When thinking about management by walking around, you may think of a traditional office setting. But in one midwest hospital, researchers implemented the practice to see how nurses would react and see if it could be successful.
When thinking about the relationship between nurses and administrators, some problems can arise. Are they watching too much? Are they not around enough? At a large hospital in the midwest, researchers attempted to see if they could use a popular business practice to try and solve some issues. They proposed and implemented a common practice in business settings, management by walking around. It may sound weird that a business practice was implemented into a hospital, but this allowed the nurses to continue working and for administrators to observe and ask questions. However, with the positives, it came with negatives felt from the nurse's perspective.
Management by walking around is a practice mostly seen in the business world. In business, it is used to see what people are doing, if they could be doing anything better, and just making basic observations of the facility. Many nurses thought it was a bit strange when it was implemented into their hospital, however, others quite liked the program. 53 of the nurses surveyed said they have no issues while 43 had smaller issues with it (Amsbary & Staples 1991). Overall many people liked the program because it provided a way for the administrators to see what the nurses were doing on the day-to-day. The people that had issues with it seemed to think it was a bit intrusive because it usually occurred during the weekend and evening shifts. The reason this was done was to try and solve the disconnect between the weekend and evening nurses and the administrators. It gave them a chance to voice their concerns when they hadn’t really been given that opportunity before.
The other parts of the research showed that many of the nurses were very 50/50 on whether they liked the program or not. The study that was done had two parts. The first part was about what “MBWA meant to them”(Amsbary & Staples 1991) and the second was a direct survey with direct questions. From the direct survey, a positive showed that the nurses strongly agreed that the administrators would listen to the issues they were having. They also believed it allowed for the administrators to get to know them, see their working conditions, and that it gave them an opportunity to voice their concerns. On the negative side, the nurses agreed that they were a bit too busy talking with the administrators to be able to do their jobs(Amsbary & Staples 1991). The nurses also believed they were being watched a little too closely and that their problems were not being heard.
The process of MBWA as a concept shows a lot of hope as long as it can be implemented in just the right way. It seems that the nurses are very cooperative and the work needs to be done by the administrators. The nurses feel as though they aren't being heard completely when the administrators don’t follow through on the issues they bring to the table. This may be caused by the disconnect between the nurses and the administrators. Most healthcare administrators have never been practitioners and don’t share the same perspective with the nurses they are watching over. Nurses see themselves as a helper and a healer before they see themselves as liable members of the hospital while the administrators may only see that side of it. This may be why many of the nurses felt that they were being watched by the administrators. (Amsbary & Staples 1991).
This study can be helpful for any hospital that is looking to implement the MBWA system into their hospital in one way or another. Managers can see what parts of this study worked and what parts did not. For example, hospitals could implement it in a way that allows for complete communications and making sure everyone feels heard. One of the big problems was problems that were articulated were not followed through upon and many felt unseen and unheard. This could be solved with a sort of ticket system where they can watch the status of their problem as it travels through the system. They can also make sure that the administrators are not getting in the way of the nurses doing their jobs by speaking to them. A way that this could be solved is by having the administrator stationary and allowing the nurses to walk up to them when they get a chance. This allows them to come in when they want and in turn leave when they want. This study can also show many good new things that can be implemented in a way that is productive for the hospital. The nurses really liked that the administration could see where they were working and how they did their jobs firsthand. They also really liked that it allowed the administrators to see what could become problems before they even happen. The other thing the nurses liked was the fact that they were being seen and got to know their administrators and allowing for their relationship to be less stressful and warmer.
This study found that a lot of things were shown to be helpful while it revealed a lot of problems. The MBWA stemming from business and being transplanted to healthcare can be an issue for many when it comes to perspectives. In business, everyone has a business perspective, but in a hospital, you can be from anywhere. With the number of departments in a hospital, you may never even see one patient in the entire time you work there. A lot of hospital managers and administrators may have never been hands-on while nurses, doctors, and other frontline staff have always been in hands-on practice. They are able to see the differences better than the staff. One of the ways it could be better suited for the hospital is a line of communication between the hospital administrators and the nurses to establish what they want and what the administration can do about it.
Works Cited:
Arsbary, Jonathan H.; Patricia Staples. (1991). Improving administrator/ nurse communication: A case study of 'management by wandering around'. Journal of Business Communication 28.2, 101-112.