Organizational Culture and Climate Assessment Paper

Organizational Culture and Climate Assessment Paper

Organizational Culture and Climate Assessment Paper

            Health organizations operate in highly dynamic and complex environments. As a result, they strive to create the best organizational culture and climate that address the actual and potential needs of their diverse stakeholders. Organizational culture largely encompasses the underlying values, beliefs, assumptions, and ways in which the organizational stakeholders undertake their roles. It contributes to the uniqueness in the psychological and social environment of the organization. Organizational climate is the overall expression of how and what the organization is. It represents the perception that the stakeholders have about their organization (Naman et al., 2018). Therefore, this paper analyzes an organizational culture and climate performed on my workplace. It examines the components that include organizational culture and climate analysis, healthy, safe, person-centered care environment capacity, and their implications.

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Organizational Culture and Climate Analysis

Summary of the Assessment

            As noted above, organizational culture refers to the values, beliefs, assumptions, and ways in which tasks are undertaken in an organization. An organizational culture analysis performed showed that the hospital has a positive culture. This could be seen from aspects that include teamwork, open communication, presence of employee support programs, safety culture, leadership and management support, holism in care process, and equal power departmental power. Climate assessment showed that the staff have a positive attitude and preference towards the organization. They expressed the adequate support from the leadership and management, recognition of their contribution to the organization, liking towards each other, and the measures adopted by the organization to ensure their professional development. The staff also support each other, interact positively among themselves, and engage in activities that promote positive outcomes for their populations.

Mission, Vision, and Goals Reflected in Culture and Climate

            The hospital’s mission is to be the leading institution in providing safe, quality, and efficient care in the region. Its vision is to be the most preferred hospital for patients as well as healthcare providers. Its goals including achieving safety, efficiency, and quality in the care it gives to its populations as well as utilizing best practices to address the care needs of its populations. The vision, mission, and goals are reflected in the organization’s culture.

The provision of opportunities such as rewarding performance and incentives for those who advance their careers contribute to their job satisfaction, motivation, and quality care for the realization of mission, vision, and goals. The focus on offering holistic care, as seen from the incorporation of religion into the care that patients receive aim at ensuring enhanced patient experiences with the care they receive. The strengthening of interprofessional collaboration and creation of an environment that promotes open communication contributes to outcomes such as positive employee experiences in the organization, motivation to utilize evidence-based practices in the care provision, and employee empower to engage in activities that address actual and potential health needs of their patients (McKnight & Moore, 2022). As a result, the above aspects of the organization’s culture and climate contribute significantly to the realization of the set mission, vision, and goals in the hospital.

Strengths and Opportunities for Improvement

            The assessment revealed several strengths in the organization. One of them is its culture of patient safety. The hospital has adopted measures such as having clean and well illuminated stairways, elevators, and passageways to ensure safety for the patients and staff. It also has 24/7 security to ensure safety for its stakeholders. The organization also encouraged continuous professional development, teamwork, and availability of infection prevention supplies such as masks to ensure safety (Amiri et al., 2018). The other strength identified is the organization’s focus on supporting its staff. The hospital provides professional and personal support to its staff in forms such as assisting the staff get certifications they need, rewarding performance, and supporting staff’s social functions. The other strength is the environment that supports open communication. Open communication promotes trust, empowerment, and staff satisfaction with their role in the organization. The hospital uses formal communication methods and encourages its staff to express their issues, views, and concerns for consideration in strategy development (McKnight & Moore, 2022). Some of the opportunities for growth identified from the assessment include increasing the available training opportunities and strengthening positive interdepartmental socialization.

Climate Reflective Culture

            Reflection is an important practice in nursing and healthcare. It enables nurses and other healthcare providers to learn from their experiences and develop improvement strategies (Esterhuizen, 2019). The hospital has climate reflective culture. Staff participate in regular meeting where they reflect on safety, quality, and efficiency issues experienced and proposed strategies to improve on them. The practice has led to continuous quality improvement in the organization.

