Healthcare Management & Administration Blog

Employee Engagement: Reconnect Staff to Caring's Meaning and Purpose

I remember vividly my first experience as a patient at age 14, hospitalized for surgery to remove a lump in my breast—I was terrified! Years later, I still remember how I felt with one particular nurse. I don’t recall her name, but I remember her eyes. She saw my fear, and the way she looked at me let me know that everything would be OK.

Being There: An Encouraging Word About Hospice Care

As I presented to a group of HealthStream’s Home Care and Hospice agency clients recently, I was reminded again of the important role hospice has played in my life and the lives of others I have known.

Is Magnet® Designation Worth It?

I get asked this question or some version of it frequently: “Is a Magnet® journey really worth the time, money, and stress it takes to be successful?” Without any reservation I can honestly say YES! My journey to Magnet® was not as an early adopter. In the early 2000s my CNO announced at a Director’s meeting that we “had applied for Magnet®…and wasn’t that great!”

Helping Physicians Succeed in an ICD-10 World: White Paper

As the healthcare industry draws closer to the go-live date, ICD-10 remains a polarizing topic among healthcare professionals. While some healthcare organizations are actively preparing for a strategic rollout, others are, more or less, bracing for impact. In April 2012, the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) extended the ICD-10 (the International Classification of Diseases, tenth revision) implementation deadline to October 1, 2014 at the request of some physicians, hospitals, and other industry stakeholders.

Put “Caring About People” Back in Healthcare

Everyone’s jobs have become more demanding. We all seem to do more with fewer human or material resources and those we serve have higher expectations. Healthcare is the same but with two additional factors... increased regulation/reporting requirements and their ultimate outcome... the health of its consumers.

Critical Care Online Training Resources: Valuable or Meaningless?

The answer to the above controversial question is that it depends upon two critical factors: how effectively online educational courses are utilized by institutional leaders and educators that purchase and assign offerings to their constituents and how seriously individual users learn and apply the content to enhance their clinical competency and patient outcomes.

The Importance of Nurse Competency Testing and On-Going Education

It might surprise many to know that the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has reported that one out of every 25 patients in US hospitals are said to have been harmed by medical care. This stunning statistic accentuates the need to develop a clinical staff that is providing optimal care at all times.

The Anarchy Index: Looking at Hospital Employee Engagement

There are four questions asked in our Employee Insights surveys that determine the level of engagement in a hospital. Responses represent a four point scale and these are Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree (about their level of engagement).

Implementation Tips for Healthcare Learning Management Systems

Getting ready to start an HealthStream Learning Center (HLC), HealthStream Competency Center (HCC), or HealthStream Performance Center (HPC) implementation? These three products can help improve how your organization provides healthcare as well as how you manage the people who provide it.

Is Your Hospital Prepared for Aging Baby Boomers? New White Paper

A monumental event came and went last year without much fanfare: The first of the Baby Boomers turned 65. It is unlikely, however, that they will move quietly into their silver years. This will be especially true when it comes to how they access healthcare.

Creating a Learning Culture in Healthcare

One of the responsibilities of a leader, especially in healthcare, is to create a learning culture where employees are at the very least technically competent and ideally at the cutting edge of their respective disciplines. With strong leadership, employees are never permitted to rest on their laurels regardless of age or length of employment. Nobody is permitted to practice OJR (on-the-job-retirement).

The Tragic Importance of Sepsis Training

For those of you who want to read a personal story about why hospitals are all focusing on Stopping Sepsis and Surviving Sepsis--the link below is about a 12-year old boy who died a few months ago of sepsis because the signs of early sepsis weren’t recognized by the healthcare providers. Not many things can take out a healthy 12 year old boy in 4 days – but sepsis can. The last paragraphs of the article can really break your heart.

Use Performance Management in Healthcare, Support Employee Engagement

Employee engagement continues to be a hot topic in healthcare, and we are excited to have Michael Cohen share how performance management is a necessary part of the process. Check out Michael's checklist below, and ensure you have the most engaged staff possible at your facility.

What is Competence in Healthcare? (Part II)

While competency evaluation is obviously a tool for developing clinical and non-clinical staff, secondary – and equally important – goals of competency evaluation are to create business alignment among nursing, ancillary, and facility support staff.

What is Competence in Healthcare? (Part I)

Competence lies at the heart of any talent management effort in healthcare. Competency is a cornerstone on which a successful healthcare organization is built.