Discussion: Interprofessional Organizational and Systems Leadership

Discussion: Interprofessional Organizational and Systems Leadership

Organizational health has a significant effect on its performance and competitiveness. Healthy organizations with supportive culture, leadership, and management have excellent performance and highly motivated workforce. Organizational assessment is important in practice, as it provides an accurate picture of the organization’s health and its ability to address its stakeholder needs. Therefore, this paper examines the implications of the completed work environment assessment. It explores the results of the work environment assessment and their implications and recommends evidence-based strategies that can be adopted to address the identified issues and improve performance.

Work Environment Assessment

My workplace environment scored 60 per the Clark Healthy workplace Inventory, meaning it is “barely healthy” (Clark, 2015). The organization scored poorly in encouraging the free expression of ideas, employee wellness, valuing employees, employee satisfaction, and employee engagement in decision-making. However, reasonable workload and effective conflict resolution were the areas with the best scores. The overall results of 60 surprised me. I did not know that my workplace is uncivil to that extent. There is no joint decision-making in my organization. I just realized that we are often given instructions about new projects, policies changes but we as nurses are never asked to be part of the decision-making. Taking this assessment also made me realize that I have never seen any employee wellness initiative at my organization, implying it does not emphasize self-care. Before the assessment, I thought my workplace is civil enough but that has been proven wrong with the scores.

The other aspect that surprised me about the results is that there is a low level of trust between and among formal leadership and other members in the workplace. Most of the employees reported a lack of trust towards the organizational leadership and other members of the organization. Initially, I believed that employees had a high level of trust towards the organizational leadership. They have never raised any concerns about their relationship with the management. However, based on the assessment result, it could be argued that their minimal involvement by the leadership and management could have contributed to this attitude. Organizational leadership should promote the adoption of interventions that motivate the staff to achieve their personal and professional goals in undertaking their roles. They should also act as role models for best practice interventions in the organization. This is not the case in our organization, hence, the poor score in this aspect during the organizational assessment.

One of the ideas that I believed before conducting the assessment that was confirmed is the fact that the organizational management and leadership do not view employees as assets and valued partners in the organization. Often, the organizational leadership and management make rules and policies that are imposed on the employees. The employees have minimal roles in assessing, planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating organizational strategic initiatives. The management and leadership also use one-way communication where the employee input on the organization’s strategies is not considered. The consequences of this lack of employee consideration include a low level of job satisfaction and morale among the staff (Titlestad et al., 2018). The assessment results confirmed the ideas, as seen from the lowest score in the statement that focused on whether the employees are viewed as assets and valued partners within the organization.

The assessment results show my organization as unhealthy and with low civility. The organization does not prioritize the needs of its employees as an approach to achieving its performance goals. It does not implement strategies that address the actual and potential employee needs. For example, the organization does not provide its staff with the opportunities to express their issues, concerns, and views on how to meet their needs and those of the organization. The assessment results also demonstrate ineffective leadership and management in the organization, making it an unhealthy and uncivil workplace. Organizational leadership and management are expected to promote excellence among staff. Interventions such as teamwork, interprofessional collaboration, and open communication should be adopted to enhance employee performance and job satisfaction (Clucas et al., 2019). However, this is not the case in my organization since the management and leadership do not prioritize the needs of their staff. As a result, the staff perceives their workplace as unhealthy and less civilized in promoting their optimal health, wellbeing, and functioning. Therefore, interventions that aim at improving an organization’s health and civility should be embraced.

The identified concept from the article by Clark (2015) is respectful communication. Respectful communication entails listening carefully and kindly to others irrespective of our position towards their views. Respectful communication enables organizational stakeholders, including staff to effectively express their thoughts and opinions and understand the perspective of others. It also builds strong relationships among staff and facilitates collective conflict resolution and problem solving. The presented article identifies that respectful communication also entails treating colleagues, employees, and coworkers with dignity and respect. Interventions that promote open communication and eliminate any form of harassment, bullying, and manipulation should be implemented. Health organizations should also create and foster a culture of respectful communication (Clark, 2015). The employees should be encouraged to speak up on adverse issues affecting them to ensure the adoption of change initiatives that drive safety, quality, and efficiency in the organization.

