Required Resources
Required Text
1. Management principles for health professionals (https://ashford.instructure.com/courses/31353/external_tools/retrieve?
display=borderless&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcontent.ashford.edu%2Flti%3Fbookcode%3DLiebler.3118.17.1) (7th ed.):
a. Chapter 11: Communication: The Glue that Binds Us Together
b. Chapter 15: Day-to-Day Management for the Health Professional-as-Manager
Recommended Resources
Required Text
1. Management principles for health professionals (https://ashford.instructure.com/courses/31353/external_tools/retrieve?
display=borderless&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcontent.ashford.edu%2Flti%3Fbookcode%3DLiebler.3118.17.1) (7th ed.):
a. Chapter 14: Human Resource Management: A Line Manager's Perspective
Articles
1. Bujak, J. S. (2003). How to improve hospital-physician relationships. Frontiers of Health Services Management, 20(2), 321. Retrieved from the EBSCOhost database.
2. Raelin, J. A. (1998). An anatomy of autonomy: Managing professionals. The Academy of Management Executive, 3(3),
216. Retrieved from the EBSCOhost database.
Week 5 - Senior Project
Senior Project
To start, select one of the following approved topics for your Senior Project. You may also have a topic
of your choice approved by the instructor in Week One. Many of the approved topics have specific
subtopics outlined and, while these topics are not all-inclusive, they do provide insight into specific
areas to consider.
Approved Topics:
A. Examine how participative leadership functions in today’s modern health care organization and
compare it to other types of leadership styles. Evaluate how each type of leadership style may
impact organizational culture, employee performance, and how it may help or hinder the legitimacy
of authority.
B. As an administrator, address the challenges of employee recruitment and retention of health care
professionals. Additional subtopics may include trends in the nursing workforce, shortage of
primary care physicians, staff turnover, retention, and staffing patterns.
C. Analyze the dual role of a manager and healthcare professional. Examine challenges that the
health professional compared to those of a non-health professional, may face in terms of
leadership style, and the impact these challenges have on organizational culture. The benefits of a
health professional manager as an organizational resource may also be included. Explore the
career trends of health professionals in organizational leadership positions, such as the types of
health professional training that leaders tend to have in common, and the typical demographic
background of health professional managers.
D. The health care industry must anticipate and monitor trends that could possibly affect its overall
survival. Analyze how regulation of the health care industry impacts a health care organization.
Explore some of the possible survival organizational strategies such as, but not limited to, mergers,
and affiliations, achieving accreditation status, professional licensure.
E. Analyze the impact of technology on how health care services are delivered. The impact of
technology on employee performance, organizational structure, and management planning may
also be considered.
F. Analyze the impact of any recent social and/or ethical trends on the health care industry. Discuss at
least two issues.
After identifying your topic, choose a health care organization in your area. This organization may be
small or large and may provide single inpatient health service or multiple outpatient services; it is your
choice. Consider your topic in light of the leadership of this organization and research the challenges
and successes it has faced in managing operational effectiveness. You are welcome to use as many
research methods as possible to obtain information for your organization and its managers (e.g., webbased resources, electronic articles, or personal interviews). The more informed you are, the better
prepared you will be to complete your project.
Finally, develop a management training program that includes relevant guidelines and information to
combat the issues identified in the selected topic, as well as recommendations for managers to more
effectively lead health care organizations. Your training program should be in the form of a 20 to 25
slide PowerPoint presentation (excluding title and reference slides) that includes comprehensive
speaker’s notes (i.e., at least 150 words) for each slide. Utilize at least three to five scholarly sources
from the Ashford University Library and two to three current, scholarly web sources (total of five to
eight references required). All sources must be cited according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford
Writing Center. Your presentation must be engaging and relevant to your audience. Lines of text on a
slide will not be sufficient for this project. It should contain at least five images, graphics, and/or
multimedia that communicate your training clearly to your audience. For tips on creating an excellent
presentation, read this overview.
