NURS 6053 Workplace Environment Assessment

NURS 6053 Workplace Environment Assessment

NURS 6053 Workplace Environment Assessment

Discussion: Workplace Environment Assessment

How healthy is your workplace?

You may think your current organization operates seamlessly, or you may feel it has many issues. You may experience or even observe things that give you pause. Yet, much as you wouldn’t try to determine the health of a patient through mere observation, you should not attempt to gauge the health of your work environment based on observation and opinion. Often, there are issues you perceive as problems that others do not; similarly, issues may run much deeper than leadership recognizes.

There are many factors and measures that may impact organizational health. Among these is civility. While an organization can institute policies designed to promote such things as civility, how can it be sure these are managed effectively? In this Discussion, you will examine the use of tools in measuring workplace civility.

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.

By Day 3 of Week 7

Post a brief description of the results of your Work Environment Assessment. Based on the results, how civil is your workplace? Explain why your workplace is or is not civil. Then, describe a situation where you have experienced incivility in the workplace. How was this addressed? Be specific and provide examples.

By Day 6 of Week 7

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by sharing ideas for how shortcomings discovered in their evaluations and/or their examples of incivility could have been managed more effectively.

Submission and Grading Information

Week 7 Discussion Workplace Environment and Safety Sample Approach

A healthy nurse workplace refers to a safe, satisfying and empowering environment. Building and consistently keeping a healthy work environment is critical for patients’ safety, nurse satisfaction, workforce retention, and care quality, all of which are critical to the financial survival of healthcare organizations. The six key factors that enable employers to foster a sustainable healthy workplace culture are – true collaboration, skilled communication, effective decision-making, meaningful recognition, appropriate staffing, and authentic leadership.

 True collaboration is a synergistic relationship formed when two or more entities work together to achieve something far better than the sum of their separate powers and efforts. Regarding authentic leadership, the leader models and encourages others to emulate a good work environment (Broome & Marshall, 2021). Skilled communication is an open, engaging, and productive conversation among nurses that enhances team collaboration, a faster adaptation of new nurses, and fosters civility (Clark, 2019). Meaningful recognition acknowledges personnel behavior and skill influencing the patient’s nursing care.

Recognition, promotion, and incentives increase nurses’ loyalty to the job. A workplace health assessment is a process of obtaining information on the variables that support or hinder employee health at a specific company or hospital and finding potential possibilities to improve or address those problems. According to the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory tool, personnel are not only motivated by a healthy work environment but also have a high degree of civility (Clark et al., 2011). The paper reflects on an assessment of my workplace based on Clark’s tool, a snapshot of my work environment, and encounters with incivility cases.

Workplace Civility Measurement

The Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory revealed that my workplace is moderately healthy after documenting a score of 80/100. Top-rated features in the assessment were transparency, team collaboration, skilled communication, wellness, and effective leadership. The attributes fall mainly under personal motivation factors and are critical for a healthy environment. Low-rated attributes were meaningful recognition and effective decision-making making. The low scores centered on traits with organizational responsibility. The scores could pose an issue with the organization’s structure and practices for employee welfare. The workplace is civil, as evidenced by high scores on “discernible level of trust,” “transparent and respectful communication,” and “fair and respectful treatment of employees.”

Workplace Incivility Case Scenario

Workplace incivility refers to low-intensity social behavior typically regarded as unacceptable in the workplace and can be used to harm, belittle, or undermine another person or group (Clark, 2015). An example of a case witnessed during my attachment is a fresh graduate nurse in his late thirties who shifted from a successful job in the corporate world to nursing. Years of professional expertise, valuable parental insights, and a calm attitude disposition were all assets brought to the table by this nurse. This nurse was enthusiastic about understanding the unit’s norms, highly motivated, and quick to develop tactile skills.

However, he made enemies with one of the most outspoken departmental nurses who had a position in day-to-day operations. The nurse snubbed his questions and concerns. Furthermore, he was unfairly assigned responsibilities and given fewer days off despite being a family man. Being fully aware of his rights, the nurse raised awareness to a more superior leader. The work schedules were enough to measure the incivility besides the colleagues witnessing it. The Nursing Director dug into the matter and formed an interim investigative committee. Finally, the two nurses were summoned, had a conflict mediation process, and were allocated to different departments. Later the hospital developed automated shift scheduling to curb such issues.

Conclusion

Incivility in the nursing workplace causes physical and emotional anguish to victims and affects the quality of patient care. Interventions to improve the situation include raising awareness about workplace incivility, training on effective communication methods to combat workplace incivility, and drills to practice the newly learned communication techniques. Facilities and organizations should establish acceptable and unacceptable behavior rules and procedures for reporting and dealing with occurrences of incivility.

References

Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.

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. (2019). Combining cognitive rehearsal, simulation, and evidence-based scripting to address incivility. Nurse Educator, 44(2), 64–68. https://doi.org/10.1097/nne.0000000000000563

Clark, C. M., Olender, L., Cardoni, C., & Kenski, D. (2011). Fostering civility in nursing education and practice: Nurse leader perspectives. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 41(7/8), 324-330. doi: 10.1097/NNA.0b013e31822509c4

Assignment: Workplace Environment Assessment

Clearly, diagnosis is a critical aspect of healthcare. However, the ultimate purpose of a diagnosis is the development and application of a series of treatments or protocols. Isolated recognition of a health issue does little to resolve it.

