policies

By A. Aruna

Policies
It is a statement or general understanding which provides guidelines in decision making to members of an organization in respect of any course of action. They provide framework within which decisions must be made by the managers in different spheres

 Policy plan of action (fippo 1976) is a man made rule of predetermined course of action that is established to guide the performance of work toward the organization objectives. It is a type of standing plan that serves to guide subordinates in the execution of their tasks

Written policies has two important values

To the employeeIt represent a guarantee of fair and equitable treatment

To the manager:
Safeguard & relieve responsibility of making personal decision

Which may be conflict with the decision given by other manager

Or with the previous decision of his own, especially when a disciplinary action is to be taken

Those applly To patient

Those apply to Environment (patient)

Types of policies

Those apply to personnel

Those apply To relationship With Other department

Characteristics of a sound policy are:

clearly understood by those who are supposed to implement them

Writing

specify

Objective of the organization Balance- stability & flexibility

Policy development
While planning for development of policies, we must considered a number of basic principles 1. Broad and durable policies provide a consistent course of action in handling matters that come up repeatedly

 Policies should fit the background and environment of the organization

3. A policies is worthwhile only when it is carried out on day-today basis

4. Policies are interpreted when applied to specific situation

5. Policies are
essential to smooth administration, providing continuity uniformity, and consistency in the way thing are done

6. Determination of a
policy is a reflection of managements failure to conduct its affairs effectively

7. Policies should build both internal and external operations

8. Policy statement should be general enough to stand the test of time without the need of frequent revisions

9. Policy changes should be thoughtfully considered and changes should be promptly communicated to the staff

Type of policies:
1. Pricing policies: policies regarding price of a product are pricing policy. Charging higher price , lower price etc are under this study

 Appealed policies: if an appeal is made by a member regarding a particular decision, the superior may provide a guideline precedence which can serve as a guide to action of the sub ordinate for future decision such a policy resulting from appeal is called AP

3. Imposed policies :any policies taken by the influence of some external forces like government , trade unions, trade association etc is called as imposed policies

4. Top management policies: They are the policies of top management usually with a long term perspective , product line selection, sales, forecasting, budgeting etc are such policies.

5. Middle management policy: policy regarding production, sales, finance, accounting, research, and training of junior executives etc are considered as middle management policy.

6. Product policies: it include the decision regarding automation policy, marketing of product, make or buy policy, inventory levels policies.

7. Promotion policy: policy to promote, may be for utilizing the managerial resources for the best use of the organization to provide for a fair opportunity to all for advancement and promotion

8. Distribution policy: for the purpose of physical distribution of the goods, selection of channels of distribution, establishing ware homes,

9. Implied policies: neither written nor expressed verbally, have usually developed over time and follow a precedent, for example a hospital may have an implied policy that employees should be encourage and supported in their activity in community, regional and national health care organization. nurses who limit their maternity leave to 3 month can return to their former jobs and shifts with no status change

10. Expressed policies: delineated verbally or in writing. Most organization have many written policies that are readily available to all people and promote consistency of action. Expressed policies may include a formal dress code, policy for sick leave or vacation time, and disciplinary procedures

11. An institutional policy is defined as a policy with a wide scope and that has the potential for impact campus-wide.

The following procedures are required for all institutional policies: Institutional policies are brought before Senior Staff by the President or other members of Senior Staff overseeing the policy. Upon review, the Senior Staff makes a recommendation for approval to the President. The President is responsible for final approval for all institutional policies.

2. The Presidents completed date and signature stamp are placed on all new institutional policies. Stamped institutional policies will be archived in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.

3. Policy revisions should be noted as such and include the date of revision. Revised policies do not require additional approval unless the intent of the policy significantly changes. The revised policy should be submitted to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and placed in the Self Policy files.

4. The President or Staff members authoring new or revised policies is responsible for coordinating dissemination of institutional policies with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness as appropriate to the policy.

5. New policies or revisions to policy will be posted on the University Policy website at www.mcneese.edu/policy. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness will coordinate with the campus webmaster to ensure consistency of institutional policies.

Advantages:

- Top manager can provides guide line to lower level manager on frequently recurring problem.

- It helps manger at various level to act with confidence without the need for consulting the superior every time.

