BUSI 344 Week 1 Discussion Board Forum 1 Example

Discussion Board Forum 1: The Role of Human Resource Management in Health Care

BUSI 344 Human Resource Management in Healthcare Administration, Discussion Board Forum 1

Thread by [Student Name]

The hospital, its vacancy figures and the classmates are composites; the textbook, Scripture and the peer-reviewed articles cited are real.

Our 220-bed community hospital started the year with 46 open registered nurse positions, and overtime spending was running 30% over budget. The chief nursing officer asked human resources for a larger recruiting budget and more sign-on bonuses. As a human resources generalist, I helped prepare the response, and this week's chapters shaped how we thought about it. Niles (2013) describes human resource management in health care as a strategic function responsible for aligning the workforce with the organization's mission and goals, not simply processing hiring and payroll. Seen that way, the question was not how to fill 46 positions but why so many kept opening. Our exit data showed that a third of the nurses who left had been with us less than two years, and most cited workload and scheduling rather than pay.

The research suggested that recruiting alone would not solve it. De Vries et al. (2024) combined 33 studies and estimated that during the pandemic nearly four in ten hospital nurses planned to quit their jobs and more than a quarter planned to leave nursing, with burnout, support and working conditions among the main determinants. Those are factors a hospital can influence, unlike the size of the regional labor pool. Ramanan et al. (2026) held focus groups in a nursing home sector where annual turnover runs near 49% and found that staff named recognition, workplace culture, flexibility and management among the reasons they would stay.

Our recommendation moved part of the bonus budget to retention: stay interviews with every nurse in their first two years, a recognition program led by unit managers, self-scheduling on two pilot units and a stronger first-year orientation. We set targets for first-year turnover and overtime hours, to be reviewed each quarter with nursing leadership, and agreed to return to bonuses only for the hardest-to-fill specialty units. The finance office supported the plan once we showed that each nurse retained saves the cost of recruiting, orienting and paying overtime to cover a vacancy.

Paul pictured believers as parts of a single body, every part relying on the rest (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016, 1 Corinthians 12:12). A hospital is similar: when nurses leave, every other role feels it. Human resources earns its strategic role by keeping the people the hospital already has.

Reply to Danielle

Danielle, you described human resources at your clinic as a clerical office that handles forms and payroll. That may be how it works there, but Niles (2013) describes a much broader role, including workforce planning, retention and organizational culture. Research supports the broader view. Porter and Lyngaas (2026) described a neonatal unit where leaders built a toolkit of incentives around scheduling, work-life balance and recognition, raising engagement from 78% to 84%. Ulrich et al. (2022) found, surveying more than nine thousand nurses nationwide, that healthier work environments were associated with job satisfaction and intent to stay. Both outcomes depend on work human resources can lead, from designing recognition programs to training managers in how to run them. A department limited to forms and payroll misses its most valuable contribution. Proverbs warns that a people without guidance falls, while many advisers bring safety (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016, Proverbs 11:14), which is an argument for giving human resources a seat at the planning table. Could your clinic's human resources staff be invited into leadership planning meetings, so their data on turnover and vacancies shape decisions before problems become crises?

Reply to Marcus

Marcus, you argued that sign-on bonuses are the fastest way to fill vacancies, and in a tight market that is often true. They do attract applicants quickly, but they may not keep them once the money is paid. Niles (2013) emphasizes that retention is as much a human resource responsibility as recruitment, which means a hiring strategy should be judged by who is still there a year later. Mohamed and Al-Hmaimat (2024) found that nurse residency programs show promise for improving new graduates' retention in their first year, and De Vries et al. (2023), reviewing 55 studies, recommended onboarding and mentoring above other retention strategies. A bonus paid to a nurse who leaves after the commitment period ends buys only a delay, and it can create resentment among long-serving staff who never received one. Proverbs observes that wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016, Proverbs 13:11). Would your hospital consider tying part of any bonus to completing a residency program and staying through the first year, so that the money rewards commitment rather than simply arrival?

References

De Vries, N., Lavreysen, O., Boone, A., Bouman, J., Szemik, S., Baranski, K., Godderis, L., & De Winter, P. (2023). Retaining healthcare workers: A systematic review of strategies for sustaining power in the workplace. Healthcare, 11(13), 1887. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11131887

De Vries, N., Maniscalco, L., Matranga, D., Bouman, J., & De Winter, J. P. (2024). Determinants of intention to leave among nurses and physicians in a hospital setting during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 19(3), e0300377. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0300377

English Standard Version Bible. (2016). Crossway. (Original work published 2001)

Mohamed, Z., & Al-Hmaimat, N. (2024). The effectiveness of nurse residency programs on new graduate nurses' retention: Systematic review. Heliyon, 10(5), e26272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26272

Niles, N. J. (2013). Basic concepts of health care human resource management. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Porter, M., & Lyngaas, T. (2026). Incentivizing excellence: Strategies for enhancing nurse engagement through leadership. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 50(2), 83-88. https://doi.org/10.1097/NAQ.0000000000000723

Ramanan, H., Kalarchian, M., Pezzone, A., Rhoads, C., & Linkov, F. (2026). Enhancing employee retention in nursing homes through non-monetary incentives: Insights from focus groups. Geriatric Nursing, 70, 103983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2026.103983

Ulrich, B., Cassidy, L., Barden, C., Varn-Davis, N., & Delgado, S. A. (2022). National nurse work environments, October 2021: A status report. Critical Care Nurse, 42(5), 58-70. https://doi.org/10.4037/ccn2022798