Discussion reply 2

Survey Results

After taking the survey for this week’s assignment, I was able to see my knowledge of what an HR specialist is responsible for, and what a manager is responsible for (Laureate Education, 2006). Of the ten questions I only got one wrong, the question in regards to establishing policies and procedures for performance appraisal. This seemed a bit of a shock to me, as I feel HR should be mostly responsible for this. The other question that confused me due to a misspelling was the question in regards to negotiating with the collective gargaining unit. After re-reading it when not having just worked a shift, I realized it meant bargaining unit and made more sense. While I correctly answered that the HR specialist is responsible, I can also see this as something the nurse manager would be involved with.

Perceptions

As I previously stated, one of my perceptions in regards to HR was that they are not part of establishing policies and procedures for performance appraisal. It could be argued that this is the job for HR based on HR being responsible for compensation and benefits. A compensation and benefits specialist is responsible for deciding compensation packages, knowing comparable worth, and setting pay scales (Lussier, & Hendon, 2018). It has been found that having HR involved can help identify and prevent errors in performance appraisal (PELİT, & ÇETİN, 2019). I do agree that the nurse manager should be responsible for doing the evaluations.

A perception that I agreed with was in that the nurse manager makes final decisions regarding the termination or discipline of employees. The only way I see HR making the decision over the nurse manager is if an employee does something that violates the rules of the hospital, such as a nurse murdering a patient, or failing a random drug screening.

Experiences

My experiences working at different hospitals has helped shape some of the perceptions I have in regards to HR and the Nurse Manager. It has also made me more bitter at times as I have seen how a Manager will use their decision on firing. One such example was firing an employee who had turned in her two weeks notice. The manager used a rule to justify her firing, but it lowered morale in the department that the manager chose to use a rule that normally would have resulted in a warning of some kind to instead terminate the employee and make them deemed non-rehireable. The employee did try and fight her non-rehireable status she lost as a manager has the ability to determine rehireable status while doing termination paperwork. It was later learned HR could reverse it if the manager is let go. I also realize there is a lot that may have happened in the background with this employee that I do not know, but when we heard HR could not save her status or intervene.

One experience I witnessed was interesting as it involved an employee using HR and the courts to get her job back. This employee was known not to be a good employee, disappearing at times, not doing her job, and calling in multiple times. The manager rightfully fired her, but the employee complained to HR and filed a lawsuit saying she was fired because of her race being different from the managers. The employee was reinstated with back pay by HR because the manager had not followed proper protocol as established by HR. While the employee was justified in being fired, the manager had no documentation to support her being fired. When HR evaluated, it appeared that the employee was fired for no reason, as there were no write-ups, no evidence that the problems had been discussed with the employee. While the manager did not lose her job, it did lead to them informing charge nurses that should there be any problems with the employee to please email them or the assistant manager.

References

PELİT, E, & ÇETİN, A. (2019). Performance Appraisals as a Human Resources Management Function and Its’ Problems in Tourism Establishments: A Conceptual Evaluation. İstanbul Aydın Üniversitesi Dergisi, (2), 165. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.17932/IA…

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2006). Survey on HR [Interactive Media]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Lussier, R. N., & Hendon, J. R. (2018). Human Resource Management (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing.