A Swedish university hospital got problems with their staff at the emergency and operation units. Totally 48 specialized anesthetic nurses terminated their employment due to dissatisfaction with workload and time schedule.

MISSION

To understand and get an overview of the reasons for this situation the hospital management decided to do a survey by using TopDec. It was essential to use a digitalised, unbiased method where the different groups results could be bench marked.

This was an urgent matter as only two out of six operation theaters were used and the situation very problematic as to keep quality and delivery of the health care within the region.

DESIGN

The nurses that had terminated their contracts were being asked to do TopDec as were the remaining nurses. These groups were bench marked regarding topics like responsibility, engagement and attitude to interact. Even other members of the staff like doctors, nurses and healthcare assistants were pursuing their TopDec.

RESULTS

The staff that had terminated their employment appeared to be more critical and self confident  and assertive than those that remained at their employment. The group of remaining nurses were more focused on satisfaction by working in same team and had  closer social interaction with their peers. With this contentedness they were less stress related and coped better with changes in demands from the hospital management.

After their colleagues had left their employment critical voices raised and they copied many of the claims.
A new work scheme was implemented and even raise in salary was given to enhance their engagement meanwhile new nurses were recruited