Case study

Scenario Four: The environment in your critical care unit has always been somewhat hectic. However, over the last few months, the morale in your unit has noticeably deteriorated. You learn that nurses have begun to share mass e-mail chains complaining about unfair scheduling treatment. As the nurse manager, you have always tried your best to schedule staff fairly and even allow them to switch their shifts when personal problems arise. Since your effort to talk with staff individually does not seem to be working, you decide to hold a town hall meeting to openly discuss these issues. As you prepare the meeting announcement, you notice e-mails from your hospital administrator, chief operating officer and director of human resources. All are wondering why their inboxes have been inundated with e-mails from upset nurses in your unit. How do you respond to these e-mails? Furthermore, how should you address this situation to improve the morale of your unit?

To prepare
Review this week’s Learning Resources, focusing on the appropriate and inappropriate use of social technologies in the workplace.
Conduct further research on the social, ethical, and legal issues that result from inappropriate use of social technologies both inside and outside work hours.
For example, what laws protect the privacy and free speech of employees? How can workplaces legally safeguard themselves from various social technology issues such as defamation, misrepresentation, or misuse by individual employees? Of what legal ramifications, such as patient privacy and confidentiality laws, should managers be aware?
Reflect on the scenario to which you have been assigned.
How might employee use of social technologies impact the rest of the setting? How might it impact the care given to patients?
As the nursing manager who oversees the employee(s), what strategies (if any) would you employ to effectively address this situation?
Consider the social technology policies of your past or present workplace.
With regard to employee use of social media, do you believe the workplace policy is effective? Why or why not? As a nurse manager, could you use this policy to effectively address the behaviors in your assigned scenario?
Note: Before you submit your initial post, replace the subject line (“Week 11 Discussion”) with “Review of Case Study ___” identifying the number of the case study you were assigned.
By Day 3
Post an explanation of the possible social, ethical, and/or legal ramifications of your assigned scenario. Explain the policy your current or past workplace has on the use of social technologies and how effective you believe the policy is. If your workplace does not have a policy, explain what the accepted practices or expectations are for your setting. Has lack of policy led to any problems? Support your responses by referencing authentic examples from the workplace and this week’s Learning Resources as appropriate.

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