Case study:

When it comes to opportunity cost in my organization it comes across as many. Majority of them is managed by upper management if it ever has to reach that far. In an example of opportunity cost in my organization; this January a sister hospital started with new positions to be put in place of an existing area within the hospital dealing with our behavioral patients. The reason the position was out into place was because nurses and healthcare techs are unable to do their jobs without having to stop every so often to assist behavioral patients with needs far more than they can do within their 12-hour shift causing inconsistencies in their work performances and job duties not being efficient and completed on a daily basis. the state board comes in and scores as well as feedback is on the low in causing stakeholders to prepare unnecessary meetings to see what can be done to address situations and help with regulations to be adhere to with the state board. This position is called Patient Safety Attendants. These employees are put in place to sit with every behavioral patient in the facility to keep patients safe and help with nurses and healthcare techs with preceding with patients' daily needs and their duties. Although it helped with taking a load off the nurses and healthcare techs these opportunities that have been put in place never had a structured system of duties and things to follow such position of opportunities that has been put in place.

When giving staff the opportunity to enter such positions duties must be made aware of to the employee on what is needed for them to perform in their line of work while with the patients. Behavioral patients are difficult yes, but proper training of the position on how to be made aware of challenging situations with patients to deal with could help in maintaining the safety of the patient as well as the staff. when an opportunity presents itself to someone yes take it but know why the opportunity is in place and all the rules to the position. Like the definition of opportunity says, choosing the one alternative over another; in this example choosing for the nurses and healthcare techs to consistently look after all behavioral patients along with regular sick patients all while trying to chart and do other important job daily duties making it impossible.

As a manager with the opportunity to present new positions in place to have sitters which are addressed solely as Patient Safety Attendants, the organization has the ability to improve their state scores tremendously but making sure the opportunity brought in is structured. Provide leadership over the PSAs in order to train them on their job duties how to care and watch for signs and other things when on shift observing the patient relaying any possible necessary valuable information to the patient nurse, they will need to know to perform proper care for the patient. Decisions with the stakeholders when presenting this opportunity because much more focused and listened to for it to make sense to have these positions in the facility building a bigger and better team as more people professionally are provided within the patients care allowing not on state board scores to arise but for the acknowledgement of these first based ideas to put this position in place start a much needed company wide decision to honor and support the same situations of staff now adding Patient Safety Attendants on at each hospital within the organization.

Questions:

• Compare the sunk or opportunity cost example that the case study described to your own professional experience.
• Provide an insight you gained from your the case study analysis of how the cost impacted the organization and the stakeholders.
• Propose an additional way to address the scenario that the case study described.