- It facilitates better administrative control

 By setting up policies, the management ensures that decision made will be constant and in turn with the objective and interest of the enterprise

- Policies secure co-ordination

and integration of efforts in accomplishing the organizational objectives

- Policies save time and effort by pre deciding problems in repetitive situation

limitation
- Policies are repeatedly used plans and they bring about rigidly in operation, they leave no room for initiative by subordinates

- Policies do not cover all the problems. Sometime unforeseen situation arise which are not cover by the existing policies

- Policies for human judgment. Policies only delimit the area which decision are to be made - Policies are not excavating

Communication of policies
- The nurse director is responsible for establishing a method of communicating policies to nursing personnel - She must inform the administrative nursing staff of any policy changes. - A written copy of the policy should be distributed to each member, eliminating breakdown in communication that result when policy action is passed on by word of mouth. - A verbal interpretation also should be presented to the administrative staff by the director

- The administrative nursing staff members in turn, verbally present the new policy to the nursing unit personnel. - Copies of a new or revised policy are placed in the appropriate policy manual on the nursing unit - The nurse director and her administrative staff have to assess how policies are holding up in day to day activities within the nursing department - The attitude and opinions of the nursing staff who are being asked to comply with hospital and nursing policies are important.

- Supervisors and head nurse are in a position to feel and observe the staff reaction to policies- favorable or otherwise - They can report reactions and offer suggestion for improving or modifying policy, as situation arise, the administrative staff will have the responsibility of interpreting policies, they must be able to make sensible exception to policies in the light of circumstances

Nursing unit policy and procedure manual

1. Describe the structure and organization of each specific clinical nursing unit or related area of nursing services 2. Identify administrative and clinical nursing practice policies and procedures related to nursing unit 3. Described hospital and medical staff policies and procedure related specifically to a particular unit of the department, either department or a clinical unit nursing manual may be organized into the following section

Cover sheet Foreword Table of content Introduction Statement of philosophy Objective Organization Administrative policies and procedures relating to - department or unit

- personnel - patients - other (e.g hospital) - medical staff - index.

Procedure:
Procedure are the ways or method for carrying out individual programmed and handling the day to day routine of the organization. They plan the answer of how much each person should carry out his duties

A procedure is a standing plan that out lines a series of related actions that must be taken to accomplish a particular task

According to Terry , a procedure is a series of related task that make up the chronological sequence and the established way of performing the work to be accomplished ,procedure are operational guides to action as they routine the way certain recurring jobs are to be performed

characteristic
Short range of statement of technique in organizational objective Plan that have been reduced to a sequence of steps

Procedure identified the process or steps needed to implement a policy Found in manual at the unit level of organization

advantages
Minimize the burden of decision making as it is standardized steps to be followed. Simplification of work flow and elimination of unnecessary steps Ensure uniformity and consistency of action It brings co-ordination in the organization Important aids to communication

Limitation
They brings about rigidity in the performance of operation. A procedure lays down a fixed way of doing a particular job and thus a more effective way of doing job may not be given proper attention Procedure need to be reviewed & update constantly

Difference b/w policies & procedure

policies - Guide to decision making - Managerial thinking and direction - form part of strategies of the organization - Framed by top management procedure Guide to action Generally detailed and rigid Are operational as practical tools Are laid down at some what low level in the light of policies

Staff policies:
Written staffing policies should be readily available for at least the following ares 1. Vacation 2. Holidays 3. Sick leave 4. Weekends off 5. Consecutive day off 6. Shift rotation 7. Overtime 8. Part time and temporary personnel

9. Use of float personnel 10. Exchangeability of staff 11. Use of special abilities of individual staff members 12. Exchanging hours 13. Request of personnel 14. Request of management 15. The work week

Policies & procedure for case management

To better manage the risks involved in CM , the policies and procedure for CM should include the items listed below: 1. Confidentiality regulations, restriction, rights & responsibilities may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction 2. Policies & procedures for the reporting of incidents such as car wrecks during the course of casework or negative encounters with clients or referral source need to be established.

3. A policy and procedure for reporting suspected child/ elder abuse should be in place to assist case managers in reporting such incidents 4. Exposure to communicable diseases may occur if the service delivery model for a case management firm include on site visits 5. Case management may encounter clients who are potentially suicidal 6. Other medical issues may arise during casework that may need to be addressed by the firm

Bibliography
1. www.mcneese.edu/policy/institutional_policies 2. Marquis bessie & huston carol, a text book of leadership & management functions in nursing, 3rd edition, 2000, published by Philadelphia. Page no :5961 3. Yoder-wise patricia, Leading & management in nursing, 3rd edition, 1999, published by john rogers. Page no 59 4. Genderen siefker, weis garrett. Fundamental of case management, 1998, published by Mosby. St louis Missouri. Page no 120-121 5. My personal notes