Townsend Text: Domain V, pp. 118-142, 350-361 I look for a title page, abstract page, key words, and page numbers. There should be a reference page at the end. There should be citations within the body of the paper for any quotes or statistics. Papers should also be double-spaced. Please note that Wikipedia is not considered an authoritative resource for academic writing; do not use this website in your papers. Governance The communication process is defined as having seven steps: ideation, encoding, transmission, receiving, decoding, understanding, and feedback. In a two to three-page essay give an example of communication, identifying each of these steps, and show how each step occurs in your example. Your nursing home is considering the addition of a dialysis program. What areas would you need to address in your Facility Assessment? You may choose to include portions of a sample assessment in your answer, which should be 3-4 pages long. You have been tasked with developing an inservice for your governing board on the roles and responsibilities of board members. In 2-3 pages, give an outline of what you would include in this program. Outcomes Identify and define the seven stages of the communication process and give examples. Describe and give an example of how governing board members interfere in the management of a nursing facility, and discuss what can be done to prevent this interference. Evaluate a nursing home’s operations through the use of a Facility Assessment. Lecture Notes COMMUNICATION PROCESS It goes without saying that communication is probably the most important aspect in business, or in life for that matter. The passing on of information from person to person or from organization to organization is paramount for learning and improving what we do. There are seven stages to the communication process: Ideation: the recognition to convey information. Encoding: putting the message into oral or written words, charts, or pictures. Transmission: actually sending the message. Receiving: just as it implies, but it is the perception of receiving that is important here. Decoding: where the person receiving actually needs to decipher what has been sent. Understanding: here you need the “meeting of the minds” to understand what the sender has in mind. Feedback: this comes from the receiver of the message. The feedback can continue from sender to receiver and back again until the process is concluded. Sometimes there is an ongoing communication process with an “open-line” as likened to an “open-door policy” type of arrangement. An addition to this process is that of “active listening” for both the sender and the receiver. If the receiver does not want to hear what the message says, there will be no meeting of the minds. Conversely, if the sender does not want to hear feedback from the receiver, the communication will be a one-way process. It is important for senders and receivers in this communication process to have an open mind and to be willing to listen to the other’s point of view so the process can move forward. It can obviously be adapted as each listens and responds through the process. After discussion, the original intent of a message can be revised, altered, or dispensed with at the end of the process. GOVERNANCE There are many different forms of governance in health care. In acute care, the most common form of ownership is the not-for-profit community hospital. This type of ownership virtually requires a formal governing body. In long-term care, however, privately owned, for-profit facilities and agencies are much more common. Such organizations, often owned by individuals, usually have developed governance structures only when required by regulation. That requirement came about with the passage of OBRA. Another characteristic of long-term care organizations is the degree to which multiple facilities or agencies are owned and operated by a single corporate entity. This form of ownership is becoming more common now in hospitals but has been prevalent in long-term care for a long time. It requires a different type of governance with multiple levels of governing bodies in many cases. BOARD / ADMINISTRATION RELATIONSHIPS The most important thing for you to understand about governing boards is how they relate to the administration of the organization. Of course, to do that you must understand all of the other information presented in the text about boards and administrators. Lack of clear role definition causes many problems for organizations. When the roles and responsibilities of governing board members and administrators are not clearly defined, the possibility (or probability) of role confusion is high. There are several potential problems produced by such role confusion. The best way to avoid these problems is for all those involved to understand their respective roles. A good way to assure that is to develop a formal orientation and training program for board members. You can find assistance for doing this through state and national nursing home associations, colleges, and in books and journals. It need not be an extensive program, but it should not be omitted. FACILITY ASSESSMENT In your required readings, there is an article relating to the Facility Assessment. The board and/or ownership of the nursing home, in collaboration with the Administrator and other department managers, should do a thorough assessment of the organization’s capabilities. This assessment should be updated at least annually, or any time there is a change in the services or operation of the nursing home. If surveyors find a deficiency in practice, they will likely refer to the assessment to determine whether the organization considers itself competent to provide this type of care. Does the organization’s own assessment match the surveyors’ observations? There are quite a few templates for these assessments; one example is shared in the article.
