Measures (Indicators) to Support the Issue
A professional approach to the provision of qualified nursing care is an integral component of a successful healthcare policy. Those employees who concern about the condition of their wards and can provide them with all possible assistance, as a rule, receive well-deserved recognition among their management and patients. However, when it comes to the bad performance of work duties, specific ethical issues can arise.
Some nurses consider it their duty to notify the management about such unacceptable forms of behavior. Perhaps, it deteriorates the team spirit and adversely affects the cohesion of the personnel. Nevertheless, when managers are aware that a particular employee refuses to fulfill some immediate duties or does work poorly because of laziness, the lack of qualifications, etc., they can timely take appropriate measures.
According to Perreira and Berta (2016), whistleblowing can adversely affect the work of the organization but benefit the community and patients. All junior medical personnel should be aware of the consequences of indifference concerning the quality of work. The leadership can notify all workers of possible penalties that will be imposed on such employees and closely monitor the performance of subordinates.
Stakeholders in Improving the Nursing Issue
The primary stakeholders in improving such a nursing issue as whistleblowing may be the heads of structural units of clinics and medical centers, as well as nurses themselves. When it comes to improving performance, the leadership often worries about whether there are complaints from disgruntled patients and about employees’ interest in achieving their goals. As Zhang, Liao, and Yuan (2016) note, ethical issues in this case usually recede into the background since an essential issue in the work of medical institutions is to ensure the quality of service provided to the population at a sufficiently high level. It means that the leadership is ready to take almost any measures to ensure that the team works professionally and can be aware of the importance and responsibility of their business.
If nurses are stakeholders, it means that workers do not support exceptionally friendly communication and are ready to do everything to achieve high performance. According to Clarke (2016), whistleblowing can be a rather useful way to stimulate employees’ productivity. When nurses themselves are ready to report to management about possible cases of the violation of working instructions, it increases competition in the team and positively affects the final result. The involvement of as many employees as possible as stakeholders in this process is a priority if management supports this type of work.
Causes of the Nursing Issue
The causes of whistleblowing may be the dissatisfaction of employees with their colleagues and the quality of their work. When one of the workers performs some work duties badly, it often negatively affects the performance of the whole team. Consequently, nurses are forced to explain to the leadership the reasons for the lack of quality services. For many employees, such situations seem unacceptable, and they opt for whistleblowing to ensure that all the team members do not suffer from the incompetence of one or more incompetent colleagues.
Also, some managers encourage when their subordinates observe each other’s work and can timely report violations. Moreover, some employees are ready to cooperate with their leadership and control their colleagues. This incentive for staff is often one of the most effective measures to achieve high results. Thus, the causes of this nursing issue are quite evident and justified.
References
Clarke, P. (2016). Whistleblowing as a means to raise concerns, or a means to an end! Links to Health and Social Care, 1(2), 51-62.
Perreira, T. A., & Berta, W. (2016). The object of your affection: How commitment, leadership and justice influence workplace behaviours in health care. Journal of Nursing Management, 24(2), 146-154.
Zhang, F. W., Liao, J. Q., & Yuan, J. M. (2016). Ethical leadership and whistleblowing: Collective moral potency and personal identification as mediators. Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal, 44(7), 1223-1231.