Organizational Leadership Discussion
The ethical dilemma involves choosing morally acceptable options from two or more available choices, particularly when one decision prevents the selection of the other. The aspect is predominant in the nursing field, in the provision of medical care in the healthcare systems. The nurses get involved in situations where they have to either put up with watching the patients suffer to fulfill the needs of the organization or attend to them and defy the regulations of their organizations. Such cases are present significant tests to the competence and effectiveness of leaders within the healthcare systems. Effective leaders must find their way through to balance between the needs of the organization while also ensuring that the patients get quality care and enhanced patient safety.
Quality and value is an essential element in the provision of care to the patients. The observation of this practice can make organizations avoid getting dragged into the unnecessary dilemma that presents the nurses with difficult decisions to make in an attempt to provide care to the patients and fulfill the needs of the organization. In regards to quality and care, effective leaders can ensure that their organization has enough staff in executing different nursing roles in their firms (Marshall, 2010). For instance, one of the primary challenges that the nurses face in their hospitals is the use of 12-hour shifts in a bid to retain the nurses. However, as individuals spend more hours on shifts, they are subjects to commit more errors primarily due to fatigue. They end up not providing quality care to the patients that put lives at risk as well as ruin the reputation of the organizations they represent, an aspect that helps sell the firm to the outside wprld. According to Marshall (2010), effective nurse leaders should ensure that the various nurse departments get well-staffed, to help balance the shifts and also share their skills and experiences to provide adequate care to the patients.
Furthermore, the nurses are often put in situations to decide the lives of their patients, especially when they visit hospitals and may not have the requirements needed in the hospitals to offset the treatments such as medical finances. Some of these costs arise due to wrong diagnosis or extra gainful techniques that have been established by the health organizations for profit. In most cases, such patients may lose their lives. However, the nurses must establish the correct treatment for the patients, especially during the diagnosis process (Marshall, 2010). The nurses can influence the organization’s cost by advocating against the procedures that are not necessary or medications that are not important to the patient’s health but costly. Nurses are crucial assets to healthcare organizations as they do not only offer direct care to the patients but are also involved in cost-saving measures to reduce waste.
Moreover, the balance can be created by the nurses through coordination of care from different providers managing the caseloads of the patients with the intense care needs and also assisting other patients transition out of hospitals into the home and other healthcare settings. The nurses should work as health coaches to prevent illnesses and enhance wellness. Through coordination, the nurses will seek to ensure quality care to the patients and give value to the treatment process. The aspect will ensure that the image of the health organization is enhanced, achieving its goals of quality care in the process, and the patients also get sufficient care and improved health outcome for various conditions.