Quick Response to Life or Death Situations

Summary

This case examines the findings of a research study in the Yale School of Medicine journal. The results of the study show a direct correlation between organizational culture and efficiency as it relates to quick response in life or death situations. The researchers pointed out eight common themes after visiting 11 hospitals that showed a track record of delivering blood flow to heart attack patients in 90 minutes or less. These themes serve as guide for other hospitals to improve their response times, which ultimately would lead to more lives being saved.

Questions

1. What values appear to be driving the doctors and nurses in the hospitals to treat heart attack patients?

Teamwork is an important value that drives doctors and nurses when treating heart attack patients. This is important because they need to work quickly. Additionally, they often work long hours and must be flexible as well as sensitive to patients' needs. Effective communication and ethics is also critical. Doctors and nurses commit to their profession not only for financial gain, but also because they value human life and want to make a difference in the world by preserving that life. A line in the Hippocratic Oath that doctors take is, "...Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks..." (MedicineNet.com, 2011). This oath serves a guide for their ethical behavior.

2. Why must a person's work habits match the team culture in the hospitals depicted above?

A person cannot enter a work environment with a high performing team and be a slacker. Their lack of effort will be quickly revealed and in these life or death situations that can create a tremendous liability for the hospital. The human resources department must carefully screen potential candidates and try to determine their behavior on past assignments as it helps to predict future behavior. Our text mentions, "A sound understanding of culture is important in making the best hiring, assignment, and retention decisions" (Ivancevich, 2011, pg. 63). Workers in this environment cannot afford mistakes; therefore their work habits must match and compliment those of their teammates, or they will not be successful.

3. What types of events could change or alter the strong team culture in the hospitals depicted above?

The hospitals had firm commitments to the eight themes identified. They types of events that could change the team culture could be a change in management staff that did not support quality improvements or who are not effective leaders. Hiring individuals that are not able to adapt to the team environment and who are more individualistic