QUERY 3)

Retention Problems at Melbourne City Hospital Kim Lee let out a sigh. 'What is it?', asked the nurse sitting opposite. 'This job. I don't think it is for me', replied Kim. 'Why?' Alex Nguyen asked looking at Kim. Emily Cross took a sip of coffee then said, 'I know exactly what you mean Kim. I have been asking myself that question ever since I graduated. I sometimes feel I've wasted my time at university.' 'Me too', interjected Molly Doyle. 'It really is different from what I expected. You don't really appreciate what shift work is like until you do it all the time.' 'Yesterday, I was asked to do yet another double shift', added Alex. 'It is crazy. I was out on my feet when I finished, but we are so short-staffed it is hard to say "No" when you think about the patients. But seriously, it was my third double-shift this week!' 'Tell me about it', snapped Kim. 'My social life is non-existent. I am so exhausted after working nights that all I want to do is sleep and sleep.' 'My husband Brock is putting pressure on me to do something else', added Alex. 'He says it is not worth it. The loss of a social life is one thing, but I have been in this job for almost 10 years, and I am becoming more and more concerned about the effect of shift work on my health. Brock says the evidence is all there work shifts and have an abnormal social life, disrupted sleep, get stressed and boost your chances of getting cancer, plus a whole smorgasbord of other nasties. And setting all of that aside, after 10 years I've realised that unless I move into hospital administration, I'm never going to get promoted...but I hate paperwork!' 'Brock is right', said Emily. 'We all know nursing is stressful enough without adding extra hours and shift work.' 'What I hate is always having to request changes to my working hours after the roster come out', said Molly. 'Management knows my family situation, but they never take it into account. I am constantly having to renegotiate my working hours. I'm tired of my friends telling me about how flexible their employers are; how they now work from home two days a week! Not like that's an option for us. We have no flexibility, let alone work-life balance.' 'Actually, what is starting to get to me is the increasing threat of patient violence', said Alex. 'It has taken me months to get over being attacked by that ice addict in casualty.' 'And what happened? He got off with a good behaviour bond.' 'Yes', added Molly. 'And what did management and the union do? Very little. Quite honestly, I don't think it is even worth reporting verbal abuse any more. You just get treated as a troublemaker and told to suck it up.' 'Yes', snarled Alex. 'It is best just to put up with it.' 'And it is not as if we get paid that much', added Kim. The others nodded their agreement. 'Brock says that my pay is like that of someone who drives a bus for Public Transport Victoria (PTV). It really isn't fair. You study at university for what? To earn what a school drop-out can earn.' 'It's all because the public transport sector is male dominated and has militant unions', snapped Alex. 'It is a disgrace. We are constantly told there is not enough money, yet those losers have no trouble getting money from the government.' 'Let's face it. What power and influence do we nurses have?', asked Alex. 'Very little. And that is why so many quit nursing. There is no future in it!', Kim shot back. 'We hint at going on strike and we get criticised and threatened with legal action' 'I know', snapped Kim. 'And it is not just that. Compare our earnings with the doctors now that is a joke. And don't get me started on what the administrative staff get paid! We'd be better off working in patient records! At least we wouldn't have to deal with difficult patients, changing bed pans, or how horrible it feels when we lose a patient.' 'What's more', added Kim, 'we get treated like dirt. If it is not the patients who think we are hotel staff to wait on them hand and foot, it is the doctors. Some like Dr Friend are nice but some of the others are just so arrogant and superior it makes my blood boil. Bullies, the lot of them!' 'Dr Danger is the worst. How he ever graduated I will never know. He is a health hazard on two legs.' The others laughed. 'You know I had to go to the Registrar Dr Power about him. I got into terrible trouble but what Dr Danger told me to do was just plain wrong', said Molly. 'I tried to explain to him that the size of the fentanyl dose he directed me to administer to poor Mrs Peake was too much given her small size. For goodness' sake it would have killed her! But did he listen? No. Just started yelling at me, calling me terrible things I simply can't repeat, and jabbing his finger into my chest ordering me to do as I was told! He threatened to go to the Nursing Unit Manager (NUM) and ensure my shifts got cut so he'd never have to work with me again. Bastard. Not the first time he's threatened me this way when I've caught one of his mistakes. He knows I have a child with special needs and can ill afford to lose a single shift. He's such a bully', Molly seethed, 'and a dirty old man to boot. Always leering at me and standing too close behind me when we are reviewing patient notes together. He even pinched my bum in the drugs cupboard once!' 'You're not the only one Molly. He's like that with all of us,' says Emily. He's got wandering hands. The only one he leaves alone is Alex'. 'And in terms of the Mrs Peake situation, we all know who would have been held accountable if you had done as Dr Danger instructed', said Emily. 'Me of course', snapped Molly. 'It is so unfair.' 'And what is worse, Dr Danger has a say in my performance assessment, but I have no say in his!' Alex smiled. 'Molly, you should know by now that you never question a doctor. Look what happened to Jas Singh, the Mercy Hospital nurse. She blew the whistle on that incompetent surgeon and ended up an outcaste, with no chance of ever working as a nurse again.' 