In this assignment, you’ll examine the role of a health care manager regarding ethical issues and decision-making. You’ll have the opportunity to practice your professional skills in conducting interviews and communication, in general. Being able to have professional conversations with all stakeholders in an organization, including managers at various levels, is an important skill to have as a health care manager.

Research a health care facility (pharmacy, medical office, nursing home, hospital). Become familiar with the company, including the mission, vision, and goals of the company.

Select a leadership position at the facility – for example, a supervisor, manager, director, vice president, compliance officer, or similar.

Use the Health Care Leadership Interview Questionnaire to conduct an interview with the person you selected.

Write a 700-word summary of your interview. Title your assignment “Health Care Manager Interview.” Note: Double-space the interview responses and use proper grammar and sentence structure.

ANSWER

Health Care Manager Interview

Introduction

The interview entailed a candid discussion with the manager of Carondelet Health Network, Frank Molinaro.  The facility is a nationally recognized center, which provides quality tertiary care, medical education, and research (Carondelet.org, 2021).  The facility aims to provide expert and compassionate care for all families around Southern Arizona and the surrounding communities.

The responsibilities the manager

The role of the manager is to oversee that the nursing home is to ensure that the administration of home is well taken care of and that all the processes within the facility are quality.  The manager also has the role of making ethical decisions, to ensure that the patients receive quality care, without any hitches or major challenges. The manager has the responsibility of providing information, advice, and support to the residents at the facility, families, and also the staff members.

He is also mandated with the role of promoting the rights of the residents, where he is required to encourage them to undertake activities that will hasten their recovery period. The manager’s role is also to monitor the performance of the business and quality of care and to ensure that the facility upholds the quality throughout its tenure. He agrees to contracts, takes part in the budgeting process and any fundraising activity within the facility.  The manager is mandated with developing policies and ensures to practice and keep confidentiality, which is a part of the ethical guidelines of any nursing home.  He is also required to recruit, train and supervise the staff members, to make sure that they meet the expected standards.

The role the manager in ethical decision-making

In the interview, the manager admits that many factors have contributed to the growing concern in health care. Issues such as affordability, quality, patient safety, and value-based care are some of the key concerns that the facility incorporates in its strategy in the management of the patients’ welfare. According to the manager, there is a need to make ethical decisions for all the health care workers at the facility. Everyone, including him, is required to ensure that they abide by the best company values, such as personal, organizational, professional, and social values in all the decisions they make.   Any decisions made at the facility have to consider ethical principles which include autonomy, justice, beneficence, and nonmaleficence. This is to ensure that taking care of the patient is undertaken with professionalism, and ensure that all ethical standards and codes are abided by.

The manager states that he has the responsibility of addressing the growing number of complex ethical dilemmas, which the facility faces. The nursing home has a decision-making process which involves the key stakeholders including the doctors, nurses, supervisors, and other employees within the facility to ensure that all decision made follow the moral guidelines.  Systematic decision-making is vital in that it serves as a useful tool for the executives and other workers to address ethically challenging situations.

An example of an ethical issue faced and how he resolved it

An example of an ethical issue that the manager has faced in his tenure as the manager has been an ethical dilemma between the treatment of a patient whose religion does not allow her to remove her hijab in front of a male specialist. This was an ethical dilemma since it involved impediment of personal and religious beliefs. The female patient completely declined to have her hijab removed, yet that was the only option of monitoring her recovery process after minor head surgery. The main specialist was a man, yet the nursing home did not have a female specialist who could undertake the assessment. It took the intervention of her family and religious leaders to allow for the assessment after long hours of deliberation at the facility. The patient agreed to be monitored in the presence of her female family members, where she was assured that the process would be fast and would be with the utmost respect for her personal and religious beliefs.

The resources used to resolve ethical issues

The manager had to call for an urgent meeting where all the employees and critical stakeholders aired their views and opinions on how to approach the issue. Local Muslim religious leaders within Arizona were contacted, where they offered advice on how to approach such a dalmatic situation and ensure that the facility was in line with the ethical and moral requirements. After the consultations and persuasion to the patient, a solution was established, where the patient finally agreed to get monitored by the male specialist.

Lessons from the interview on how to be an ethical health care manager in the future

            From the interview, it is apparent that there will always be a need to be keen on ensuring and maintaining ethical and moral guidelines in any decision made. Maintaining good ethical standards in health care ensures that a suitable environment is created, where all decision-making follows an established set of rules and regulations.  There is a need to continually access medical ethics books, consult with other practitioners, and undertake continuous training and development programs to ensure that all decisions made are guided by ethical and moral principles.

References

Carondelet.org. (2021). About Carondelet Health Network. Retrieved from https://www.carondelet.org/home