In this module’s Discussion, you applied the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory to diagnose potential problems with the civility of your organization. In this Portfolio Assignment, you will continue to analyze the results and apply published research to the development of a proposed treatment for any issues uncovered by the assessment.

To Prepare:

• Review the Resources and examine the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory, found on page 20 of Clark (2015).
• Review the Work Environment Assessment Template.
• Reflect on the output of your Discussion post regarding your evaluation of workplace civility and the feedback received from colleagues.
• Select and review one or more of the following articles found in the Resources:
  • Clark, Olender, Cardoni, and Kenski (2011)
  • Clark (2018)
  • Clark (2015)
  • Griffin and Clark (2014)

The Assignment (3-6 pages total):

Part 1: Work Environment Assessment (1-2 pages)

• Review the Work Environment Assessment Template you completed for this Module’s Discussion.
• Describe the results of the Work Environment Assessment you completed on your workplace.
• Identify two things that surprised you about the results and one idea you believed prior to conducting the Assessment that was confirmed.
• Explain what the results of the Assessment suggest about the health and civility of your workplace.

Part 2: Reviewing the Literature (1-2 pages)

• 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.
• 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.

Part 3: Evidence-Based Strategies to Create High-Performance Interprofessional Teams (1–2 pages)

• Recommend at least two strategies, supported in the literature, that can be implemented to address any shortcomings revealed in your Work Environment Assessment.
• Recommend at least two strategies that can be implemented to bolster successful practices revealed in your Work Environment Assessment.

By Day 7 of Week 9

Submit your Workplace Environment Assessment Assignment.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK9Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 9 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 9 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK9Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.

Module 5: Organizational Change (Weeks 10-11)

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Forecasting Organizational Change [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Recommend strategies to lead organizational change
• Justify plans for implementing and managing organizational change in organizational/workplace settings
• Create plans for communicating proposed changes to stakeholders
• Recommend risk mitigation plans when managing organizational changes

Due By	Assignment
Week 10, Days 1–7	Read the Learning Resources. Begin to compose your Assignment.
Week 11, Day 1	Continue to compose your Assignment.
Week 11, Day 2	Deadline to submit your Assignment.

Photo Credit: Steve Debenport / E+ / Getty Images

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 8, “Practice Model Design, Implementation, and Evaluation” (pp. 195–246)

Cullen, L., & Adams, S. L. (2012). Planning for implementation of evidence-based practice. Journal of Nursing Administration, 42(4), 222–230. Retrieved from https://medcom.uiowa.edu/annsblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/JONA-FINAL-Cullen-2012.pdf

Pollack, J., & Pollack, R. (2015). Using Kotter’s eight stage process to manage an organizational change program: Presentation and practice. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 28(1), 51-66.

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Seijts, G. H., & Gandz, J. (2016). Transformational change and leader character. Business Horizons, 61(2), 239-249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2017.11.005

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Tistad, M., Palmcrantz, S., Wallin, L., Ehrenberg, A., Olsson, C. B., Tomson, G., …Eldh, A. C. (2016). Developing leadership in managers to facilitate the implementation of national guideline recommendations: A process evaluation of feasibility and usefulness. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 5(8), 477–486. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2016.35. Retrieved from http://www.ijhpm.com/article_3183_5015382bcf9183a74ef7e79b0a941f65.pdf

Required Media

TEDx. (2013, January). Six keys to leading positive change: Rosabeth Moss Kanter at TEDxBeaconStreet [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owU5aTNPJbs

Assignment: Change Implementation and Management Plan

It is one of the most cliché of clichés, but it nevertheless rings true: The only constant is change. As a nursing professional, you are no doubt aware that success in the healthcare field requires the ability to adapt to change, as the pace of change in healthcare may be without rival.

As a professional, you will be called upon to share expertise, inform, educate, and advocate. Your efforts in these areas can help lead others through change. In this Assignment, you will propose a change within your organization and present a comprehensive plan to implement the change you propose.

To Prepare:

• Review the Resources and identify one change that you believe is called for in your organization/workplace.
  • This may be a change necessary to effectively address one or more of the issues you addressed in the Workplace Environment Assessment you submitted in Module 4. It may also be a change in response to something not addressed in your previous efforts. It may be beneficial to discuss your ideas with your organizational leadership and/or colleagues to help identify and vet these ideas.
• Reflect on how you might implement this change and how you might communicate this change to organizational leadership.

The Assignment (5-6-minute narrated PowerPoint presentation):

Change Implementation and Management Plan

Create a narrated PowerPoint presentation of 5 or 6 slides with video that presents a comprehensive plan to implement the change you propose.

Your narrated presentation should be 5–6 minutes in length.

Your Change Implementation and Management Plan should include the following:

• An executive summary of the issues that are currently affecting your organization/workplace (This can include the work you completed in your Workplace Environment Assessment previously submitted, if relevant.)
• A description of the change being proposed
• Justifications for the change, including why addressing it will have a positive impact on your organization/workplace
• Details about the type and scope of the proposed change
• Identification of the stakeholders impacted by the change
• Identification of a change management team (by title/role)
• A plan for communicating the change you propose
• A description of risk mitigation plans you would recommend to address the risks anticipated by the change you propose

By Day 2 of Week 11

Submit your narrated Change Implementation and Management Plan.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK11Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 11 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 11 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK11Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.