Management of Human Resources in Emergency Wards

This study focuses on the critical analysis of the management of human resources in emergency wards. It discusses the implication of reward practices for the management of employee performance in an emergency ward and provides alternative reward practices. It also gives recommendations for better management of human resources in emergency wards.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Management of Human resources
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Background of the study..................................................................................................................2
Reward practices..............................................................................................................................3
Implication of rewards practices for the management of employee performance in an emergency
ward.................................................................................................................................................4
Alternative reward practices............................................................................................................6
Recommendation.............................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Reference.........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Human resources are the people that are either working for an organization or a company
and human resource department is responsible for the effective management of the employees. In
the year 1960, the labour relations gained attention and the organizational behaviour and
motivation slowly gained traction. Human resource management is a generalized term which
takes into account the employee development in an organization. Human resource management
is also called the talent management. and it involves the management of organizational human
resources or capital. Human resource management is focussed on several areas and it includes
staffing and recruiting; benefits and compensation; learning and training; employee and labour
relations; organization development. Human resource management includes the administering
and developing the programs that are designed to increase the effectiveness of a business or an
organization. It also involves the cultivation, management, creation of a better employee-
employer relation (Bratton & Gold, 2017). This study is based on the critical and an in-depth
analysis from the point of view of a human resource professional who is working in a regional
hospital.
Background of the study
Presently there is a big shortage of doctors and in the coming years, the shortage will rise to a
great extent. The shortage of the doctors in the rural areas is a serious problem in Australia and it
provides an opportunity for the doctors of New Zealand to make easy out of practising in
Australia for a week. The city-based doctors are unwilling to work in the rural areas, and thus
this provides an immense opportunity for the doctors from New Zealand to work in Australian
rural hospital for a week and earn huge sums of money. Recently, shortage of staffs in the
healthcare sector has led to the increased pressure on the existing staffs and the doctors. This has

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led to increased fatigue and burnout within the healthcare professionals. The clinical staffs are
experiencing immense work pressure and associated depression. The shortage of doctors in the
emergency departments has led to the increased level of pressure within the healthcare setup.
The situation, however, is not that gloomy because there are people are desperately trying to get
into this healthcare sector. In one case it has been found that in one hospital one doctor is
overseeing 26 patients. This busy schedule has resulted in too many doctors choosing to suicide
due to the deterioration of their personal health. The doctors either choose to commit suicide or
try to self-diagnose themselves. The doctors that are well aware of their health condition seek
professional help. There have been studies in the American hospital that specify the doctors are
continuously undergoing clinical depression and this has led to several kinds of medication
errors and prescribing errors. The doctors often are reluctant to treat their colleagues that are
suffering from mental illness.
Reward practices
Human Resource Management has the responsibility to look after the hard work of the
employees. The employee can be a doctor, a nurse, physician or a clinical staff. The rewarding
practices are the strategies that act to recognise the positive action of a doctor in a clinical
setting. This rewarding practice if implemented and executed well can bring positive outcome in
the overall performance of the emergency department. Recognising the hard work and the efforts
of the employee's help in encouraging and boosting the morale of the doctors that work in an
emergency department (Cogin, Ng & Lee, 2016). The various types of the reward practices that
can be used here with respect to the management of the senior emergency staff are as follows:
 Monetary rewards- monetary rewards are the type of the rewards that can be
readily given to the emergency staff for the hard work in the emergency

