Reference no: EM133343412

Assignment:

Scenario 1

Over a period of 2 years, several female RNs and CNAs from the same unit have asked to be transferred to a different unit. Several nurses said they just didn't get along with one of the doctors. As time passed and more nurses quit or requested a transfer, you look into the situation and learn more from several nurses and nursing assistants who say they would rather quit on the unit because of one doctor's behavior. They describe the doctor as constantly making sexually charged comments to them or about them. They say he is constantly pressuring them to go out after their shift for drinks and that he has even cornered a couple nurses and tried to grope them. When asked why they had not reported this behavior, they all said they couldn't for fear of retaliation. The doctor is a very close friend of the hospital's head administrator and has been told they would be fired if they tried to report him. In addition, he is highly respected in his field and asks his victims, "Who are they going to believe? You or me?" You also discover one nurse and one CNA complained to the charge nurse and were fired shortly after. How do you handle this situation?

Scenario 2

Your unit has been plagued with an abnormally high turnover rate resulting in a significantly high amount of OT having to be paid out to maintain acceptable levels of coverage. A committee comprised of staff nurses has been organized and charged with the responsibility to come up with solutions to balancing the upcoming schedule and to minimize the amount of OT that would need to be paid. After brainstorming, the committee came up with an idea that would possibly eliminate any OT being paid during the next month. Their idea is to take any OT hours worked and use those hours for future low census periods. What this means is that nurses will accumulate their OT hours they worked and instead of being paid for those hours immediately, the hours would be transferred to a future low census period. Instead of being sent home due to over coverage and losing those hours from their paycheck, they would apply the OT hours they accumulated previously to make up for any shortage of hours due to low census. Is this a viable solution to the OT problem?

Scenario 3

During the past several years a new religious community has become very established in your town. Many residents are very suspicious of these newcomers because of their strange customs and beliefs, and some locals have even expressed outright hostility toward them. Despite this opposition, the religious community has continued to grow. You have seen several members of this group as they sought health care at your facility. Many people in your unit have expressed difficulty when treating group members because they are not familiar with the new community's beliefs and customs. You even overheard a few of your co-workers express negative and disparaging views about the group. Several members from this group have submitted employment applications at your facility but up until now, you have been hesitant to hire any of them due to possible hostility from current employees. Now you have an open position and two potential candidates: One is a member from the religious group and is very qualified for the position and the other is less qualified but more likely to fit in. Which candidate will you hire?

Scenario 4

An employee who was just hired as a UAP was fired during his first day at work when he disclosed his participation in a supervised medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program. When questioned further, he said his prior opiate addiction and participation in a MAT program, for which he was legally prescribed the drug Suboxone as part of his treatment. Upon learning this, he was immediately fired because of the hospital's no tolerance policy regarding drug use. Was this the correct response to this situation?

Questions:

1. Identify the applicable law/regulation that applies to that specific situation.
2. Justify why the law or regulation is applicable to the situation.
3. Explain how you as a nurse leader would address the situation and use the law or regulation to justify your response.
4. Explain the possible ramifications if the situation is not handled appropriately.