The concept of respectful communication presented in the article relates to the results of the work environment assessment. The low score of work environment assessment in the organization could be attributed to the lack of respectful communication. The leadership and management are not considerate of the employee needs. They do not incorporate their views in strategic decision-making in the organization. The management and leadership also employ bureaucratic approaches where one-way communication is utilized. As a result, the staff does not feel valued in the organization. They perceive that the leadership and management use them to achieve the organizational goals without the consideration of their needs (Clark, 2015). Consequently, they have a low level of job satisfaction, engagement, and morale to contribute to the realization of optimum organizational outcomes. Work environment assessments would therefore reveal low scores translating into unhealthy and low incivility in the organization.

My organization can apply the concept of respectful communication to improve its organizational health and create stronger work teams. One of the ways in which it can apply its use is by creating and supporting an organizational culture where staff has the freedom to communicate issues, views, and concerns. The employees should be encouraged to communicate clearly to promote effective management of organizational conflicts. The organization should also encourage speaking up to improve organizational health and civility. The employees should speak up when they experience issues such as bullying, harassment, and violence from others in the organization (Li et al., 2019). They should also have the freedom to raise concerns about the organizational principles and policies that affect their health, wellbeing, and performance. The organization should not victimize the employees that speak up against unhealthy practices affecting them. The organization can also apply the concept of respectful communication by fostering open, two-way communication between its leadership, management, and employees. Leadership and management should inform and involve the staff in strategy assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation. Openness and transparency in communication will strengthen trust among the staff and effective interprofessional teams in the patient care process (Stalter et al., 2020). Open, two-way communication will also promote strategy ownership among the employees, hence, sustainability and optimum outcomes in the organization’s change initiatives.

Evidence-Based Strategies

One of the strategies that can be adopted in my organization to address the identified shortcomings is encouraging open communication between staff, management, and leadership. The assessment showed that the organization is poor in encouraging the free expression of ideas by the employees and valuing them. The consequences include low morale and job satisfaction among the employees, which affects organizational performance. The organization should adopt a culture of open communication for its staff. The employees should have the freedom to express their ideas, as a way of promoting innovation and creativity in the service provision process (Murray et al., 2018). It will also strengthen trust among the staff and improve their overall satisfaction with their jobs.

The other strategy to address the shortcomings identified from the assessment is rewarding performance. The organization should consider introducing rewards for the employees for their contributions to its success. Employees should receive tangible and intangible rewards, including verbal praises, monetary rewards, and advancement in their workplace for their contribution to organizational success (Xerri & Reid, 2018). Rewarding them will contribute to their high level of job satisfaction and performance for organizational success.

One of the strategies that can be adopted to bolster successful practices revealed in the work environment assessment is incorporating transformational leadership approaches into the workplace. The organization’s leadership and management should inspire the employees to achieve excellence in their diverse roles. They should communicate and instill in them practices that contribute to the realization of the organizational vision. They should also incorporate inspirational communication, personal recognition, and intellectual stimulation into the existing culture (Collins et al., 2019). The other intervention to bolster the identified successful practices is regular evaluation and provision of feedback to the staff. The management and leadership should perform a regular evaluation of the organizational strategies and provide feedback to the staff to promote continuous quality improvement (Murray et al., 2018). The feedback will inspire the staff to engage in practices that will contribute to the overall organizational success.

Conclusion

Overall, the assessment data showed the organization to be barely healthy. It does not embrace interventions that promote the realization of the employee’s needs. Respectful communication is a concept that can be applied to improve organizational health and strengthen its teams. Evidence-based strategies such as rewarding performance, promoting open communication, and adopting transformational leadership approaches should be adopted to improve an organization’s health. Most importantly, healthcare providers should be given the responsibility of implementing best practices to drive the desired organizational excellence.

References

Bohren, M. A., Tunçalp, Ö., & Miller, S. (2020). Transforming intrapartum care: Respectful maternity care. Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 67, 113–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2020.02.005

Clark, C. M. (2015). Conversations to inspire and promote a more civil workplace. American Nurse Today, 10(11), 18–23.

Clucas, C., Chapman, H., & Lovell, A. (2019). Nurses’ experiences of communicating respect to patients: Influences and challenges. Nursing Ethics, 26(7–8), 2085–2097. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733019834974

Collins, E., Owen, P., Digan, J., & Dunn, F. (2019). Applying transformational leadership in nursing practice. Nursing Standard, 35(5), 59–65.

