Developing a Code of Conduct
In the modern day world, proper standards have to be set up and met in order for objectives to be accommodated. It is necessary that a workforce of an organization has a good approach to work in terms of attitude. Broadly, this is an aspect of management policy of an organization referred to as a code of conduct. A code of conduct can be said to refer to a given set of principles and rules that govern the behavior of individuals. It is the minimum acceptable behavior that is expected, rather than specific activities for a given profession. A policy that governs the behavior in a profession is normally to safeguard the end user in terms of service delivery and satisfaction (Brown, 2006). A code of conduct has to be enforced continually and equally across the profession without bias for it to give effective results. Bad behavioral habits and condescending language often affect the morale and consequent performance of professionals. It is for this reason that the joint commission on accreditation of health care organization was setup to give accreditation to health care facilities that meet the minimum expected principles and guidelines for professional health care. This essay, thus, will give an insight to the sentinel released by the joint commission on accreditation of health organizations, the purpose of reporting rogue behaviors and consequences of non compliance with the commission.
A sentinel refers to an unexpected occurrence that either causes death, physical injury or psychological damage to a patient as a result of negligence to certain standards of professionalism in health care. Poor handling of patients often leads to poor patient satisfaction and this gives an adverse outcome. Research has established that health workers often have some level of arrogance towards junior employees (Corey et al, 2011). This has an end result of having demoralized personnel which causes a ripple effect in service delivery and consequently customer dissatisfaction. These intimidating and often disruptive behaviors end up making the junior workforce exhibit some uncooperative attitudes towards tasks and other employees even seek other organizations with better professionalism. This can be detrimental to the organization, especially health care centers.
It is important that health care organizations keep a good code of conduct that also encourages feedback from the general public and internal personnel (Mamic, 2006). In order for employees to open up, there needs to be a favorable reporting environment which is free of prejudice, bias or victimization. The main purpose of creating a better environment for reporting is that it provides an important database for studying the shortfalls and potential failures before they occur. Event reporting provides means and information that can be used to manage events by trying to avert any impending failures (Brown, 2006). This enables health care organizations to identify possible and often adverse failures so as to come up with proper ways of mitigating them or averting them all together. Therefore generally staff becomes mindful of hazards and a positive effect on the general safety culture of the organization. The commission has a mandate to conduct its duties from the United States government. It is mandated with accrediting health care institutions in the country. Its mission is to continually raise the health care of the public, whilst collaborating with stakeholders and making health care a priority and safe for all.
It is the duty of health care facilities to ensure that patients get the best medical care. To enable them do this they need to be accredited and licensed. There are certain conditions to be fulfilled in order to be accredited. A facility that fails to comply with the standards then risks not being accredited as a health service provider (Corey et al, 2011). This is because there is an immediate risk to patient care. Any immediate threat to health safety may actually lead to partial denial of accreditation of an institution. A healthcare facility has to show a resolution of situation through the evidence of compliance for it to be accredited. In the financial sector, for example, there is a code of conduct that governs behavior of individuals in the sector. It is important that every professional joining the sector is undertaken through the policy. This ensures greater services and integrity in the profession.
In conclusion, therefore, a code of conduct is very crucial in any organization as it gives a guideline on how the workforce should behave in order for the company to realize both short term and long term objectives. Facilities that have been accredited have a reduced risk in terms of patient handling, as information on improvement is shared across the board. In doing so, sentinel crisis can be avoided.
