Work Stoppages And Strikes: A Case Study

Unfortunately, work stoppages and strikes are not a rare occurrence today. However, they are of great significance in the course of taking care of patients. In particular, a research proves that such strikes provide a “meaningful increase in both hospital mortality and hospital readmission among patients” (Gruber & Kleiner, 2009). Therefore, in order to provide patients with an uninterrupted care, a hospital is to react quickly and develop an action plan. Such a plan, in turn, has to include hiring new staff as soon as possible and training new nurses, that is, ensuring their skills and knowledge. Similarly, the specially organized committee has to develop an efficient schedule to cover the scope of the workload as well as manage documentation verification with no delays. In case the plan is developed in time and well implemented, the strike is not likely to affect the working process of the hospital.

In order to be ready to face an unexpected strike, a hospital needs to have a backup committee that is available at any time, that is, a “departmental strike planning team” (Cohen, 2013). Such a group of people has to be able to work under pressure when alarmed. Thus, a specially organized team needs to be in charge of a certain nursing department. This will make is possible for several groups of specialists to take care of various departments at the same