Healthy, Safe, Person-Centered Care Environment Capacity

Organizational Culture’s Capacity to Support

            The organizational culture supports healthy, safe, person-centered care environment. The organization has prioritized safety for its patients and staff. This can be seen from the presence of 24/7 security in the hospital’s premises. The staircases, walkways, and elevators are well illuminated, clean, and free from clutter. The hospital also offers masks and hand sanitizers are entrances to prevent spread of infections. It also has visually appealing, well-lit environment for safety.

Besides the physically aspects of safety, the hospital support continuous development for its staff. It provides financial support for staff that enhance their educational levels. The need for this is that educational advancements benefit the hospital through the ability to offer high-quality, safe and efficient care to the patients. The hospital has also adopted interventions to ensure patient-centeredness. They include the presence of worship area for patients and encouraging regular meeting among staff to explore issues affecting patient care. It also supports the psychological, social and emotional wellbeing of its staff by creating an environment that promotes positive socialization (Costa et al., 2018). Therefore, organization’s culture supports healthy, safe, patient-centered care environment capacity.

A Visiting Potential Staff Recruit

            A visiting potential staff recruit will experience a number of institution’s culture, which will act as their attraction to work in our organization. One of them is the supportive nature of the organization. The new recruit will be drawn to the manner in which the hospital supports professional development for its staff. The fact that the hospital offers recognition awards and perks, educational reimbursement for degree work, and professional development opportunities would encourage the recruit to be part of the organization (McKnight & Moore, 2022). The other factor that would attract the new staff is the level of staff engagement in the organization. The hospital strives to ensure that its staff are actively engaged in addressing issues affecting them. The analysis of the organizational communication shows the existence of frequent communication, which provides staff opportunities to express their issues, concerns, and needs. Active staff engagement in health contributes to their enhanced hob satisfaction, empowerment, and motivation to adopt innovative practices that meet the care needs of their patients (du Pon et al., 2019).

Nurse Leader’s Role in Setting the Organizational Culture and Climate to Promote a Healthy Work Environment

            Nurse leaders have crucial roles in setting the organizational climate and culture to promote a healthy work environment. One of them is leading by example. Nurse leaders in the organization set good values and practices that should be adopted and utilizes them in leading others. They strive to ensure that other staff emulate them for the creation of a healthy work environment. Nurse leaders also advocate the adoption of employee-centered initiatives to drive excellence (McKnight & Moore, 2022). Examples include the provision of rewards for performance and supporting nurses’ professional development through continued education and regular training opportunities. Such practices ensure competence development among the staff, hence, the creation of a healthy work environment. Nurse leaders in the organization also support transparency. They have created a work culture that supports open communication among organizational stakeholders. They utilize frequent staff meetings and formal communication methods to inform the staff about issues affecting them and seek feedback from them. Open communication creates a healthy work environment by strengthening teamwork, trust, and honesty among the staff (Wang et al., 2018). Therefore, it is important for nurse leaders to constantly explore effective practices to promote continuous improvement in their organization’s health.

Implications

Strategies to Address the Opportunities for Improvement

            The assessment revealed some areas of improvement that should be considered. One of them is the increased need for a wide range of opportunities for professional growth and development for the staff. The hospital should explore the different training opportunities for its staff. The training should align with the organization’s mission and vision. Offering training to the staff will contribute to competency development among the staff, hence, the realization of the organization’s mission, vision, and objectives. The second strategy to address the opportunities for improvement in the organization is rewarding performance. The employees should not be rewarded solely on the existing frameworks. Instead, it should consider frequent, regular assessment of employee performance and use it as a basis for making decisions such as rewarding them or advancing their job roles (Gunawan et al., 2019). The current employee performance done in the organization may not reflect their true contributions, hence, increasing the risk of demotivating the staff.

