IN NEED OF
IMPROVEMENT?
You are an
administrative staff specialist newly employed by the hospital to act as a
management engineer and address a number of issues relating to operating
efficiency. Your first assignment is to analyze work methods and staffing in
the central sterile supply division of materials management. The department was
singled out for study for the following reasons:
·
The manager — a registered nurse who has held
the job for more than 25 years — has requested two more processing aides,
although her staff is already one person larger than that of another area
hospital of equivalent size.
·
There has been a recent, seemingly
unexplainable, upturn in the consumption of disposables.
·
A number of storage shelves appear to be stocked
to overflowing with infrequently used items.
·
The department issues frequent rush orders to
obtain needed items that have completely run out.
·
Observed conditions in the department include an
overcrowded storage area, a seemingly inadequate decontamination area, and a
grossly oversized processing area referred to by most employees as “the
ballroom.”
On your initial visit to the department, the first thing the
manager says to you is, “So you’re the one who’s going to tell us what we’re
doing wrong?” Her tone is none too friendly.
Instructions
Develop a proposed
approach to a complete study of the department, including the “sales pitch” you
would use to try to win the manager’s cooperation and support, specifying what
should be done, why it should be done, and how you propose to address the
inevitable resistance of both manager and staff.
