NURS 6052 Work Environment Assessment Template Discussion

NURS 6052 Work Environment Assessment Template Discussion

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The workplace is replete with various issues that require careful assessment, diagnosis and treatment. Incivility in nursing is a persistent issue that require careful management by the leadership so as to improve the workplace environment. Tools such as the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory play a fundamental role in providing the assessment results. Thus, based on the results of the Work Environment Assessment Template, the present paper will describe the above results, analyze a theory presented in a selected article, and recommend strategies that will lead to the presence of interprofessional teams within the current writer’s workplace setting.

Part 1: Work Environment Assessment

            The comprehensive assessment of the workplace using the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory revealed a score of 70. In the analysis, only two areas of the workplace, that is, the employee satisfaction and interprofessional, scored full marks at 15. Moreover, eight areas of the tool including employee perception, celebration of employee achievements, active participation in organizational activities, fair employee treatment, effective conflict-resolution, democratic culture, competitive remunerations, and employee attraction and retention, were regarded as somewhat true (Clark, 2015). Further, employees were neutral on 6 aspects of a healthy workplace inclusive of shared vision, trust levels, effective communication, improved organizational culture, and nature of workload. However, the presence of resources for professional growth and opportunities for growth were regarded as somewhat untrue. Lastly, the employees also stated that the presence of mentoring program for employees was non-existent. Therefore, the average score for the assessment was 70.

One of the things that surprised me about the scores of the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory is the score itself. I anticipated the organization to score lower than the score obtained in the assessment. The surprise in the observed scores was attributed to the weak organizational structures that have been put in place to achieve the mission and vision of the organization. The other thing that surprised me about the scores of the inventory assessment is the score that the organizational employees would highly recommend the organization as a good place to work to their friends and families. This finding was a surprise because the staff in the organization often feel that the organization does not embrace interventions that address their needs. The rate of staff turnover over the past year has been high due to lack of adequate organizational support. As a result, it is surprising that the employees are willing to recommend the organization to friends and families, yet they are not satisfied with the working conditions in the firm. One of the things that I believed prior and was confirmed in the assessment is the lack of effective systems that promote professional and personal development. Examples of the opportunities for professional and personal development that organizations can implement include coaching, mentorship, and teamwork. The assessment confirmed this since employees marked the statement on the existence of comprehensive coaching for staffs as untrue.

As noted above, the organization scored 70% in the inventory assessment. The meaning of a mildly health workplace is that the organization might support the implementation of quality improvement initiatives. However, the existing organizational structures are not effective in facilitating the realization of the desired outcomes of the quality improvement initiatives. The implication of the results is also that the leadership and management styles utilized in the organization do not have the effectiveness to drive the desired organizational success. As noted above, the meaning of the score of the organization is that the systems and structures put in place are not adequately effective in promoting the desired success. Secondly, the leadership in the organization is not effective in promoting the organizational success. However, improvements can be made on the existing structures to enhance effectiveness in organizational processes. The other implication of the score on the civility of the organization is that there are minimal rules that guide employee behaviors in the organization. The score also implies that the management and leadership of the organization have to explore interventions that can be used to improve engagement among the employees. The leadership should also focus on creating organizational culture that is characterized by a focus on safety, quality, and efficiency of services (Clark, 2018).
Part 2: Reviewing the Literature

The selected theory that relates to my organization is the DESC model. The DESC model is a theory that is utilized to create culture of civility in organizations. The model has concepts that guide its use that include describe, express, define, and consequences. An effective use of these concepts in the model facilitates the creation of an effective organizational culture that is characterized by enhanced teamwork and coordination or organizational activities to improve the patient experiences. The DESC model relates to the results of the workplace assessment that was undertaken in our organization in a number of ways. Firstly, the model can be used to examine the existing circumstances in the organization that influence the provision of patient care. Nurses can use the describe concept to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and strengths that affect the success and performance of health organizations. The concept of define can also be applied to understand the influence of organizational practices and behaviors such as leadership on organizational success and performance. The concept of consequences also relates to the organization. The practices and strategies utilized in the organization have an effect on the organization. For example, the lack of comprehensive coaching and mentorship opportunities in the organization affects the performance, productivity and motivation of the staffs. The other model that relates to the organization is the CREW model. The model enables organizations to address organizational conflicts and behaviors through the focus on aspects such as civility, respect, and engagement in the workplace. Behaviors such as respect and active employee involvement can be strengthened to enhance civility in the workplace (Phillips, MacKusick & Whichello, 2018).

The DESC and CREW models can be used to improve organizational health and create stronger working teams. The DESC model can be used to describe the organizational factors that influence teamwork performance and productivity. For example, the managers can use the DESC model to understand the employee needs and ways in which they can be achieved. The DESC model can also be used to determine the consequences of the organizational strategies and behaviors. For example, nurse leaders can use the concept of express to encourage the employees to explore the ways in which they can improve or create new interventions for improving performance (Clark, 2015). The CREW model can also be used to improve organizational health and create stronger work teams. The model can be used to instill nurses working in teams to uphold values of respect and open communication to strengthen teamwork. Nurse leaders can encourage team members to express their views and ideas that can be applied in enhancing teamwork effectiveness. The concept of engagement in the CREW model can also be used to strengthen active collaboration between the team members in undertaking organizational tasks. Nurses and other healthcare providers working as teams can utilize the concept to explore the effect of aspects such as open communication, accountability, and responsibility in implementing care plans.  The CREW model can also be used to improve organizational health. The model can be used to foster organizational behaviors such as trust, respect, honesty, and collaborative problem-solving to enhance performance. Nurse managers and leaders can also use the model to organize initiatives that may be used to create an effective structure that fits to the organizational needs (Department of Veteran Affairs, 2017).