Creating the Senior Project
The Senior Project:
1. Must be 20 to 25 PowerPoint slides (excluding title and reference slides) in length. There are 20
content criteria worth a total of 10 points.
2. Must include a title slide that contains the following:
a. Title of project
b. Your name
c. Course name and number
d. Instructor’s name
e. Date submitted
3. Must include an introduction with a succinct thesis statement.
4. Must address the topic of the project with critical thought in the areas of:
a. Organization details
b. Challenges and opportunities
c. Training program outcomes
d. Impact on at least three stakeholder groups involved delineated by cost, quality, and access to
service
e. Suggested actions
5. Must include a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.
6. Must use at least five supporting graphics (images, graphics, and/ or multimedia) are included and
relevant communicating the training content (two points).
7. Must include speaker’s notes that have evidence of critical thinking and application (content
analysis, synthesis, evaluation) related to the research methodology used to develop (six points):
a. Project content
b. Practical and relevant solutions to the organizational challenges/opportunities
c. Appropriate evaluation of individual stakeholder groups involved
8. Must use at least three to five scholarly sources from the Ashford University Library and two to
three current, scholarly web sources.
9. Must document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
10. Must include a separate reference slide, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the
Ashford Writing Center.
Carefully review the Grading Rubric (http://ashford.waypointoutcomes.com/assessment/3131/preview)
for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.
Waypoint Assignment
Submission
The assignments in this course will be submitted to Waypoint. Please refer to the instructions below
to submit your assignment.
1. Click on the Assignment Submission button below. The Waypoint "Student Dashboard" will open
in a new browser window.
2. Browse for your assignment.
3. Click Upload.
4. Confirm that your assignment was successfully submitted by viewing the appropriate week's
assignment tab in Waypoint.
For more detailed instructions, refer to the Waypoint Tutorial
(https://content.bridgepointeducation.com/curriculum/file/dc358708-3d2b-41a6-a000ff53b3cc3794/1/Waypoint%20Tutorial.pdf)
(https://content.bridgepointeducation.com/curriculum/file/dc358708-3d2b-41a6-a000ff53b3cc3794/1/Waypoint%20Tutorial.pdf) .
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Instructor Elaboration: Communication & Strategies for Success
Communication
The Shannon-Weaver model of communication involves components like information source, transmitter,
noise, channel, message, receiver, channel, information destination, encoding and decoding. This is a
historical model developed in the 1940s, but still widely utilized today. You should be familiar with how
this model works. There are many applications available on the World Wide Web and one that is very
interactive is linked here http://www.managementstudyguide.com/shannon-and-weaver-model-ofcommunication.htm (http://www.managementstudyguide.com/shannon-and-weaver-model-ofcommunication.htm) .
Communication skills focus on the ability to send, interpret, and receive information. Communications is
one of the most important skills that a manager can possess. Problems and conflicts can occur in the
workplace whenever communication is not optimal. Sometimes messages may not presented in a clear
manner, and in other instances, they may not be decoded differently than intended. The four elements of
communication are the sender, the message, the receiver, and feedback. Conflicts within groups due to
poor communication can occur at any of these points. Although many roadblocks to effective
communications exist, managers must understand obstacles to effective communication and seek ways
to overcome them. Some of the barriers and challenges to effective communications may revolve
around culture, language, gender, spiritual, professional status, and critical thinking issues (Liebler &
McConnell, 2008).
Effective communications can improve employee satisfaction and create a pleasing work climate.
Although effective communication is important in any situation, it is especially needed in the health care
environment. Poor communications can detrimental effects on business operations and patient
outcomes in health care. In addition to addressing team communications issues, managers must be
prepared to address communications issues associated with patients in the health care. Managers must
possess different styles of communication when interacting with patients that might include adults of
varying ages, disabled individuals, and children (DuPre, 2005).
