Challenges in the Healthcare Organizations

There have always been challenges in the healthcare industry but over the years, these have increased significantly as a result of the diversification of healthcare organizations. This statement does not mean that the diverse challenges cannot be overcome because it is essential for strategies to be developed to ensure that challenges do not have an adverse effect on the organizations involved. I believe that the first step towards developing solutions for these challenges is to recognize that they exist and that more needs to be done to overcome them. Therefore, challenges have to be handled in such a way that they do not have a negative effect on the management of patient care in hospitals.

I have come to the realization, and numerous studies support this, that among the biggest challenges to healthcare organizations today are staff shortage and low job satisfaction. These come about because the shortage of medical practitioners in hospitals increases the workload on those who work within them and this is in such a way that makes it difficult for them to cope. Furthermore, recent research has shown that understaffing is a major cause of low patient outcomes because patients do not receive the full attention that they need to recover at a faster rate. The staff-patient ratio in most healthcare institutions tends to go against patients and this created a situation where it becomes difficult for patient to get such ancillary services radiology diagnostic tests, respiratory care services, ultra sounds and many others because they have to wait for long. Staff shortages have led to the development of low job satisfaction levels as the medical staff available have to work under a lot of pressure in order to fulfill their duties. Moreover, despite the heavy workload that they have to deal with, these staff members hardly receive equal pay for it and this has often led to dissatisfaction that brings about low morale among these individuals (Keenan & Kennedy, 2010). The result has been that there have developed high turnover rates as some members of staff choose to leave and seek better opportunities elsewhere.

Another challenge that has come to my attention is the low level of communication, and teamwork that is prevalent within the different departments in the organization. There has been some speculation that staff shortage has slowed service delivery in such a way that funds are lost in the process because the department offers normal services but at a slower rate (McHugh, Kutney-Lee, Cimiotti, Sloane & Aiken, 2011). However, I have also come to notice that the lack of adequate communication and teamwork also has a hand in not only slowing down the rate of service delivery, but it has also led to a situation where it has become difficult for members of staff to work together in patient interests. I believe that it is essential for communication between the management of hospitals and practitioners can be extremely helpful when it comes to improving services for patients while at the same time dealing with the challenges brought about by staff shortage. This is because lack of communication has contributed to the current poor job satisfaction rates because the management and the staff do not understand each other in terms of what the staff and patients need. Therefore, ensuring that communications are improved will make it possible for more work to not only be done effectively, but also at a much faster rate, meaning that more patients will end up being attended to despite staff shortages.

It is my belief that the collaboration between staff and management in healthcare is necessary in maintaining efficiency as well as advancing patient outcomes. This is especially the case where management and practitioners work as a team so that the whole department works in harmony and avoids misunderstandings that could affect service delivery (MacKusick & Minick, 2010). The provision of the best services possible in any healthcare organization is dependent on collaboration and this should be carefully nurtured within our organization as a means of promoting positive health outcomes for patients. Without this much needed collaboration, it becomes extremely difficult for services to be delivered effectively; meaning that healthcare practitioners will not be undertaking the duties assigned to them. Therefore, I urge that teamwork become the basic mode of operations within this institution because it is the only way through which swift and efficient service delivery can be guaranteed.

Finally, as I mentioned before, the major challenges in any healthcare organization are staff shortage, ineffective communication, and lack of collaboration. These three are extremely important because solving them would ensure that there is the enhancement of the efficiency of the organization. Solving these issues will not only bring about trust and understanding between management and staff, but it will also make sure that patient outcomes are constantly positive.