Alignment of Personal Leadership Profile and Organizational Culture and Climate

            It is important that my leadership profile aligns with the organizational culture and climate. My leadership style aligns mostly with the organizational culture and climate. I encourage teamwork, open communication, use of best practices, and advocate the provision of opportunities for employee growth and development. I should strive to ensure the alignment of my leadership profile and organizational culture and climate. One of the ways is through participating in activities that contribute to my growth as a leader. I will attend trainings on leadership to develop my leadership competencies. The other way is by identifying a leader mentor (Grocutt et al., 2022). I will strive to learn best practices for use in my practice from the identified mentor.  

Conclusion

            Overall, this paper has analyzed an organizational culture and climate assessment that was undertaken in my organization. The analysis has focused on topics that include organizational culture and climate analysis, health, safe, person-centered care environment capacity of the organization, and implications of the findings. The assessment revealed the organization to have a positive culture and climate. This assignment has been beneficial to me since I have learned about the organization’s strengths, needs, and opportunities for growth. I have also learned the importance of aligning my leadership profile with the organizational mission, vision, and goals. Therefore, I will explore opportunities for growth to build my leadership competencies.

References

Amiri, M., Khademian, Z., & Nikandish, R. (2018). The effect of nurse empowerment educational program on patient safety culture: A randomized controlled trial. BMC Medical Education, 18(1), 158. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-018-1255-6

Costa, D. B. da, Ramos, D., Gabriel, C. S., & Bernardes, A. (2018). Patient safety culture: Evaluation by nursing professionals. Texto & Contexto – Enfermagem, 27. https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-070720180002670016

du Pon, E., Wildeboer, A. T., van Dooren, A. A., Bilo, H. J. G., Kleefstra, N., & van Dulmen, S. (2019). Active participation of patients with type 2 diabetes in consultations with their primary care practice nurses – what helps and what hinders: A qualitative study. BMC Health Services Research, 19(1), 814. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4572-5

Esterhuizen, P. (2019). Reflective Practice in Nursing. Learning Matters.

Grocutt, A., Gulseren, D., Weatherhead, J. G., & Turner, N. (2022). Can mentoring programmes develop leadership? Human Resource Development International, 25(4), 404–414. https://doi.org/10.1080/13678868.2020.1850090

Gunawan, J., Aungsuroch, Y., & Fisher, M. L. (2019). Competence-based human resource management in nursing: A literature review. Nursing Forum, 54(1), 91–101. https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12302

McKnight, H., & Moore, S. M. (2022). Nursing Shared Governance. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK549862/

Naman, S., Kumar, S., Vinod, & Swati, P. (2018). Management Techniques for a Diverse and Cross-Cultural Workforce. IGI Global.

Wang, Y.-Y., Wan, Q.-Q., Lin, F., Zhou, W.-J., & Shang, S.-M. (2018). Interventions to improve communication between nurses and physicians in the intensive care unit: An integrative literature review. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 5(1), 81–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2017.09.007

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Appendix: Organizational Culture and Climate Assessment Tool

Adapted from Marquis, B., & Huston, C.J. (2017). Assessing the organizational culture, in Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (9th ed.). Wolters Kluwer, p. 307).

1. Physical Environment
   1. What is the visual appeal of the environment- clean, some areas recently remodeled, well lit.
   2. Is the environment guest friendly? Yes, clearly visible signs inside the building and outside. Welcoming feeling when you walk in, plenty of space for meetings staff providers and patients, privacy, and quiet areas available, large dining area along with a smaller food and sitting areas (java joe’s).

e.g. access to different locations within the facility, treatment areas clearly marked, waiting areas/lobbies are well furnished and welcoming, spaces large enough for groups (families, patients, and providers) to meet in privacy or quietness, dining facilities adequate for usage, etc.?

