This project consisted of a report of a hypothetical interview/shadowing of a human resources professional employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs in a tertiary healthcare facility. A series of questions were answered, including insights gained into the leadership behaviors or style of the individual accompanied as a result of observations and interactions and a summary of the learning experiences that compares these observations to sources from the literature that present evidence, best practices, or standards related to the specific roles
Learning experience site for this project was the human resources service in a tertiary healthcare facility operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Individual/Position Accompanied
The individual interviewed and shadowed for this project was a human resources representative responsible for compensation and benefits.
Date/Hours of Visit
Description of the role and functions of the individual(s) within the context of the organization, and a synopsis of what you observed and the activities you participated in during the learning experience
The human resources (HR) representative interviewed and observed for this project ("Mr. West") is responsible for the administration of compensation and benefits for full-time VA employees, including healthcare staff. A preliminary interview with Mr. West revealed that he was in his office a full half hour before work started each day, even though he was not compensated for this extra time. Although Mr. West was available by appointment, he maintained an "open door" policy that allowed any concerned employee or staff members to consult him without notice.
The daily routine for this administrator consisted of reviewing which employees and staff members were due for personnel actions and determining how their benefits and compensation would be affected. In addition, Mr. West was responsible for leveraging the available benefit and compensation packages into attractive recruitment incentives for medical staff that are in high demand, including nursing staff. Privacy considerations prevented my active participation in any of the work performed by Mr. West and I was asked to leave his office when employees or staff members presented for consultation, except on one occasion where the issues being discussed were not personal in nature but rather related to a question about the status of a recent recruitment announcement for an assistant in the facility's morgue.
Analysis of the primary roles and functions as they relate to nursing and patient services
The primary roles and functions provided by Mr. West as they related to nursing and patient services consisted of ensuring that the facility was adequately staffed by qualified personnel. At present, this VA facility had around 1,200 full-time equivalent medical staff, but there were more than 100 unfilled vacancies, some of which had been active for more than 6 months. Mr. West explained that credentialing had become a major issue in recent years following the revelation that the director of quality assurance for the facility faked her PhD on her application and no one bothered to verify her degree. Mr. West also mentioned that the former quality assurance director was the wife of the facility's chief of staff, a fact that may have accounted for the oversight; however, the chief of staff was not disciplined in this matter as was still serving in this position. In fact, Mr. West informed me that the former QA director's falsified credentials were only discovered by accident while performing an unrelated personnel action. In response to this incident, Mr. West emphasized that all applicants had their credentials thoroughly checked and verified before they were allowed to proceed to the interview phase.
Insights gained into the leadership behaviors or style of the individual you accompanied as a result of your observations and interactions
In some organizations, the human resources service has unjustly earned a reputation for being uncaring and cold-blooded about the people who work there. Nothing could have been further from the truth with this HR representative, though. Mr. West clearly showed that he was enormously concerned about the quality of healthcare being provided veterans at this facility as well as the healthcare personnel who cared for them. A recurring theme that was repeated during my visits, though, was a lack of adequate resources to provide the staffing levels that were needed to provide this level of care.
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