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Health Service Managers (health + service_managers)
Selected AbstractsThe Attitudes of British National Health Service Managers and Clinicians Towards the Introduction of BenchmarkingFINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY & MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2002C. S. Jones This paper describes an empirical study, conducted in three acute hospitals, of the attitudes of central managers, medical managers and clinicians towards the adoption of benchmarking. Benchmarking was portrayed in The New NHS White Paper (1997) as an important means of improving efficiency over the next decade. The present paper examines the context of change and nature of benchmarking. Findings are presented in seven sections including: the understanding which respondents had of benchmarking; their willingness to be involved in benchmarking; the existence of strategies and policies for implementing benchmarking; the relevance of existing costing information; and the role of networks in facilitating benchmarking. The study concludes that the process of change adopted contradicted most of the factors associated with creating receptivity to change. Also, that the publication of the National Reference Costs seemed to have more relevance to resource planning at central National Health Service Management Executive level, than to effecting improvements at operational level in acute hospitals. [source] Exploring the implications for health professionals of men coming out as gay in healthcare settingsHEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 1 2006Bob Cant MA Abstract Coming out as gay is a social process which redefines the relationship between the persons who have decided to disclose their homosexuality and their listeners. This paper, drawing upon Bakhtin's (1984) theories of dialogue, the coming-out literature of gay men and lesbians and contemporary literature on doctor,patient communication, explores the coming-out experiences of gay men with their general practitioners and sexual health clinic staff. The findings are based upon a study of 38 gay men and 12 health service managers in London. The informants were recruited purposively to reflect some of the diversity of the London setting; recruitment was carried out through the channels of gay voluntary organisations and through snowballing. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and a grounded-theory approach was adopted. It was found that coming out in general practice was often/mostly followed by silence/noncommunication on the part of the practitioner; coming out could, however, result in an improvement in communication if the patients were well supported and assertive. If coming out in sexual health clinics did not result in improved communication, the informants in this study were likely to change clinics until they did find improved communication. This paper raises questions about the communication and training needs of general practitioners. It also raises questions about inequalities of access to ,respectful' sexual health clinics; while men who are articulate about the narratives of their lives as gay men are able to exercise informed choices, there were grounds for concern about the choice behaviours of men who are less articulate about their life narratives. [source] Focusing on the software of managing health workers: what can we learn from high commitment management practices?INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2008Bruno Marchal Abstract Knowledge of what constitutes best practice in human resource management (HRM) in public-oriented services is limited and the operational aspects of managing health workers at provision level have been poorly studied. The magnet hospital concept offers some insights into HRM practices that are leading to high commitment. These have been shown to lead to superior performance in not only industrial business firms, but also service industries and the public service. The mechanisms that drive these practices include positive psychological links between managers and staff, organizational commitment and trust. Conditions for successful high commitment management (HiCoM) include health service managers with a strong vision and able to transmit this vision to their staff, appropriate decision spaces for healthcare managers and a pool of reasonable well-trained health workers. For this, adequate remuneration is the first condition. Equally important are the issues of cultural fit and of ,commitment'. What would staff expect from management in return for their commitment to the organization? Salary buys indeed time of employees, but other practices ensure their commitment. Only if these drivers are understood will managers be able to make their HRM practices more responsive to the needs and expectations of the health workers. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Utilization of research findings by graduate nurses and midwivesJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 2 2004V. Veeramah BSc MSc RMN RNT Background., There is mounting pressure on nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom to use research findings to inform their practice. However, many still find research difficult to understand and are poorly prepared by education to make use of it. Hence, there is a pressing need to evaluate the research education included in nursing and midwifery curricula. Aim., This paper reports a study assessing the impact of research education on the attitudes towards research and use of research findings in practice by graduate nurses and midwives. Method., A cross-sectional survey using a self-completed postal questionnaire was conducted with a sample of 340 nurse and midwife graduates in the South East of England. Findings., A response rate of 51% was obtained. A large number of respondents stated that their critical appraisal (96%) and search skills (87%) had improved following graduation and they reported using research findings in practice (16·8% all the time, 50·5% frequently and 32·6% sometimes). Furthermore, the majority expressed positive attitudes towards research and these were related to the research education received. However, a significant number reported finding statistics difficult to understand, lack of time to read research and limited access to research findings at their place of work. Also, a number of respondents would still like more help with searching the literature, implementing research findings in practice and developing their critical appraisal skills further. Conclusion., It is crucial that some of the major barriers to research utilization are addressed at both individual and organizational levels if evidence-based care is to become a reality. Also, health service managers should consider a number of strategies suggested by respondents to increase the use of research findings in clinical settings. [source] | ||||||||||