Physical and Human Resources Flashcards
Human Health Resources
Defined by the WHO as all people engaged in actions whose primary intent is to enhance health. Health workforce is another way to refer to HHR.
Health Human Resources Management (HHRM)
The process of planning, attracting, developing, and retaining the human resources (employees) of an organization.
Health Care System Building Blocks
1) Service Delivery
2) Health Workforce
3) Information
4) Medical Products, Vaccines, and Technologies
5) Financing
6) Leadership/Governance
Value of Investing in HHR
1) Improved Health Outcomes
2) Global Health Security
3) Economic Growth
Improved Health Outcomes
Health workers drive health systems to deliver healthcare services.
Global Health Security
Skilled health workers improve health systems resilience and responsiveness.
Economic Growth
A community’s productivity is greater when it is healthy.
Types of Healthcare Organizations
1) Hospitals
2) Long-Term Care
3) Rehabilitations Facilities
4) Physician Offices and Clinics
5) Offices and Clinics of Other Health Practitioners
6) Health and Allied Services
7) Medical and Dental Laboratories
Key Activities of HHRM
1) Workforce Planning
2) Recruitment
3) Compensation and Benefits
4) Employee and Labour Relations
5) Government Compliance
6) Training, Development, and Retention
7) Health, Safety, and Security
The Purpose of HHRM Planning
1) People (sufficient workforce to meet healthcare needs)
2) Place (workforce distributed where services are needed)
3) Time (availability aligns with patient demand)
4) Skills (competencies match healthcare requirements)
5) Motivations and Attitudes (engaged and committed workforce)
6) Cost (sustainable and efficient resource allocation)
7) Care (effective and culturally appropriate services)
Current Strengths of Canadian Healthcare
1) Universal access to care.
2) Effectiveness of treatment.
3) Continuous advancement in technology.
Current Issues Facing Canadian Healthcare
1) Financial Crunch
2) Labour and Talent Shortages
3) Scientific Advancement
4) Assessing and Applying Information
Recruitment
The process of finding, screening, hiring, and onboarding qualified job candidates.
Challenges With Regards to Recruitment
1) A growing number of healthcare professionals are retiring.
2) Aging population requiring care.
3) Fewer younger people are choosing the profession.
—> Shift in view of profession from high tech to low tech.
—> Shift from a secure and prestigious profession to chaotic and unstable.
—> Shift from mass-production society to information society that makes the 24/7 schedule demands less attractive.
Why Do Healthcare Workers Quit Their Jobs?
1) Chronic Understaffing
2) Subpar Working Conditions
3) Heavy Workload
4) Poor Management
5) Lack of Support
6) Low Pay
7) Work-Life Imbalance
8) Burnout
9) Workplace Culture
10) Limited Career Growth Opportunities
Retention
Refers to the strategies organizations use to prevent employees from leaving.
Hospital History in Canada
Hospital Construction Grants (1948) → Reduction in Funding → Hospital Closures ← a result of the provincial government trying to cut costs since the federal government cut funding
What Do You Need To Operate a Hospital?
1) Health Care Workers (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, diagnostic)
2) Other Personnel (cleaners, receptionists, maintenance workers)
3) Technology (identification tracking, forms, diagnostic equipment)
4) Funding
Pros of Telemedicine
1) Accessibility for patients.
2) Reduced wait times.
Cons of Telemedicine
1) Lack of rapport (lack of close relationship, how well does the doctor know the patient?).
2) Connectivity issues.
Health Systems Overall Goals/Outcomes
1) Improve Health (Level and Equity)
2) Responsiveness
3) Social and Financial Risk Protection
4) Improved Efficiency
Profession
An activity or job that is controlled by the members of that profession ex. doctors need to have a medical license from their associated college in order to practice. Examples of professions are doctors, nurses, pharmatics, dentists, lawyers, and teachers.
Occupation
An activity or job that is not controlled by the members of that occupation ex. waiters and cleaners.
Medical Act in Ontario
Identified which individuals are allowed to practice medicine ex. what levels of education and certifications you need to become a doctor.
Flexner Report
Flexner recorded how various medical schools taught medicine and saw that it was very inconsistent. Resulted in curriculum being consolidated and had required courses. Many medical schools closed and universities became the dominant form of medical education. Result, it became very expensive and selective.
Gold Era of Medical Dominance
Doctors had complete say on everything as long as they were certified. They also had high social status.
Nursing Profession Stages
0) Started as an option for single women to take care of themselves financially. Women are naturally caring and empathic so they will fit the role of nurse. Nurses would be lower than doctors and carry out their orders.
1) Professionalization (are certain skills and knowledge required to be a nurse).
2) Unionization (new nurses with lots of education vs old nurses with lots of experience).
3) Proletarianization (nursing has become more structured and itemized, disregarding emotional care of nursing).
4) Deskilling (some of their roles are being transferred to other people due to the manager saving costs ex. personal care workers changing patient’s band-aids instead of nurses since they can be paid less).
Proletarianization
When one who is an employer or has lots of professional autonomy becomes an employee for an employer (a loss of professional autonomy).
Pharmacists
Lower SES than doctors but provided the same services. Agreement with doctors and dispensed drugs. The Pharmacy Act was established in 1870 in Quebec and in 1871 in Ontario (doctors would prescribe medicine and pharmacists would make and sell them). Current trends are decline in pharmacist-owned community pharmacies, expansion in the scope of practice, and feminization.
Midwifery (Pre 20th Century)
Mostly lay midwives and community midwives.
Midwifery (1912)
Midwifery is largely outlawed in Canada. Rural/remote areas continue to offer midwifery services.
Midwifery (1990s)
Midwifery is recognized in Canada and midwifery education programs open up in Canada. Was first legalized in Ontario.
Midwives in Canada
Are primary care providers. Continuity of care. Women’s focused profession. Allows choice of birthplace (home, hospital, or birthing center). Good care outcomes (less medical interventions). Low retention rate (work/life balance).
Shortages of HCPs In Canada
1) Supply
2) Distribution
3) Retention
Internationally Educated Health Professionals (IEHPs) In Canada
1) 27% Physicians
2) 9-10% Nurses
3) 22% Physiotherapists
4) 34% Pharmacists
Brain Drain
Taking away educated professionals from other countries.
Canada’s Brain Waste
Many Internationally Educated Healthcare Professionals who come to Canada cannot find suitable jobs. Medicine is the hardest to get into for IMGs. Barriers are licensure, language, cultural competence, and residency spots.
Ways to Improve Retention
1) Flexible working arrangements.
2) Support at the workplace.
3) Leave of absence and return to work.
4) Cultural shift in values.
Health Human Resources Policy
1) Supply
2) Distribution
3) Mix
Supply
The number of health care professionals.
Distribution
Location and relocation.
Mix
The provision of specific services.
Human Resources Policy Directions
1) Supply of health care providers.
2) More effective use of skill.
3) Creating healthy, supported, learning workplaces.
4) More effective planning and forecasting.
