CRITICAL DECISION MAKING FOR PROVIDERS 2 CRITICAL DECISION MAKING FOR PROVIDERS 5 Critical Decision Making for Providers Unknown Student Grand Canyon University-AMP-450V March 15, 2018 CRITICAL DECISION MAKING FOR PROVIDERS 1 Critical Decision Making for Providers Introduction A scenario involving Mike, a lab technician was observed in order to provide discussion and gain insight on the topic of critical decision making for healthcare providers. Mike is employed as a lab technician and has been late to work on a regular basis. Mike’s job is important to him as he is the sole provider for his infant child and wife. Mike’s supervisor has spoken to him about being late and the possibility of termination should he continue to do so. Mike appears to take his conversation with his supervisor seriously. He has left home 20 minutes earlier in order to arrive to work on time. He arrives at the facility and on the way to his department notices a spill on the floor. The scenario poses questions about the decisions Mike now must make: Should he report the spill and risk being late again, possibly resulting in termination? Or should he ignore the spill and hope it is of no consequence? Both options are explored and reflection on the consequences of each action is provided. Consequences of a Failure to Report Mike’s decision to report or ignore the spill appears to have negative consequences for Mike either way. If he reports the spill, he will be late again. If he does not report the spill, he will not be late but there is risk that the spill may cause an accident. The scenario involving Mike’s failure to report results in a patient walking by and falling down. She sustains painful injuries and may have a broken hip. Mike is now faced with the dilemma of confessing that the patient fall may be a direct consequence of his failure to report and risk termination. Mike’s failure to report affects the facility negatively. There has now been a patient fall, which is costly in both time and resources and may not be reimbursed. There is also the negative impact on the patient. The fall has led to injury, which may result in extended hospitalization, decreases in independence, as well as depression and fear of falling (Tzeng & Yin, 2015). Impact of Failure to Report The failure to report the spill has resulted in an overall negative impact to every aspect involved. Not reporting the spill compromises patient safety. Patient safety is always a priority because a patient fall or injury has significant negative effects on both the patient as well as the healthcare facility. Besides the negative effect on the patient, the financial impact of patient falls on healthcare facilities is negative as well. The CDC has predicted that the total cost of fall injuries will reach $67.7 billion by 2020, making falls one of the 20 most costly medical conditions (Silva & Hain, 2017). In addition to the negative financial impact that a patient fall .

1. CRITICAL DECISION MAKING FOR PROVIDERS 2
CRITICAL DECISION MAKING FOR PROVIDERS 5
Critical Decision Making for Providers
Unknown Student
Grand Canyon University-AMP-450V
March 15, 2018
CRITICAL DECISION MAKING FOR PROVIDERS 1
Critical Decision Making for Providers
Introduction
A scenario involving Mike, a lab technician was observed in
order to provide discussion and gain insight on the topic of
critical decision making for healthcare providers. Mike is
employed as a lab technician and has been late to work on a
regular basis. Mike’s job is important to him as he is the sole
provider for his infant child and wife. Mike’s supervisor has
spoken to him about being late and the possibility of
termination should he continue to do so. Mike appears to take
his conversation with his supervisor seriously. He has left home
20 minutes earlier in order to arrive to work on time. He arrives
at the facility and on the way to his department notices a spill
on the floor. The scenario poses questions about the decisions
Mike now must make: Should he report the spill and risk being
late again, possibly resulting in termination? Or should he
ignore the spill and hope it is of no consequence? Both options
are explored and reflection on the consequences of each action
is provided.

2. Consequences of a Failure to Report
Mike’s decision to report or ignore the spill appears to have
negative consequences for Mike either way. If he reports the
spill, he will be late again. If he does not report the spill, he
will not be late but there is risk that the spill may cause an
accident. The scenario involving Mike’s failure to report
results in a patient walking by and falling down. She sustains
painful injuries and may have a broken hip. Mike is now faced
with the dilemma of confessing that the patient fall may be a
direct consequence of his failure to report and risk termination.
Mike’s failure to report affects the facility negatively. There
has now been a patient fall, which is costly in both time and
resources and may not be reimbursed. There is also the negative
impact on the patient. The fall has led to injury, which may
result in extended hospitalization, decreases in independence, as
well as depression and fear of falling (Tzeng & Yin, 2015).
Impact of Failure to Report
The failure to report the spill has resulted in an overall negative
impact to every aspect involved. Not reporting the spill
compromises patient safety. Patient safety is always a priority
because a patient fall or injury has significant negative effects
on both the patient as well as the healthcare facility. Besides the
negative effect on the patient, the financial impact of patient
falls on healthcare facilities is negative as well. The CDC has
predicted that the total cost of fall injuries will reach $67.7
billion by 2020, making falls one of the 20 most costly medical
conditions (Silva & Hain, 2017).
In addition to the negative financial impact that a patient fall
has on the healthcare facility, there may be legal problems as
well. The patient may seek legal action against the facility,
which will result in additional resources and expenses. Legal
action against a healthcare facility will bring negative publicity
with it, which can affect its rating and satisfaction scores. The
patient fall will result in increased workload to the staff, as
there will be additional monitoring and assessments for nursing,
additional radiology tests, physical and occupational therapy,

3. ortho consults, and additional case management.
Role of Management
The adverse event described in the scenario provides an
educational opportunity for leaders in guiding their staff to
prevent the same mistake from occurring again. As Mike’s
manager, using evidence based leadership and management
would be an initial approach to motivate staff (Hess, 2012).
Engaged employees yield better outcomes (Hess, 2012).
Employees are said to be engaged when they are satisfied,
energized, and productive (Hess, 2012). Before taking punitive
actions against Mike, the manager should obtain a clear picture
of the entire situation. The manager should have knowledge of
Mike’s job description, including his schedule, salary, previous
evaluations and number of staff that he works with. This gives
the manager information on the work environment surrounding
Mike and can give insight to any areas that might be causing
him to be dissatisfied with his job, which may contribute to his
chronic lateness. It is helpful to have regular rounding sessions
with staff. During these rounding sessions, manager or
supervisors take the time to visit with each staff member on a
personal basis. During these visits, managers can ask staff
members about their personal lives and families. This gives
leaders insight to areas into the personal lives of staff that may
affect their ability to do their job. In Mike’s case, it was noted
that he has a newborn. Perhaps Mike is having difficulty getting
a full night of sleep, and is unable to wake up early enough
when it is time to go to work.
By providing employees with the resources necessary to do their
jobs and fostering an attitude of genuine interest in their well-
being, leaders can motivate their staff and increase their job
satisfaction. This leads to improved patient outcomes, which is
of benefit to all involved.
Conclusion
Scenarios such as the one in this assignment are a common
reality in healthcare. Leaders must find ways to ensure that staff
members are satisfied in their jobs so that they are able to

4. provide best care to their patients. Implementing evidence
based leadership and management encourages communication
between management and staff, helping to ensure that
healthcare systems maintain sustainability.
References
Hess, V. (2012). Using Evidence to Motivate Hospital
Employees. Hospital and Health Networks Magazine. Retrieved
from https://www.hhnmag.com/articles/5567-using-evidence-to-
motivate-hospital-employees
Silva, K., & Hain, P. (2017, May-June). Fall Prevention:
Breaking Apart the Cookie Cutter Approach. Med Surg Nursing,
26(3), 198-213.
Tzeng, H., & Yin, C. (2015). Patient Engagement in Hospital
Fall Prevention. Nursing Economic$, 33(6), 326-334.