The Ever-changing World of Healthcare

1061 Words3 Pages

Healthcare is a dynamic, ever-changing environment. The complex circumstances around daily conversations that encompass life-threatening decisions are critical. In order to deliver high quality care, individuals must be able to communicate effectively. In the perfect world of communication, everyone receives the exact same information and is able to respond the exact same way. Unfortunately, communication breakdown is a prevalent issue among hospitals. On any given day of the hospital arena, multiple interactions take place. Some of the dialogue is planned, and some is not. While hospital departments are living in different silos within the same organization, the cultures may vary among the employees. Hospital leadership fosters the importance of collaboration within the organization and depends on the employees to ultimately drive the process. In order to overcome communication barriers in the workplace, conversations must occur. Engaging in daily face-to-face meetings with employees increases positive work culture, morale and overall productivity. The problem of poor communication stems from an environment of high stress levels. After a consulting company scrutinized processes throughout the hospital related to care coordination and patient flow, the evidence was clear. The company identified areas for improvement around communication at many different levels. In order for patients to have a seamless transition from admission to discharge, the lines of communication needed to change. Daily face-to-face meetings were productive for the staff, hospital and overall satisfaction. The consulting firm worked for the hospital for several months, but as they departed, the prior culture of poor communication started to engulf... ... middle of paper ... ...face meetings, the goals of having an increase in positive work culture, employee morale and overall productivity will ensure stability in the ever-changing environment. Works Cited Baird, J. E., & Bradley, P. H. (1978). Communication Correlates of employee Morale. Journal Of Business Communication, 15(3), 47-56. Cuma, M. A. (2011). Raising morale: Six ways to create a positive work environment. Canadian Consulting Engineer, 52(7), 34. Rogelberg, S. G., Allen, J. A., Shanock, L., Scott, C., & Shuffler, M. (2010). Employee satisfaction with meetings: A contemporary facet of job satisfaction. Human Resource Management, 49(2), 149-172. Stanley, T. L. (2007). Generate a positive corporate culture. Supervision, 68(9), 5-7. Weiss, W. H. (2011). Building morale, motivating, and empowering employees. Supervision, 72(9), 23-26.

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