HRM 4102 - Staffing and Employee Selection Case Study: Fall 2018

This case study examines the ethical and practical implications of understaffing in a hospital setting, specifically focusing on a situation where a patient, Shirley Keck, suffered brain damage due to inadequate monitoring by an overworked nurse. The analysis covers potential reasons for the incident, including the hospital's failure to adhere to proper staffing levels and the nurse's inability to provide adequate care to all patients. To prevent similar incidents, the solution proposes implementing professional traits, core competencies, and aspiration-based interviewing techniques. Integrity and personality tests are suggested for the selection process to ensure employees are dependable, reliable, and capable of handling stress. As an HR consultant, the recommended steps include hiring more nurses, encouraging optimal patient care, eliminating staff members who prioritize profits over patient well-being, and conducting regular audits to ensure compliance. The report emphasizes the importance of balancing cost considerations with the ethical responsibility to provide safe and effective healthcare.

Running head: STAFFING AND TECHNIQUES FOR EMPLOYEE SELECTION 1
Staffing and Techniques for Employee Selection
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

STAFFING AND TECHNIQUES FOR EMPLOYEE SELECTION 2
1. What do you think was the reason for Shirley Keck’s health state?
According to my opinion, I think it's due to inadequate staffing that resulted in Shirley
Keck's brain damage. As an illustration, maintaining safe care should be the first ethical and
legal duty of any hospital and any health professionals (Compton, Morrissey & Nankervis,
2014). Additionally, I think it’s because the nurse was overworked and therefore did not take a
closer look at Shirley to check for the oxygen level. Under those circumstances, there was
oxygen deprivation which caused her to end up suffering brain damage (Greer, Carr & Hipp,
2016). As noted from the case study, the hospital for over two months failed to follow their
staffing numbers, and one nurse was monitoring over twenty patients which could not be
effective.
2. What plans do you devise to prevent such issues in the future and suggest suitable
interviewing techniques?
The first suitable interviewing technique is professional traits. It’s the responsibility of
nurses to maintain strict confidentiality of the patient records, upholding nursing standards and
medical ethics. In that case, these professional traits have to be incorporated into the interview
responses and be illustrated on how crucial they are to optimum job performance. The second
technique is the core competence (Miles & Sadler-Smith, 2014). The nurses should have the core
competencies like good skills in communication, attention to details and time management. In
that case, the ability to describe a complex medical condition has to be illustrated. Aspiration is
the third technique which involves promotion opportunities and leadership skills demonstration
(Caruth & Handlogten, 1997).
Considering that case some of the plans that I would devise to prevent such from
happening in future are highlighted below. The first plan is to ensure that every nurse monitors

STAFFING AND TECHNIQUES FOR EMPLOYEE SELECTION 3
the minimum number of patients as much as possible for effective service and to avoid
overworking the nurse (Greer, Carr & Hipp, 2016). Accordingly, I will liars with the
administration of the healthcare to make sure that there is enough number of nurses and costs are
not given the priority than the lives of people.
3. How do you organize the testing method in the selection process for the above case?
I will do integrity tests in the selection process as far as the above case is concerned. As
an illustration, the integrity tests will assist me to know the attitudes along the experience which
is related with the employee dependability and reliability (Nikolaou & Oostrom, 2015). Under
those circumstances, this case requires an employee is courageous to report such instances like
poor service and giving finance the priority at the expense of human life.
The second test that I will consider during the selection process is the personality test.
This checks for stress tolerance, emotional stability initiative. This test will assist me to know the
employees who can be successful in jobs where performance demands a great deal of
interpersonal interaction (Miles & Sadler-Smith, 2014). The case above requires a nurse who can
tolerate stress and have that motive of giving each patient attention despite overworking.
4. If you are the HR Consultant of the Institution, what do you think will be your next steps
to handle the crisis? Explain in the form of a report, reference, and employment check
procedure and present your decision and justification in class.
As an HR consultant, my next step in handling this crisis will be to hire more nurses as
required to avoid the situation whereby one nurse is taking care of over twenty patients (Schmitt,
2012). I will also encourage the nurses to work to their best in delivering their services to the
patients especially those in critical conditions like Shirley Keck. This will help reduce the

STAFFING AND TECHNIQUES FOR EMPLOYEE SELECTION 4
incidence whereby a patient develops other complications in a hospital instead of getting proper
treatments as expected (Miles & Sadler-Smith, 2014). Accordingly, since being in charge of
hiring and firing of the employees, I will eliminate those staff members who are up to
understaffing to increase profits. Furthermore, I will conduct audits to ensure compliance.

STAFFING AND TECHNIQUES FOR EMPLOYEE SELECTION 5
References
Greer, C. R., Carr, J. C., & Hipp, L. (2016). Strategic staffing and small‐firm
performance. Human resource management, 55(4), 741-764.
Miles, A., & Sadler-Smith, E. (2014). "With recruitment, I always feel I need to listen to my
gut": the role of intuition in employee selection. Personnel Review, 43(4), 606-627.
Caruth, D. & Handlogten, G. (1997). Staffing the contemporary organization: a guide to
planning, recruiting, and selecting for human resource professionals. Westport, Conn:
Quorum.
Compton, Morrissey, B. & Nankervis, A. (2014). Effective recruitment and selection practices.
Sydney, NSW: CCH Australia Limited.
Nikolaou, I. & Oostrom, J. (2015). Employee recruitment, selection, and assessment:
contemporary issues for theory and practice. Hove, East Sussex New York, NY:
Psychology Press.
Schmitt, N. (2012). The Oxford handbook of personnel assessment and selection. New York:
Oxford University Press.