to arrive at a solution that is reciprocally satisfactory to the current problem and come up with a way of preventing such a problem from occurring again in the future. McDonell (2011) reported that a solution to this case might, in fact, hinge on whoever between manager Sally Carter and supervisor George Mann best describes his or her position. Moreover, the solution reached might be hinged upon the way in which the chief executive officer Jane Arnold relates individually to both these two people and how this CEO interprets the policy and its value to herself (McDonell, 2011).
To reach the best solution and make a decision regarding this case, as CEO Jane Arnold, I would revisit the rarely utilized, dusty policy and procedure manual and make a final decision basing on this document. This long-standing policy clearly spells out that whenever any hospital staff member leaves the hospital and goes out on personal business, that worker must punch out. As such, the decision that I will reach is not to pay the employee for the duration that he was out of the premises. The employee himself stated that he was leaving for personal business and he left, hence he should have clocked out or punched out to indicate the period of time he was out of work.
Question 4: Policy changes and guidelines
Basing upon the responses to the first and third questions above, there are several guidelines, policy changes, and payroll requirements which need to be considered in order to reduce the likelihood of similar conflicts taking place in future. Policy changes and guidelines include the following:
- Every employee has to punch out if he or she leaves the premises for any reason besides official, permitted hospital business.
- If a staff member leaves the premises for any reason besides official hospital business during the workday, for instance, the employee leaves for personal business, he or she will not be paid for the hours spent out of work.
- When an employee leaves the hospital premises for official, permitted hospital business, he/she should not use this opportunity to also carry out his personal business otherwise he/she will not be paid for the hours he was out of work.
- Every employee has to record any breaks that he/she takes during the workday including personal time which he/she takes off, medical appointments, lunch – and make a note of that break in the workday in the time software/timecard (Swanton, 2012).
- If you are not able to work for whichever reason, kindly inform the Practice Manager or your supervisor personally or through telephone as early as possible prior to the starting time. Punctuality and regular attendance by hospital staffs are vital constituents in the efforts of the hospital to sustain high client and patient care levels. Revising schedules or reassigning staffs in order to accommodate tardiness and/or absences serves to put a burden on every staff member (Goldstein, 2015).
- Staff members are required to report for work promptly. Tardiness for staff members of this organization would be assessed and points would be evaluated for every single day of work the worker fails to report as scheduled. The staff member would be awarded 2 points for coming to work no later than 10 minutes after their scheduled commencing time; and 3 points for arriving to work between 11 minutes – 60 minutes late. Staff members who come to work over 60 minutes late would accumulate 5 points.
- A worker should not leave his or her work area without approval by the supervisor and if they have to leave the hospital premises, then he/she must punch out for his or her period of absence and punch at the moment they come back (Markowich & Eckberg, 2011). Only the employee’s supervisor can grant permission to leave the premises.
- Misrepresenting the number of hours worked is justification for firing (Mikulay, Neuman & Finkelstein, 2013).
- A staff member would be subject to punitive action when his or her points in total accumulated from unauthorized tardiness and absence reach the levels shown below in any 6 month period:
Points | Disciplinary action |
Nine | Verbal warning |
Eleven | Written warning |
Thirteen | Firing |
- Whenever possible, every staff member should inform his or her department of tardiness or absences. An employee who does not contact his/her department causes other employees to assume extra responsibilities and tasks, which results in an overall loss of productivity (Mikulay, Neuman & Finkelstein, 2013). Any worker who does not notify his/her supervisor of any absence according to this policy would be subject to the following disciplinary action: First failure to inform supervisor about the absence – verbal warning; second failure – written warning; third failure – dismissal.
- Staff members should obey the guidelines for recording the actual hours that they worked. A missed punched in or punched out is an infringement of this policy and comprises: failure to timely and accurately report the time worked; and failing to punch in or punch out on their time clock (Carraher & Buckley, 2011).
- Supervisors need to monitor the attendance record of their workers regularly and address any unacceptable attendance consistently and on time (Dishon-Berkovits & Koslowsky, 2012).
A worker is considered absent when that worker is not available for work as scheduled or assigned and such time off was not approved or scheduled beforehand as stipulated by the department notification procedure (Hackett & Bycio, 2013). A staff member is considered tardy when that employee leaves work before the ending of his or her scheduled or assigned work time without first being approved by the supervisor and does not arrive at the workplace at the scheduled or assigned work time (Mikulay, Neuman & Finkelstein, 2013).
Conflict Resolution in Healthcare Case Study References
Carraher, S. M., & Buckley, M. R. (2011). Attitudes towards benefits and behavioral intentions and their relationship to absenteeism, performance, and turnover among nurses. Academy Of Health Care Management Journal, 4(2), 89-109.
Dishon-Berkovits, M., & Koslowsky, M. (2012). Determinants of Employee Punctuality. Journal Of Social Psychology, 142(6), 723-739.
Goldstein, D. (2015). Inexcusable absences. The New Republic, 246(2/3), 32-37.
Hackett, R. D., & Bycio, P. (2013). Evaluation of employee absenteeism as a coping mechanism among hospital nurses. Journal Of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, 69(4), 327-338.
Markowich, M. M., & Eckberg, S. (2011). Get control of the absentee-minded. Personnel Journal, 75(3), 115.
McDonell, C.R. (2011). Health Care Supervision 2nd Edition. Albany, NY: Jones & Bartlett Publishers
Mikulay, S., Neuman, G., & Finkelstein, L. (2013). Counterproductive Workplace Behaviors. Genetic, Social & General Psychology Monographs, 127(3), 279.
Swanton, M. (2012). Attendance policy can be enforced without violating employee’s ADA rights. Inside counsel, 23(247), 56-57.