DuPre (2005) identified the following six issues as important to understanding the study of health
communications:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Crucial to health care encounters
Source of personal confidence and coping ability
Saves time and money
Helps health care organizations operate effectively
Can help people improve their health status
Enrich career opportunities
Some of the barriers and challenges to effective communications may revolve around culture, language,
gender, spiritual, professional status, and critical thinking issues (Liebler & McConnell, 2008). Other
barriers may include nonverbal clues, stereotypes, imprecise terms, and differing perceptions (Lombardi
& Schermerhorn, 2007). Because many roadblocks to effective communications exist, managers must
understand obstacles and seek ways to overcome them. Managers must be prepared to address
communications issues associated with patients in the health care and members of the organization.
Because individuals and situations vary, managers must possess and be capable of using a variety
communication styles in dealing with employees, other staff, and the public.
The Gordian Knot
Healthcare is the most complex and regulated business in America. As we know there is great difficulty
in balancing the healthcare triad of costs, quality, and access to care. Ineffective resource allocation in
one area negatively affects the other two according to Freeman's stakeholder theoretical tenets. This
challenge of balancing costs, quality, and access was referred to in the article as the "Gordian knot" (a
complex, often unsolvable puzzle). For more on the Gordian knot and the continued quest for the sword
to cut through the complexity...read on.
One day, according to ancient Greek legend, a poor peasant called Gordius arrived with his wife in a
public square of Phrygia in an ox cart. As chance would have it, so the legend continues, an oracle had
previously informed the populace that their future king would come into town riding in a wagon. Seeing
Gordius, therefore, the people made him king. In gratitude, Gordius dedicated his ox cart to Zeus, tying it
up with a highly intricate knot - - the Gordian knot. Another oracle -- or maybe the same one, the legend
is not specific, but oracles are plentiful in Greek mythology -- foretold that the person who untied the knot
would rule all of Asia.
The problem of untying the Gordian knot resisted all attempted solutions until the year 333 B.C., when
Alexander the Great -- not known for his lack of ambition when it came to ruling Asia -- cut through it with
a sword. "Cheat!" you might cry. And although you might have been unwise to have pointed it out in
Alexander's presence, his method did seem to go against the spirit of the problem. Surely, the challenge
was to solve the puzzle solely by manipulating the knot, not by cutting it.
But wait a minute. Alexander was no dummy. As a former student of Aristotle, he would have been no
stranger to logical puzzles. We too can learn from this example and cut through the healthcare
challenges, albeit it may take a few swings of the sword.
Universal Strategies for Success and Parting Words of Wisdom from Dr. Eric
1. Think logically and avoid making judgments before you have had time to consider all stakeholder
perspectives and considerations for costs, quality, and access to care.
2. Communicate succinctly and appropriately to the audience (common communication errors
attached).
3. Understand that change is necessary for growth, but there must be a reason/rationale for the change.
Change for the sake of change is not appropriate.
4. Know the #1 fear of all humans is "rejection".
5. Know the #1 need of all humans is "acceptance".
Keep these in mind class and you will go far as a healthcare administrator and leader. Also remember
that your final project in this class should be viewed as a Business Card. Name, Expert in _______. Fill in
the blank with the topic you choose to become an expert on in this class. There are many job
opportunities waiting for you based on your expert knowledge in healthcare administration and
management. Best wishes on an abundance for future successes, Dr. Eric.
References:
DuPre, A. (2005). Communicating about health: Current issues and perspectives (2nd ed.). New York,
New York: McGraw-Hill.
Liebler, J., & McConnell, C. (2012). Management principles for health professionals (6th ed.). Sudbury,
MA: Jones & Bartlett.
Lombardi, D. M. & Schermerhorn, J. R. (2007). Health care management: Tools and techniques for
managing a health care environment. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
Management Study Guide. (n. d.). Shannon and Weaver model of communication. Retrieved from
http://www.managementstudyguide.com/shannon-and-weaver-model-of-communication.htm.
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