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department. There is another type of monetary reward like providing incentives to
the senior emergency staff for the large number of the patients that they attend
and also for the extended hours of work (Young et al., 2010).
 Non-monetary rewards- the non-monetary rewards include the awards that are not
in the monetary form and includes the promotion, usage of the hospital facilities,
letters of appreciation, certificates and awards.
 Flexible pay- this kind is pay is dependent on the performance of an individual
that is working in an emergency healthcare unit and demands long hours of work.
Although the senior emergency staff will get the basic pay that he is allotted to,
however, the long hours of work along with the extra number of patients that the
emergency unit is attending can provide an option for extra pay (Young et al.,
2010).
 Recognition- recognition can be defined as the genuine appreciation, approval,
acknowledgement of the employee performance. The recognition is also a form of
reward which is can be given to the employees on an annual basis. This
recognition can be delivered one to one basis, verbally or in a written form
(Cogin, Ng & Lee, 2016).
Implication of rewards practices for the management of employee performance in an
emergency ward
Reward system can be considered an important part that contributes to the employee
performance. Employee performance is highly affected by the becomes more effective due to the
high rewards system. Especially in an emergency ward, the senior management staff performs
the toughest work of attaining the emergency cases that come pouring in during the hospital

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hours and even during the night. This leads to the exhaustion and burnout of the healthcare
professionals. The working ability can be greatly enhanced when the rewards given to the
employees in an emergency ward are attractive. Job performance is an important aspect of the
human resource management (Boselie, 2010). Performance is important for the purpose of
achieving the better health outcomes and treatment of the patients that are coming in at an
emergency situation. Rewards are considered important as it acts as a motivating factor for the
employees. The best part is that better rewards system attracts the newer employees and it acts as
a rewarding factor for the for the existing employees. The good work of the employees is
necessary for the better health outcomes of the patient and the also help in delivering better
healthcare. Employees give their best efforts in order to achieve the better health outcomes along
with the rewards for the good work. Rewards are important so that the employees stay engaged
and their work is in accordance with the way that promotes better care for the patients.
Employees that want to work hard will also look to attain the different types of the rewards like
the monetary and the non-monetary rewards (Lutwama, Roos & Dolamo, 2013). There are
different types of employees and their personal choice for the monetary and the non-monetary
rewards vary. Employees when feel that being in a hospital that will highly provide all the scope
of gaining the required exposure along with the career growth, then such employees will
certainly remain committed to their work. Especially in an emergency ward, the senior
emergency staff has the responsibility of overseeing the different types of patients and that too in
large numbers. In such scenarios, often the senior emergency staff have to work for long hours
and attain several patients at the same time. The emergency staffs have to deal with different
types of complicated cases and during such events, the rewarding mechanisms play a major role
in keeping the staffs motivated (Ibrar & Khan, 2015).

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Human resource executive plays a major role here with them in integrating the reward
mechanism it increases the quality of health care dispensed to the ailing patients and at the same
time motivates the emergency staffs. Reward systems are implemented within the work and it
leads to the effectiveness of the hospital emergency team that looks after the critical cases. It has
been found that the satisfaction of the employees is highly affected by the reward practice in
place. There are different types of employees that get motivated either by the monetary rewards
or by the employee recognition. At the same time if the rewarding system is ineffective then it
will impact the employee satisfaction and will also demotivate the employees. This will
negatively impact the healthcare delivery of the senior emergency staff (Ibrar & Khan, 2015).
Alternative reward practices
The employees that work in an emergency ward are the most versatile and capable of
handling pressure during the critical cases. It is thus necessary for the human resource executive
to reciprocate with the similar kind of reward that will be at par with the working capability of
the emergency staffs. Especially there is a shortage of doctors in Australia and this is the reason
that the emergency staffs face the extra burden of work pressure. In such situations, the rewards
must be high in order to keep the doctors stay motivated and deliver the best. The health
conditions of the patients that arrive in the emergency department demand critical care. Due to
this reason, the senior emergency staff that work in such cases often have to handle the cases
critically. Their decisions either to complete recovery or death of the patient (Bragard, Dupuis &
Fleet, 2015). Thus other than the rewards these senior emergency staffs need a different kind of
reward system that will keep them motivated. Such rewards are leadership roles with respect to
the complete overseeing the performance of the critical tasks; work as a mentor for the staffs that
are working in an emergency ward; acclamation by the local government authorities.