1. Sufficient space for colleagues, team, interdepartmental meetings? Many meeting areas with ample space and privacy throughout the hospital.
2. Designated chapel or worship space? Yes, a dedicated worship space
3. Other observations of physical environment? Masks available at entrances’, hand sanitizers out in the open for all to use, many restrooms

2. Environmental Safety
   1. Hallways, passageways, elevators, stairwells clean, free from clutter, and well illuminated.  YES
   2. A safety committee exists and is actively engaged- YES and meets monthly
   3. Security services needed and provided? Hospital has security 24/7, makes rounds in the hospital each shift and is called to specific areas when needed.
   4. Equipment maintained in good working order? Yes, equipment is tagged when not working and taken to be repaired.
3. Social Environment
   1. Organization-wide social events held periodically, especially around holidays or professional days? Around Christmas they have Santa come in and staff can bring in their children to have breakfast, do crafts and picture with Santa. The organization has a dinner for those who have reached milestones such as 5,10,25 years of service, etc. We are encouraged to attend the heart walk, etc.
   2. Organization events well attended? Yes, many people attend and support the hospitals in many ways
   3. Interdepartmental socialization is positive? For the most part it is positive. Sometimes there is frustration between departments such as ED and Floor or Surgery and floor when trying to transfer a patient and everyone is busy.
   4. Any departments preferred or disliked? I did not pick up on any one being disliked over another; I think when we are stressed during these times of increased numbers of covid patients then people get grumpy but areas are not disliked. For the most part I did not hear one area is preferred over another, people are pretty happy in their departments, those that are not looking to stay as a bedside nurse are looking to do something different such as quality work.
   5. Evidence of colleague or employee socialization outside of work? There are a number of staff, especially in the surgery areas, that do socialize and have built friendships outside of work. In our quality department we gather together outside of work which helps crate team building which is fun and bonds our relationships and bring us to another level of support with the department.
   6. Staff and colleagues appear to like each other Yes, you can hear collaboration, laughs, see smiles, hear them asking each other if they need help or can they help.
   7. How are interactions between staff and visitors? Staff acknowledges others in the hallway by saying hello, good day, asking if they need help finding something.
4. Organizational power structure
   1. Where is the seat of power within the organization? Senior Leadership
   2. What is the balance of power seen between departments? I believe it is pretty equal
   3. Is special treatment/perks given to some, i.e., parking preferences, dining perks. We all have designated areas to park – white for staff, yellow for patients and there are areas specifically for physicians so they are the only special treatment for parking that I am aware of
   4. What symbols of importance or power are visible/obvious? ??

How the hospital was founded and our Mission, vision and core values.

1. Are some referred to or addressed always by their surname or titles – YES
2. Are lines of authority clear and followed?- with Senior leaders lines of authority are clear and followed
3. How is informal power managed? Town halls to share information, newsletters – this or organization wide. If I hear something then I bring it up during huddle “I heard through the grapevine, this being said, I would like to clear up that misconception. We are doing this, does anyone have any questions”?

5. Professional and personal support
   1. Provisions for professional development of staff available and supported? An allotted amount for professional development, the ability to become certified in an area, ex: Orthopedic certification
   2. Educational reimbursement for degree work? Yes, they have tuition reimbursement up yo 4000.00/yr, they also have scholarships you can apply for.
   3. Recognition awards and perks? Daisy awards, specific years of recognition gift, discount programs you can take advantage of.
   4. Adequate staff lounge or gathering areas? Yes – clean with plenty of room, ability to use fridge for lunches, have utensils available, etc.
   5. Organization supports social functions/holiday parties financially- The organization us to support social functions such a pot lucks (not financially) prior to covid. Some area do have holiday parties and are supported financially. This is not considered extra spending and is not something we can due any more due to the financial issues from covid.
6. Organizational communication
   1. How does communication most frequently occur?
      1. Eg, email, unit-wide postings, verbally, snail-mail, etc I would say email first, then units verbally and postings, we also have monthly town hall meetings which is still done virtual, videos from President of company sent out.
   2. Does informal communication exist?
      1. e.g. grapevines, water-cooler discussions, texting, – This does exist
      2. How reliable is informal communication? The reliability is minimal as people tend to put their own spin on it.
   3. Where does important information get communicated?
      1. Staff lounge, physician’s ready rooms, parking lots, during procedures? Huddles, unit meetings, emails
   4. Organizational taboos
      1. Are there any topics off limits for discussion? Not that I am aware of, I think people are coming around and understanding such topics as mental health, menopause, hair loss and erectile dysfunction can be discussed without feeling shame or fearful.
      2. Do “unofficial rules and policies” that can never be broken exist? As a nurse on the floor, I would say yes. You do not leave something for another nurse to do that you could take care of. Examples, clean up empty IV bags and any messes you made during shift. If you have the time get the patient water or whatever instead of asking the nurses aide to do it,
      3. Do cliques exist that can never be questioned or disrupted? I am sure they do in some areas but I have not experienced this.

