TO: ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEEì
FROM: COORDINATOR, PRODUCTIVITY TEAMì
SUBJECT: REORGANIZATION OF THE POSTPARTUM NURSING UNIT
Pursuant to your request that this team evaluate the ì
organizational structure of units within the hospital to ì
recommend actions that will lead to improvements in productivity, ì
the findings of the examination of the Postpartum Nursing Unit is ì
submitted in this memorandum. The essence of the recommended ì
structural change in the unit is the pairing of personnel in job ì
Productivity has declined in the Postpartum Nursing Unit ì
over the past three years. A major causal factor in this decline ì
has been a deterioration in the level of job satisfaction among ì
the professional staff that in turn stemmed from professional ì
personnel shortages. Professional personnel shortages, together ì
with the stresses associated with the contemporary practice of ì
nursing, leads to an increase in the rate of burn-out among ì
1P. Brenner, and J. Wrubel, "Caring Comes First, American ì
Journal of Nursing, (1988): 1072-1075.
ä Burn-out, in turn, is a crucial factor in ì
the development of performance impairment among professional ì
nurses. Burn-out is a relatively common phenomenon in many ì
fields of endeavor; however, it is particularly acute in the ì
nursing practice. Burn-out, together with the actions of ì
personnel before this point is reached, lead to high rates of ì
personnel turnover, decreased levels of productivity, and ì
declining quality levels in duty performance. These factors
= 1 á2 a- ìècause severe managerial problems for health care delivery ì
institutions, increased patient risk, and significant disruptions ì
in the lives of the professional nurses involved. Burnout leads ì
to additional defections from the profession, and fu...