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A senior emergency staff has the responsibility of overseeing too many patients in a clinical
setting. This work pressure can be reduced by recruiting junior doctors which can effectively
work with the guidance and under the leadership of the senior emergency staffs. This can
effectively reduce the burden on these senior doctors and thus provide them with the greater
satisfaction and less pressure and burnout during the work hours. The leadership role can
effectively reduce the negative impact on the mental health of the employees (Seow, 2013).
The next important can come in the form of mentorship. The senior emergency staff can also
undertake the role of the mentor. This mentorship is only given to the senior emergency staffs
that are the most hardworking and the follows the rules and the gives the highest priority to the
health of the patients. The mentorship is a kind of the acclamation provided to the senior
emergency staff that work in a clinical setup. This will help the new junior joiners to work
effectively in an emergency ward, because to work in an emergency ward a greater coordination
is required which can be achieved only when a team performs well (Flowerdew et al., 2012).
The most important acclamation that can be provided to the senior emergency staff is an
acclamation by a local government authority. This can effectively help in providing recognition
to the senior emergency staffs that he needs to have due to his hard work.
Recommendation
In order to properly support/engage/reward the senior emergency staff, there is are certain
recommendations which can be given to the hospital management, which are as follows:
 More doctors need to be recruited so that the work pressure can be eased from the
existing senior emergency staffs.

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 Other than providing the monetary rewards, there is a definite need to provide the
senior emergency staffs with the recognition due to the critical and the hard work
they do.
 Other than the new doctors, new staffs like the nurses and the clinical staffs also
need to be recruited by the hospital management in order to divide the workload
evenly among all the employees.
 The salary package can be hiked on a six-month basis after analysing the critical
cases handled successfully.
 The scheme of flexible pay can be introduced into the system so as to maximise
the effort put by the senior emergency staff. Flexible pay will help the senior
emergency staff to earn more from solving the more critical cases
(Kapelyushnikov, Kuznetsov & Kuznetsova, 2012).
Conclusion
From the above study, it can be concluded that the hospitals in Australia are currently facing a
shortage of the doctors. Due to this reason, the existing doctors are under immense pressure to
work with the low number of the staffs. This has impacted negatively on the doctors of the rural
areas and has affected their mental wellbeing. The doctors regularly come under immense
pressure and are often not able to cope up with the same. The study also incorporates solutions
from the perspective of a human resource executive. The HR executive suggests a way so that
the situation can be made better with better strategies.

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Reference
Boselie, P. (2010). High performance work practices in the health care sector: a Dutch case
study. International journal of manpower, 31(1), 42-58.
Bragard, I., Dupuis, G., & Fleet, R. (2015). Quality of work life, burnout, and stress in
emergency department physicians: a qualitative review. European Journal of Emergency
Medicine, 22(4), 227-234.
Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Cogin, J. A., Ng, J. L., & Lee, I. (2016). Controlling healthcare professionals: how human
resource management influences job attitudes and operational efficiency. Human
resources for health, 14(1), 55.
Flowerdew, L., Brown, R., Russ, S., Vincent, C., & Woloshynowych, M. (2012). Teams under
pressure in the emergency department: an interview study. Emerg Med J, 29(12), e2-e2.
Ibrar, M., & Khan, O. (2015). The impact of reward on employee performance (a case study of
Malakand Private School). International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, 52,
95-103.
Kapelyushnikov, R., Kuznetsov, A., & Kuznetsova, O. (2012). The role of the informal sector,
flexible working time and pay in the Russian labour market model. Post-communist
economies, 24(2), 177-190.
Lutwama, G. W., Roos, J. H., & Dolamo, B. L. (2013). Assessing the implementation of
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Seow, E. (2013). Leading and managing an emergency department—A personal view. Journal
of Acute Medicine, 3(3), 61-66.
Young, S., Bartram, T., Stanton, P., & Leggat, S. G. (2010). High performance work systems and
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Organization and Management, 24(2), 182-199.

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