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Question Description
I’m working on a Nursing question and need guidance to help me study.

This Work Enviornment Assessment needs to be completed to assist with answering the week 7 DBQ Discussion board Question.

-Complete the Work Enviornment Assessment

-I attatched the Clark Healthy workplace inventory document from Clark, 2015

-Both documents attatched

– To Prepare:

Review the Resources and examine the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory, found on page 20 of Clark (2015).
Review and complete the Work Environment Assessment Template in the Resources.

nurse_6053_work_envviornment_assessment.doc
clark_2015.pdf

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.

Work Environment Assessment Template

Summary of Results – Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory	The workplace environmental assessment using Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory showed that my organization scored 78. This score implied that the organization is mildly healthy. The scores also implied that the existing organizational structures and environment do not support most of the interventions that promote quality, safety and excellence.
Identify two things that surprised you about the results. Also identify one idea that you believed prior to conducting the Assessment that was confirmed.	The workplace environmental assessment identified a number of things that surprised me about our organization. One of the things that surprised me was the fact that the employees in the organization reported the lack of transparent, direct and respectful communication in all the levels of the organization. Communication is a vital tool that enables the organizational stakeholders to undertake their tasks effectively and efficiently. Open communication is important to ensure that the employees express their needs, values and concerns to the management and leadership on the ways in which things should be undertaken in the organization. Communication is also important as it facilitates trust between the different organizational stakeholders. Organizations that practice open communication have a highly motivated workforce since the needs of the employees and other stakeholders are addressed in a timely manner (Grossman & Valiga, 2020). I was surprised by the fact that the employees expressed the lack of transparent, respectful and direct communication in the organization yet they have not engaged in any activity to address the issue. Often, the employees in the organization appear satisfied with the manner in which tasks are undertaken. However, they have not been given an opportunity to express their needs, hence, their assertion of the lack of direct, transparent and respectful communication in the organization. The second thin that surprised me in the workplace environmental assessment was the finding that the employees in the organization reported that the statement that they had a high level of satisfaction, engagement and moral was somewhat untrue. The success of any organization depends largely on the level of morale, satisfaction and engagement in an organization. Employees that have a high rate of satisfaction, morale and engagement are innovative in their practice. The employees play a proactive role in the identification of the ways in which organizational success can be achieved with minimal use of the existing resources (Weiss et al., 2019). The above finding in the assessment was surprising because the management and leadership are not aware of the low level of engagement, satisfaction and moral among its employees. The rate of staff turnover is also low. Therefore, it raised the need for the adoption of responsive interventions to address these issues in the organization. One of the things that I believed prior to conducting the assessment that was confirmed is the fact that the organization places minimal emphasis on addressing the needs of its staffs. The believe was confirmed since the assessment results showed the lack of transparent, direct and respectful communication, poorly satisfied staffs and the lack of mentoring programs for all the employees. The employees had neutral feelings on the statement that there is comprehensive mentoring program for all employees.
What do the results of the Assessment suggest about the health and civility of your workplace?	As noted above, the results I have been able to deduce from the assessment suggest that there is always room for improvement and amendment in a work environment. This fosters efficiency in the provision of optimum patient care outcomes. My organization scored a total of 78 based on the criteria provided in this workplace assessment tool. This score places my organization in a moderately health and civil state. It also connotes that the Clark Workplace Inventory scores suggest that my organization requires better and more efficient communication skills among employee, which in turn brings about trust and transparency. The estimate goal is to stir up changes that will; facilitate an increased level of ethical and moral civility for a safe and more healthy workplace environment.  The leaders and staff in management positions pale a fundamental role in ensuring that this change is enforced and continuous, as they represent the organization in its entirety and what it essentially stands for in our community. The principle of informational leadership and the ideology  it represents of making sure there is a collaboration between staff and leaders in the work-pace. This creates an atmosphere of openness and genuineness which is essential for growth and positive.if there is an indication of  weaknesses in the leadership and manager department of any organization, it hinders opportunities for staff  to promote their personal and professional growth. This in-turn leads to increased turnover rates among staff, and  decrease levels of patient care satisfaction. The management and leadership of such organization must implore all avenues needed to  restructure current and existing processes. The other implication of the score is that the organizational culture does not support in entirety quality, safety and excellence. The score also has implications on the civility of our workplace. The score implies that the organization has weak support for behaviors that promote mutual respect and preservation of norms, values and practices for excellence.
Briefly describe the theory or concept presented in the article(s) you selected. Explain how the theory or concept presented in the article(s) relates to the results of your Work Environment Assessment.	The selected concept from the selected article is effective communication. According to the authors of the article, incivility in nursing arises from the lack of effective communication between nurses and other healthcare providers (Clark et al., 2011). Lack of effective communication results in poor understanding of the needs of the other stakeholders in an organization. Poor communication also leads to lack of self-expression among the nurses and other healthcare providers, hence, stress and adoption of behaviors that contribute to incivility. The concept of effective communication relates to the results of the work environment assessment in a number of ways. Firstly, lack of effective communication between the employees, management and leaders contributed to the low score in the assessment (Hassmiller & Pulcini, 2020). The lack of effective communication also led to the employees expressing neutral to somewhat true scores in the different categories of assessment tool. The lack of effective communication can also be seen in the low morale, engagement and satisfaction among the employees in the organization. Consequently, it can be concluded that effective communication is a critical predictor of organizational performance and success alongside a determinant of employee behavior.
Explain how your organization could apply the theory highlighted in your selected article(s) to improve organizational health and/or create stronger work teams. Be specific and provide examples.	My organization can apply the use of effective communication to improve organizational health and create stronger work teams in a number of ways. Firstly, the organization could promote open, transparent and respectful communication between the staffs, managers and leaders. The communication should be characterized by openness. Employees should be encouraged to express their views, concerns and recommendations on the ways in which performance can be improved in the organization (Alvinius, 2017). The second way in which effective communication can be applied in the organization is involving the staffs in the assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of the organizational strategies. The organization should incorporate the feedback of the employees in the development, implementation and evaluation of the strategies (Clark et al., 2011). The third way in which the effective communication can be applied in the organization is encouraging teamwork. The employees should be encouraged to work in teams as a way of achieving the set organizational goals and objectives (Jule, 2019). Through these interventions, the desired organizational culture that promotes civility and organizational health will be created in the organization.
References References	References Alvinius, A. (2017). Contemporary Leadership Challenges. BoD – Books on Demand. Clark, C. M. (2015). Conversations to inspire and promote a more civil workplace. American Nurse Today, 10(11), 18-23. Retrieved from https://www.americannursetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ant11-CE-Civility-1023.pdf Clark, C. M., Olender, L., Cardoni, C., & Kenski, D. (2011). Fostering civility in nursing education and practice: nurse leader perspectives. The Journal Of Nursing Administration, 41(7–8), 324–330. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1097/NNA.0b013e31822509c4 Murray, A. (2018). Helping the Healers: Identifying and Halting Lateral Violence in Nursing. Kentucky Nurse, 66(2), 11–13. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=128716069&site=eds-live&scope=site Griffin, M., & Clark, C. M. (2014). Revisiting cognitive rehearsal as an intervention against incivility and lateral violence in nursing: 10 years later. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 45(12), 535–542. doi:10.3928/00220124-20141122-02 Grossman, S. C., & Valiga, T. M. (2020). The New Leadership Challenge: Creating the Future of Nursing. F.A. Davis. Hassmiller, S. B., & Pulcini, J. (2020). Advanced Practice Nursing Leadership: A Global Perspective. Springer Nature. Jule, J. (2019). Nursing Leadership Beyond 2020: A Succession Plan. University of San Francisco. Weiss, S. A., Tappen, R. M., & Grimley, K. (2019). Essentials of Nursing Leadership & Management. F.A. Davis.