Er, R. A., İncedere, A., & Öztürk, S. (2018). Respectful care of human dignity: How is it perceived by patients and nurses? Journal of Medical Ethics, 44(10), 675–680. https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2017-104666

Li, Y., Cen, X., Cai, X., & Temkin-Greener, H. (2019). Perceived patient safety culture in nursing homes associated with “Nursing Home Compare” performance indicators. Medical Care, 57(8), 641. https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0000000000001142

Murray, M., Sundin, D., & Cope, V. (2018). The nexus of nursing leadership and a culture of safer patient care. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 27(5–6), 1287–1293. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.13980

Stalter, A. M., Phillips, J. M., Goldschmidt, K. A., Brodhead, J., Ruggiero, J. S., Scardaville, D. L., McKay, M., Bonnett, P. L., & Merriam, D. (2020). Promoting civility in nursing practice using systems thinking: Evidence-based teaching strategies for nurse educators. Nursing Forum, 55(4), 754–762. https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12493

Xerri, M. J., & Reid, S. R. (2018). Human resources and innovative behaviour: Improving nursing performance. International Journal of Innovation Management, 22(02), 1850019.

Compose your initial Discussion 1 post.Week 4, Day 3Post your initial Discussion 1 post.

Begin to compose your Assignment.Week 4, Days 4-5Review peer Discussion 1 posts.

Compose your peer Discussion 1 responses.

Continue to compose your Assignment.Week 4, Day 6Post two peer Discussion 1 responses.Week 5, Days 1-2Compose your initial Discussion 2 post.

Continue to compose your Assignment.Week 5, Day 3Post your initial Discussion 2 post.

Continue to compose your Assignment.Week 5, Days 4-5Review peer Discussion 2 posts.

Compose your peer Discussion 2 responses.

Continue to compose your Assignment.Week 5, Day 6Post two peer Discussion 2 responses.Week 6, Days 1- 6Continue to compose your Assignment.Week 6, Day 7Deadline to submit your Assignment.

Learning Resources

Required Readings

Marshall, E., & Broome, M. (2017). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.

Chapter 1, “Expert Clinician to Transformational Leader in a Complex Health Care Organization: Foundations” (pp. 7–20 ONLY)
Chapter 6, “Frameworks for Becoming a Transformational Leader” (pp. 145–170)
Chapter 7, “Becoming a Leader: It’s All About You” (pp. 171–194)
Duggan, K., Aisaka, K., Tabak, R. G., Smith, C., Erwin, P., & Brownson, R. C. (2015). Implementing administrative evidence-based practices: Lessons from the field in six local health departments across the United States. BMC Health Services Research, 15(1). doi:10.1186/s12913-015-0891-3. Retrieved from https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-015-0891-3

Resources for the StrengthsFinder Assessment Tool

Rath, T. (2007). Strengths Finder 2.0 – with Access Code.

Purchase the access code from the Walden bookstore. Then follow the instructions in the document “How to Access the Strengths Finder 2.0.

Document: How to Access Strengths Finder 2.0 (PDF)

Required Media

Laureate Education (Producer). (2014). Leadership [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Accessible player –Downloads–Download Video w/CCDownload AudioDownload Transcript

Moore Foundation. (n.d.). Nurses share lessons in leadership. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLopRJPO6GaifsYPGP_jcWXZzU10H3AaX7

Discussion 1: Leadership Theories in Practice

A walk through the Business section of any bookstore or a quick Internet search on the topic will reveal a seemingly endless supply of writings on leadership. Formal research literature is also teeming with volumes on the subject.

However, your own observation and experiences may suggest these theories are not always so easily found in practice. Not that the potential isn’t there; current evidence suggests that leadership factors such as emotional intelligence and transformational leadership behaviors, for example, can be highly effective for leading nurses and organizations.

Yet, how well are these theories put to practice? In this Discussion, you will examine formal leadership theories. You will compare these theories to behaviors you have observed firsthand and discuss their effectiveness in impacting your organization.

To Prepare:

Review the Resources and examine the leadership theories and behaviors introduced.
Identify two to three scholarly resources, in addition to this Module’s readings, that evaluate the impact of leadership behaviors in creating healthy work environments.
Reflect on the leadership behaviors presented in the three resources that you selected for review.
By Day 3 of Week 4

Post two key insights you had from the scholarly resources you selected. Describe a leader whom you have seen use such behaviors and skills, or a situation where you have seen these behaviors and skills used in practice. Be specific and provide examples. Then, explain to what extent these skills were effective and how their practice impacted the workplace

ORDER NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT: Discussion: Interprofessional Organizational and Systems Leadership

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.