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Pauline Stanton

Publications and source records attributed to Pauline Stanton.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Performance monitoring in the Victorian health care system: an exploratory study.

This paper reports on an exploratory study which aims to improve our understanding of how the Chief Executive Officers of Victorian health services monitor strategic and operational performance in their organisations. As a component of a large scale human resource management study, we surveyed 130 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Victorian health sector agencies. Our findings suggest that performance monitoring was more advanced among the larger Victorian health sector organisations, and that there were areas for improvement throughout the system. Overall, the CEOs reported limited use of performance indicators related to service and clinical perspectives, with financial and volume indicators most widely used. There was little evidence that these organisations had processes in place (such as benchmarking and linking required outcomes to staff performance management) to understand the implications of the performance information and translate them into management action. The findings suggest that the sector requires technical expertise and support in data reporting, benchmarking and quality improvement in order to improve performance monitoring and ensure its relevance to strategic control, but further study is required.

Accreditation↗

Improving human resource management in Chinese healthcare: identifying the obstacles to change.

Health sector reform in China has led to increasing responsibility for hospital managers in the management of staff; but constraints continue. New personnel reforms offer new opportunities but face a number of difficulties. Drawing on research in Chinese hospitals in 1997 this paper identifies two major obstacles to improved human resource management: wage policy and lack of control by local managers over staffing.

China↗

Factors affecting the job stress and job satisfaction of Australian nurses: implications for recruitment and retention.

Against a background of nurse shortages in Australian hospitals, a significant challenge facing the healthcare sector is the recruitment and retention of nurses. The job stress and job satisfaction of nurses have been associated with recruitment and retention. The aim of this study is to consider two factors that may contribute to the job satisfaction and job stress of nurses: social support and empowerment. Using a sample of 157 registered nurses in a private hospital in Melbourne, Australia, we found that social support derived from the nurse's supervisor and work colleagues lowered job stress and at the same time increased job satisfaction. The presence of nurse empowerment, meaning, impact, competence and self-determination, also lowered job stress and increased job satisfaction. Finally, we discuss contributions of this study and implications for recruitment and retention of nurses in the health sector.

Adult↗

Managing the healthcare workforce: cost reduction or innovation.

Labour costs are the largest proportion of total costs in the health industry in developed countries and are a target in health sectory reform. The Kennett government in Victoria introduced policies based on competition and cost reduction and the decentralisation of industrial relations through enterprise bargaining. These policies directly impacted on the health workforce leading to work intensification, labour shortages and poor morale. The Bracks government has since returned to centralisation. This paper argues that it is time for a more innovative approach to health workforce management based on recognising staff as an asset rather than a cost.

Capitalism↗

Evaluation of the health services management training course of Jiangsu, China.

Health service management education programs emerged in the early 1980s in China as a result of changing demands on health service managers created by new directions in health policy. This paper reports on an evaluation of the Jiangsu-Victoria Health Management Training Program and discusses five of the main findings. Participants in the study believed that the Program has impacted positively on the health management practice of Jiangsu Province, and has made a significant contribution to health services management education in China. However, certain areas in teaching practice need to be improved and participants in the study provided suggestions to achieve this. The study also found that there were limitations to the impact of managerial education due to administrative and environmental factors.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