Reference no: EM133418608

Barbara Ngwuira is a registered nurse who has been employed by Raslouw Central Hospital for the past eight years. For the first six years, Barbara worked as a nurse in the neurological ward. She enjoyed working in this area, and particularly enjoyed her daily personal interaction with the patients. After a few years of irregular schedules and long shifts, she decided she needed a change, and began working as a theatre nurse in the operating room.

Initially, Barbara was excited about the adjustment to her normal routine and looked forward to slowing down a bit. However, one year into her job in the operating room, Barbara began to find her work monotonous, and was easily bored.

In the neurological ward, Barbara was responsible for putting in and monitoring IVs; checking patient charts; providing care, food and medication; dressing changes; bed baths; taking care of patients' questions and concerns; and so forth. She would also participate in the entire after surgery care, consult with patients on pain and symptom management, walking after surgery, and coordinated home care. Patients would also convey words of gratitude to Barbara, and she would receive recognition from the hospital for a job well done, which reinforced the work that she did. Barbara made decisions for the patients based on her knowledge of the medical field. She prioritised patient care and worked one-on-one with the patients. She received instant feedback from the patients in some cases and knew quickly whether patients were satisfied with their care and their experience at the hospital.

In the operating room, on rare occasions Barbara would put in catheters, position patients on operating tables, and basically follow the doctors' instructions during surgery. Her tasks were limited to the time spent in surgery. Patients were only in the operating room for limited periods of time, leaving little time for Barbara to get to know them and to participate in their care. Barbara played an integral role in the patients' hospital experience, although on a personal level she felt that she did not contribute enough of herself to the task at hand, as she mostly had to stand around and wait for instructions from the surgeon. She also felt that there was a lack of communication between her peers. Barbara had to take a back seat to the surgeons in the operating room, and her work was very rigidly decided by the operating surgeon who made all the decisions on what was to take place, at what time. If no operations were scheduled, Barbara had little (if any) work to do.

Barbara received no feedback from patients for her work, as they were sometimes even unaware that she was in the operating room. She also received no feedback from her supervisor. She began to miss her years of working in the neurological ward and longed for a way to integrate all the knowledge, skills, and abilities she had gained and enjoyed by being a nurse. She dreaded getting up in the morning and going to work. She lost the enthusiasm in her work and does not know how to get it back.

Questions

1. Discuss how HR managers can use change models to help nurses such as Barbara to deal with the change taking place at the operating room?

2. How can technology such as HRIS be used to improve performance and reward management at Raslouw Central Hospital?

3. Which performance management method would be suitable for Raslouw Central Hospital? Provide reasons for your answer.