Introduction

As a professional nurse, I have come to discover that my workplace environment comprises of various factors that have a significant impact on my everyday performance and functionality. These factors are the nature of the  physical environment, the cultural representation of the organization and most importantly the working conditions of staff. The negative acts of incivility among employees, bullying in the workplace and violence in a professional setting are some of  the most problematic behaviors health-care organizations in all settings are faced with. Such intentional and deliberate behaviors being exhibited by individuals are intended to  harm, humiliate, offend, and cause distress to others members of the organization (ANA, n.d.). The detrimental outcomes of incivility in the workplace cause lower job satisfaction rates, psychological trauma, which eventual leads to a downturn in physical health (ANA, n.d.). The harmful consequences of incivility affects an organization entirely, especially  incivility within the nursing profession, which ultimately leads to a decrease in patient care safety and satisfaction, as thee well being of the patients are at risk (Griffin, & Clark, 2014).  The Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory Assessment tool has enabled me to determine how health my work place environment currently is, by the use of evidence based practices, as well as explore other means of strengthen my workplace environment and the organization as a whole.

Part I: Work Environment Assessment

When I partook in the Clark (2015) assessment  tool, which is an evidence-based assessment tool aimed at calculating the health of an individual’s workplace as it evaluates the subjective scores of 20 statements refereed to as The Clark Healthy Workplace inventory, I was quite intrigued by the results as I ended up with an aggregated total score of 78. This suggest that my organization could be identified as a moderately healthy and civil workplace environment. Further interpretation of the score implies that the workforce is highly dedicated to achieving the success of the organization (Henry et al., 2020). The cultural framework of the organization is also favorable, as it concerned with both the actual and potential needs of the organizational stakeholders, which comprises of the employees and patients. My organization based on the assessment evaluation, aims at addressing and suppo