Thesis Statement Analysis Paper

The problem identified within the thesis states that in order to remain competitive, the organization must operate more efficiently to offset lower margins on the services that they provide. As the solution side of the thesis statement offers, the intensive care unit is an excellent candidate to gain such efficiencies through a restructuring of the existing supply-chain process. In an action to prove that the thesis statement’s solution is a value-added effort that the organization should implement, a research design would be outlined as an evaluation method for key stakeholders and decision makers who would consider and approve the project.
The research design would be organized into three areas. The first would be the anticipated effect of such a project on all direct and indirect

stakeholders who could have their interests impacted by this intervention of efficiency. The second area of research tools and methods would focus on what is needed to gather and analyze the primary research required to prove that the thesis statement is in fact true. Lastly, the limitations and implications of the research would be discussed, as well as the standards of ethical conduct that must be adhered to during the gathering of project data. This concern also extends to the preservation of collected data, as well as the interests of the participating stakeholders.
The goal of the research design is to provide a vehicle to adequately test the thesis, demonstrate the value of the opinion, and garner the necessary support from key decision makers to implement the solution in its entirety.
Stakeholders

The anticipated impact on stakeholders as a result of the implementation of the thesis statement’s solution would vary by the level of direct and indirect participation in the care of patients and the use of supplies. Affected stakeholders range from the ICU’s clinical and administrative staff to the patients receiving care in the business unit. Primary Stakeholders
The first group of stakeholders affected by this effort would be the senior leadership team. These are the primary decision makers and the group that establishes the strategic vision and goals for the rest of the organization. In addition, these stakeholders are the target audience for the presentation and approval of this thesis and the efficiency effort it proposes. Hence, should this group of stakeholders accept and approve the implementation of the thesis; they would have a vested interest in the project’s success and a corporate responsibility for any undesired outcomes.
The second group of stakeholders is the business unit’s management.

This group is comprised of the manager, service-line specialists, several supervisors, and team leaders. These stakeholders have the responsibility to ensure that the business unit runs smoothly, to manage staff, and to mitigate and solve planned and unplanned events and issues. If this thesis were implemented, these stakeholders would be relied upon to balance the delivery of patient care with a supply-chain intervention that has the potential to negatively interrupt the existing workflows. In addition, these stakeholders would need to be available for regular thesis project meetings and to help mitigate the inevitable situation of resistance to change. These stakeholders also have a vested interest in realizing the positive effects of a successful thesis intervention. Improved supply chain efficiency would result in lower operational expenses and costs per day, translating into higher revenue margins. Improved quality of patient care should also be a dividend of supply-chain efficiency gains because the staff should have higher satisfaction related to ability to manage costs for their patients and work

areas.
A third category of affected stakeholders is the clinical nursing staff in the intensive care unit. This group physically handles a multitude of materials throughout the stages of a patient’s care event. These stakeholders also are required to document the use of some materials in the patient’s electronic health record. Inadequate or missing materials, which can occur due to waste, often force this group to leave the patient or care unit and chase down needed materials, which negatively impacts the quality of care and efficiency of the clinical staff. Should the thesis be implemented, these stakeholders should experience a higher availability of quality materials and greater visibility to material costs. Negative stakeholder impact from this thesis should be considered low.
The distribution coordinator (DC) is the fourth category. The DC has the responsibility of facilitating the supply chain to ensure that all required materials are available and that sufficient inventory is maintained to accommodate daily needs. This is accomplished through a physical inventory that is conducted almost daily. The DC also completes all paperwork required for the requisitioning and ordering of materials, from daily floor-stock and high-use items to implants and devices. An implementation of the thesis is expected to alter the current stock of materials in each unit’s PAR area.
Should the thesis be implemented, the four groups of stakeholders identified to this point are the most likely to experience the highest degree of positive impact from greater cost transparency in the business unit. This would be attributed to their direct roles in the material-management process. In one form or another, these stakeholders directly manage or handle materials and are responsible for their availability, usage, and documentation in the daily operation of the intensive care business unit.
Secondary Stakeholders
• Physicians and Surgeons: These stakeholders would benefit by improved awareness of costs related to the care they provide. They would be more conscious of the costs related to produces and possibly become more conservative in using such products to provide care. This information could contribute to lower costs margins per case.
• Patients: As the quality of care is of the upmost importance in an intensive care unit, improvements in price, from a lower cost to the hospital, are given back to the patients, while still reflecting a positive patient outcome.
This diverse membership of stakeholders would have an interest in the success, as well as the challenges, of working to make healthcare costs more transparent to those providing care.
Research Design and Method
Process observation, cumulative cost data, labeling of supplies, tracking of supply costs, and surveying of participants should provide adequate visibility of the suggested process and outcomes related to the change.
Phase 1: Collection of data.
Phase 1 of the process should consist of obtaining historical costs per patient day related to the supplies used within the selected business unit. At least three months of data should be collected to monitor the expected supply use per patient day. This financial data is maintained within the hospital budgetary system and is used by the finance department as the basis for period reporting, statistical analysis, and other business needs. Data should also be collected regarding how supplies are chosen currently by nurses. This can be done through interviews with nurses.
Phase 2: Cost identification.
The cost of commodities and supplies is difficult to obtain due to silos created by different hospital work areas. The nursing area does not engage with the supply chain directly, and the supply chain does not communicate with nursing directly, regularly. This has resulted in a lack of awareness about how each business unit operates. To obtain cost identification, these two teams will need to interact. Cost revolving around supplies is often fluid. Costs change daily based on contracts and negotiations occurring in the supply chain. This factor was a challenge for nursing as this was a process with which nurses were unfamiliar. The supply chain released cost data related to a point in time for a product, to “set” the cost per good for the organization. Nurses were then able to enter into their PAR closet and label the goods based on the cost provided by the supply chain. This was done with the assistance of three registered nurses who work within the medical intensive care unit. This task was completed for all products within a 24-hour time period.
These costs remained on these products for a 3-month duration, at which point the medical supply expense was re-evaluated by the medical intensive care unit’s management.
A survey was also conducted to evaluate nurses’ opinion of their supply use and whether having the cost be transparent affected their choices or the care that they provided.
Conclusion
The desired outcome of this approach and methodology is a compilation of data and tangible evidence, of which the datum is not in support of the thesis statement, but of which the survey results indeed do reflect the thesis statement. The data reflected on the department performance report detailing the intensive care unit’s medical supply costs should be considered the most convincing, as the information reports the true actions of the nursing staff in regard to supply choices and the increased usage, which was noted.
The basis for the thesis statement was spawned from long-standing supply cost increases within the business unit, as well as the acknowledgement by staff nurses that there are opportunities for improvement and a willingness to embrace change.
The research design can be characterized as a communication tool to present a proposal for change. The research is based on a variety of relative and thoroughly analyzed data reflecting that nurses are ready to have a role in supporting cost containment within this institution, but that just displaying costs is not enough.