Allocation of resources - Essay Example

Allocation of Health Resources Allocation of Health Resources Strategic management is a branch of management that deals with theformulation and implementation of decisions in an organization. It defines the goals and objectives of all the projects undertaken by the organization. A project is a unique set of interrelated activities geared to a common goal of organizational success. A project must be completed within a given time frame and the results evaluated by the observing team. In project planning and management, a strategy is the key factor to success of the given project.

Strategy is the action plan formulated to achieve the organizational goals and objectives. The outcomes of a project are the end results which may include increased sales revenue or increase in customer base. A project is described by its uniqueness, uncertainty and lifecycle which are temporary in nature. Organizational culture is the patterned values, customs and beliefs that are shared by members of an organization. This essay explores on the topic of allocation of health resources and ethics that support the program.

Health institutions have experienced many challenges in the management of available resources. One of the major drawbacks in health care management is inadequate nurses. Pregnancy infections have accounted for 2% - 3% of all the birth defects worldwide. The effects of pregnancy infections among women vary with the age bracket (McKie, 1998). Among the birth defects reported by medical practitioners, not all of them are screened during the prenatal care. This poses a great challenge in the treatment of defects in the future when the child is born.

The defects are a potential threat to the unborn child if it is not well attended. Health workers should encourage women to go for prenatal checkups of any pregnancy infections. Both rural and urban health care centers are faced by these challenges. Staffing is a key area of management in any field of discussion by researchers. Health care institutions should be fully equipped with enough staff to cater for the sick. There should be a rational ration between patients and the nurses available to take care of them.

Medical facilities are other key areas of challenge in the health sector (McKie, 1998). There is a mismatch between the available medical facilities and the required number. The dynamism of the demographic characteristics of the U.S. population has been the challenge of managing and integrating workforce in the health care services. In matters related to the law, the health care service sector has also not been left behind since it applies the various laws governing the workforce in other sectors of the economy.

Another challenge in health care resource management is the distribution of the available health officers. There is unfair distribution of qualified health personnel which is attributed to their low numbers (Liu, 2003). Continued education should be encouraged to all health officials to come up with solutions to underlying problems. The uninsured population also poses another problem in health care resource management. The government should encourage people to get insured including those who are underinsured.

Medical facilities such as medicines should be availed without discrimination (Cherry & Jacob, 2013). To address the problem of health care resource allocation in the health sector, there are two main plans that are applied. Health rationing, which involves making a decision of excluding some people from receiving treatment services they require (Cherry & Jacob, 2013). There is also the Oregon health plan which involves rationing of health services based priorities developed. The two health plans are geared towards raising the ethical standards of the health care sector.

The understaffing problem should be addressed through encouraging more people to take health science courses. It can also be achieved through award of scholarships to willing people to further their studies in health related subjects (McKie, 1998). In conclusion, the field of health care service is particularly faced by many challenges of the violation of human rights at different capacities. The above scenario of my sister who was a qualified nurse led to the questioning of the level of integrity in the health care sector.

Employees should be promoted based on the qualification and the performance of their work, and there should be no compromise. Strategic human resource management as a study should be undertaken by all persons in the management level and even their juniors so as to understand the various concepts of hiring and motivating employees. Governments of developing nations should invest in the health sector. There should be an urgent address to the issue of training of more health officers. Community based health facility programs should be introduced to reach all the people.

References Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2013). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management. New York: Elsevier Health Sciences. Liu, X. (2003). Policy tools for allocative efficiency of health services. Geneva: World Health Organization. McKie, J. (1998). The allocation of health care resources: An ethical evaluation of the 'QALY' approach. Aldershot, England: Ashgate.