Workarounds

We’ve all experienced it through the years – the frustration of getting some piece of kit, computer program, patient care process, person, or policy get in the best way of getting your job done. Sometimes it’s since the thing or situation that gets in our way gets broken. Other times it’s because there isn’t a rule within the handbook that applies to exactly unusual circumstances. The final result is usually creation and nurses might be incredibly creative!
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Workarounds circumvent established procedures, rules and processes. In some cases, they might actually be needed to perform a crucial task because the present system has not yet caught up with the realities of clinical practice. Working around the issue may indeed be the best method to go ultimately, but continuing to work around it informally might be seen as a much quicker and easier path to travel than the route to creating it a everlasting solution. Depending on the character of the issue and the organizational change process needed, there could also be tedious processes to follow, forms to fill out, a sequence of command to ascertain, a business case to present, committees to form, places to go and folks to see.
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In other words, an actual solution may seem to be a distant, daunting task that requires a big investment of time and energy, and maybe a step outside your personal comfort zone and into the organizational bureaucracy. There is a really real likelihood that the proverbial “squeaky wheel” that brings the difficulty to light will point to the owner of the issue and might be expected to be a part of the answer. However, if the workaround makes it appear like every part is working high-quality, there isn’t a obvious burning platform to catalyze the obligatory changes. The problem may remain invisible to the larger system and unresolved. If management will not be aware of this, they’re unable to submit maintenance or budget requests for brand spanking new equipment, system upgrades, and even obligatory material or human resources.
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Another category includes workarounds which will simplify the job or allow it to be accomplished faster, but bypass security measures put in place to cut back risk. An example could be ignoring established security practices which might be perceived as burdensome. Staff may turn into so good at this that the workaround escapes detection. These varieties of workarounds may evolve to turn into common practice or perhaps a cultural norm. They might be given to recent members of staff as suggestions or tips on the right way to increase efficiency to the purpose that staff now not view strategy as a way of working. throughout. The only method to detect such a situation could also be direct commentary. Compliant nurses may experience significant moral distress once they discover that co-workers are inappropriately using such workarounds. They are then put in a really difficult situation of turning a blind eye (which has significant ethical and even skilled implications by way of legal regulations) or acting as a whistleblower towards the management.
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My advice is that in case you find that a workaround is obligatory, there may be a problem along with your current system that should be addressed. This includes situations where a workaround is meant to make the job easier or faster, but bypasses security measures. Perhaps safety measures might be maintained and risks reduced if the system were redesigned to make it easier to do the best thing while still meeting all standards and regulations. Our knee-jerk actions in healthcare often involve making a recent form to fill out or inventing a brand new, tedious process that offers the illusion of improved safety but as a substitute adds one other barrier that individuals look for tactics to beat. We have to think broadly and be truly progressive. Strategies include researching current best practices, networking with people in other organizations to learn the way they tackle similar problems, and even investigating whether there are progressive solutions that apply to industries beyond healthcare.
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We must make the processes involved in nursing practice and health care on the whole safer, easier, more efficient and more practical. The appearance of an answer is a warning sign that there may be room for improvement. Instead of allowing the difficulty to persist or remain unclear, illuminate the situation and advocate for obligatory changes. Remember the old saying: in case you at all times do what you’ve got at all times done, you may at all times get what you’ve got at all times had. When faced with an issue solution, rise to the challenge and exhibit individual leadership, advocacy, and courage to commit to a real solution to the issue.
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Happy Nurses Week!
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