Organizational Culture and Climate Assessment

A thorough, evidence-based analysis of organization culture and climate begins with a thorough, evidence-based assessment.  You will use this tool to assess the culture and climate of your institution. Take a tour of your organization. Complete each item with the seven categories of the assessment tool for the organization, not just your unit.  There are no right or wrong answers and some will be as varied as the types and numbers of organizations represented by the class. Your answers should reflect the data you collect, not just what you think is the case. Therefore, if there are areas you are unsure about, make contact with the best resource you have at the organization to obtain the best evidence. Using this assessment tool assumes observations are being completed on “normal” days, not one consisting of extreme circumstances or situations. In other words, don’t choose a day to observe when a crisis is occurring. Upon completion of the tool, you will have the information needed to analyze the culture from various evidence points and to reflect on congruence between the climate and culture of your organization.

Remember to include the completed tool with your analysis paper.

Please remember this is an individual assignment. While you might happen to be taking this course at the same time as someone else that works with you at the same or nearby organization, this is not a group assignment. If you have any questions about completing the assignment, reach out to your instructor or course leader.

Organizational Culture and Climate Assessment Tool

Adapted from Marquis, B., & Huston, C.J. (2017). Assessing the organizational culture, in Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (9th ed.). Wolters Kluwer, p. 307).

1. Physical Environment
   1. What is the visual appeal of the environment- clean, some areas recently remodeled, well lit.
   2. Is the environment guest friendly? Yes, clearly visible signs inside the building and outside. Welcoming feeling when you walk in, plenty of space for meetings staff providers and patients, privacy, and quiet areas available, large dining area along with a smaller food and sitting areas (java joe’s).

e.g. access to different locations within the facility, treatment areas clearly marked, waiting areas/lobbies are well furnished and welcoming, spaces large enough for groups (families, patients, and providers) to meet in privacy or quietness, dining facilities adequate for usage, etc.?

1. Sufficient space for colleagues, team, interdepartmental meetings? Many meeting areas with ample space and privacy throughout the hospital.
2. Designated chapel or worship space? Yes, a dedicated worship space
3. Other observations of physical environment? Masks available at entrances’, hand sanitizers out in the open for all to use, many restrooms