'Yes', said Molly, 'tell the truth and get put through hell who needs it?' 'The performance assessment is a joke anyway apart from filling in the forms and having a meeting, nothing happens. It is all a waste of time.' 'What would you do if you didn't do nursing?', asked Emily. Kim shrugged. 'I don't know. Some parts of this job I absolutely love helping sick people and seeing them get better, learning new procedures and the like is great and the people I work with are generally nice.' 'Except for rude patients and fools like Dr Danger', interrupted Molly. 'But I am not sure that it is enough anymore', continued Kim. 'Pay wise, there is no future in nursing, and I am tired of dropping further and further behind my friends who work in the private sector.' 'I feel exactly the same way', said Emily. 'I want to buy a house but what I earn as a nurse just isn't enough. It will take me forever to save for the deposit and that is assuming that prices don't keep on going up.' 'That is exactly what I mean', Kim interjected. 'You all remember Bree, the one who used to be a nurse in the intensive care unit. Well, she now works in sales with a big pharmaceutical company. She gets a car plus she earns almost double what she did as a nurse. Her firm is also paying her fees to do a part time MBA. Bree and I graduated at the same time, but I will never earn what she earns. She already has her own apartment in the city, while I am still struggling to save a deposit for a place in the outer suburbs. It just doesn't make sense.' 'She has a career, what we have is a job', said Emily. The others sighed. 'It's not just the money for me', said Molly. 'It's the total lack of appreciation. The hospital just treats us as numbers. There is no recognition of your performance or of the sacrifices you make.' 'You are so right, Molly', snapped Alex. 'I have never received a thing from this hospital. Sure, I get what the Nurses Award requires, but nothing else. Not even a word of thanks for a job well done. Nurses like Tom and Jillian who just do the bare minimum to stay out of trouble get the same pay as me. They are so lazy and out of date it is a joke. You notice that every time there is a public holiday on a Friday they call in sick on Thursday and nothing happens except we stupid bunnies are asked to cover for them. It makes me mad.' 'And they get the same pay as us', grumbled Molly. The others sighed in agreement. 'But you must admit they are living proof that we have great job security', said Emily. The others laughed. 'I think it is more a reflection of the nursing shortage. So many left nursing during the pandemic because they either refused to get vaccinated or due to sheer burnout. I heard this hospital alone lost 15% of its nurses during the pandemic - not that it's finished for us. Let's face it, if you are breathing, you can find a job as a nurse today. But thanks to all the media coverage of how bad it is working in hospitals, nobody wants to', said Molly. They all nodded their heads in agreement. 'Being understaffed means that we are grossly overworked', said Kim. 'And the current policy that restricts those who've tested positive for covid from working for a whole week, even when they are fully vaccinated, just makes things worse. Every shift we are at least 2 nurses short of the required nurse patient ratio.' 'I agree', said Alex. 'And as always, it is the conscientious nurses who have to bear the extra strain.' The others nodded in agreement. 'Don't forget the administration', added Kim. 'It is so bureaucratic and inflexible. Everything must be done by the book. Their solution to any problem is more rules.' Molly laughed. 'Brock says that what we have in this hospital is management from the dark ages.' 'Yes', replied Emily. 'Our HR department is really a risk assurance unit. All they are concerned about is that the correct forms have been filled out. It's all about process not outcomes. Their focus is only every on protecting the hospital. They do nothing for the staff. The problems in this hospital have existed for years and everyone knows about them, but nothing is ever done.' 'You are right', snapped Molly. 'People are never appreciated or recognised in this place. Everything is so authoritarian and hierarchical. Take the senior managers, all they are concerned about is their status. I bet they measure the size of their offices to the last centimetre to make sure that no-one else at the same grade has a larger office.' Everyone laughed. 'They never venture out of their offices to find out what is really happening. You know, in all the time I have worked here I have never seen let alone met the CEO or HR Manager of this hospital.' 'What do you mean? Their photo is always in the staff newsletter', Alex said with a half-smile. 'You mean you read that self-promoting rubbish Alex? It is strictly rubbish bin material for me', said Kim to the laughter of the others. 'Well, I have decided', said Kim. 'I am going to get a job that recognises my ability, has a future and pays me a decent salary.' 'Alas, Kim, you are living proof that nursing has become a revolving door of demoralised people', Molly said softly. 'No wonder no one wants to be a nurse. It was bad enough before COVID but now it's even worse'.

Question a (please explain with 600 words)

As the HR Manager of Melbourne City Hospital, you know that you have a staff retention problem that needs to be addressed; the turnover rate amongst your nurses is high and increasing. Using Hackman-Oldham's Job Characteristic Model, explain the current nurse retention issue at Melbourne City Hospital. Please type your answer below adding space as required.

Question b ( please explain with 600 words)

Focussing on two (2) of the HRM problems you have identified as negatively impacting on the job satisfaction of nurses at Melbourne City Hospital, what actions would you take to solve them? Explain. Please type your answer below adding space as required.

please answer both a and b with 600 words and each with detailed explanation