2. Environmental Safety
   1. Hallways, passageways, elevators, stairwells clean, free from clutter, and well illuminated.  YES
   2. A safety committee exists and is actively engaged- YES and meets monthly
   3. Security services needed and provided? Hospital has security 24/7, makes rounds in the hospital each shift and is called to specific areas when needed.
   4. Equipment maintained in good working order? Yes, equipment is tagged when not working and taken to be repaired.
3. Social Environment
   1. Organization-wide social events held periodically, especially around holidays or professional days? Around Christmas they have Santa come in and staff can bring in their children to have breakfast, do crafts and picture with Santa. The organization has a dinner for those who have reached milestones such as 5,10,25 years of service, etc. We are encouraged to attend the heart walk, etc.
   2. Organization events well attended? Yes, many people attend and support the hospitals in many ways
   3. Interdepartmental socialization is positive? For the most part it is positive. Sometimes there is frustration between departments such as ED and Floor or Surgery and floor when trying to transfer a patient and everyone is busy.
   4. Any departments preferred or disliked? I did not pick up on any one being disliked over another; I think when we are stressed during these times of increased numbers of covid patients then people get grumpy but areas are not disliked.  For the most part I did not hear one area is preferred over another, people are pretty happy in their departments, those that are not looking to stay as a bedside nurse are looking to do something different such as quality work.
   5. Evidence of colleague or employee socialization outside of work? There are a number of staff, especially in the surgery areas, that do socialize and have built friendships outside of work. In our quality department we gather together outside of work which helps crate team building which is fun and bonds our relationships and bring us to another level of support with the department.
   6. Staff and colleagues appear to like each other Yes, you can hear collaboration, laughs, see smiles, hear them asking each other if they need help or can they help.
   7. How are interactions between staff and visitors? Staff acknowledges others in the hallway by saying hello, good day, asking if they need help finding something.
4. Organizational power structure
   1. Where is the seat of power within the organization? Senior Leadership
   2. What is the balance of power seen between departments? I believe it is pretty equal
   3. Is special treatment/perks given to some, i.e., parking preferences, dining perks. We all have designated areas to park – white for staff, yellow for patients and there are areas specifically for physicians so they are the only special treatment for parking that I am aware of
   4. What symbols of importance or power are visible/obvious? ??

How the hospital was founded and our Mission, vision and core values.

1. Are some referred to or addressed always by their surname or titles – YES
2. Are lines of authority clear and followed?- with Senior leaders lines of authority are clear and followed
3. How is informal power managed? Town halls to share information, newsletters – this or organization wide. If I hear something then I bring it up during huddle “I heard through the grapevine, this being said, I would like to clear up that misconception. We are doing this, does anyone have any questions”?

5. Professional and personal support
   1. Provisions for professional development of staff available and supported? An allotted amount for professional development, the ability to become certified in an area, ex: Orthopedic certification
   2. Educational reimbursement for degree work? Yes, they have tuition reimbursement up yo 4000.00/yr, they also have scholarships you can apply for.
   3. Recognition awards and perks? Daisy awards, specific years of recognition gift, discount programs you can take advantage of.
   4. Adequate staff lounge or gathering areas? Yes – clean with plenty of room, ability to use fridge for lunches, have utensils available, etc.
   5. Organization supports social functions/holiday parties financially- The organization us to support social functions such a pot lucks (not financially) prior to covid. Some area do have holiday parties and are supported financially. This is not considered extra spending and is not something we can due any more due to the financial issues from covid.
6. Organizational communication
   1. How does communication most frequently occur?
      1. Eg, email, unit-wide postings, verbally, snail-mail, etc I would say email first, then units verbally and postings, we also have monthly town hall meetings which is still done virtual, videos from President of company sent out.
   2. Does informal communication exist?
      1. e.g. grapevines, water-cooler discussions, texting, – This does exist
      2. How reliable is informal communication? The reliability is minimal as people tend to put their own spin on it.
   3. Where does important information get communicated?
      1. Staff lounge, physician’s ready rooms, parking lots, during procedures? Huddles, unit meetings, emails
   4. Organizational taboos
      1. Are there any topics off limits for discussion? Not that I am aware of, I think people are coming around and understanding such topics as mental health, menopause, hair loss and erectile dysfunction can be discussed without feeling shame or fearful.
      2. Do “unofficial rules and policies” that can never be broken exist? As a nurse on the floor, I would say yes. You do not leave something for another nurse to do that you could take care of. Examples, clean up empty IV bags and any messes you made during shift. If you have the time get the patient water or whatever instead of asking the nurses aide to do it,
      3. Do cliques exist that can never be questioned or disrupted? I am sure they do in some areas but I have not experienced this.