I need a response to another students paper, the original prompt was :
Topic: Evidence-Based Leadership Practices
You are considering accepting a new position as a leader. However, prior to accepting the position, you are going to perform an organizational assessment.
How would you design an organizational assessment to establish the current state of:
shared governance,
culture of the organization,
and safety of patient care?
What do you expect to see in each of these areas if they are functioning well?
What will you do to assess if each these areas are functioning well?
It needs to include a bible quote
Organizational Assessment
I have been offered, and accepted in my career, two positions of Director of Rehabilitation in skilled nursing facilities (SNF). Prior to accepting either of these positions, I wanted to be sure that these organizations were suitable and demonstrated a good structure. Some of the issues to be looked at in healthcare organizations include those of “social context and behaviors described in culture-such as respect, appreciation, participation, and communication” (Thomas, 2017, p. 170). The structure of an organization also allows insight to how “new issues, regulatory requirements or lines of business” are handled within the organization (Soderstrom & Weber, 2020). Even as a leader of an organization it is important to remember and reflect on scripture as Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant that yourselves” (ESV). A leader is only as strong as the organization and the team they are leading.
Shared Governance
“Shared governance is a structured model of empowerment gleaned from organizational development experts” (Thomas, 2017, p. 171). It is understood with shared governance that this is a “collaborative structure in which managers and clinicians’ partner to make decisions about clinical and operational practices” (Thomas, 2017, p. 171). There is a tool available for measuring professional governance, it is an 86-item Index of Professional Nursing Governance (IPNG) (Weaver, Hess, Williams, Guinta & Paliwal, 2018). The IPNG “encompasses a continuum of traditional, shared and self-governance” (Weaver et al., 2018)
From my experience in the SNF healthcare setting, it is important that leadership or managers collaborate with clinicians to develop practices and guidelines. Historically speaking with organizations in which I have worked, management are not normally clinicians; meaning that management do not always have a clinical mindset. It is important when developing plans that there is more than a business mindset, but a clinical guideline as well, when caring for patients is the primary goal.
Culture of the Organization
Culture within a healthcare organization is “perceived as an individual value shared by all, suggesting that an individual is responsible for creating and maintaining safety” (Thomas, 2017, p. 177) In making a decision in becoming a valuable asset to a healthcare organization it would be beneficial to learn about the organization’s culture. With one of the Director of Rehabilitation positions I held, I was permitted to attend a day with the current person in that position. I was able to go to daily meetings and interact within the facility and the rehabilitation staff to really get a good understanding, and realistic, of how the culture of the organization would be, if I were to come aboard.
Safety of Patient Care
In the role of Director of Rehabilitation, patient safety is a high priority for concern daily. It is typically the rehabilitation department’s responsibility to oversee the patient handling by staff members to ensure patients are being taken care of appropriately and to also prevent workplace injuries.
The safety culture of an organization is the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behavior that determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, an organization’s health and safety management (Thomas, 2017, p. 181)
As the Director of Rehabilitation, I would want to see a structured training and assessment of staff to be sure they are following recommendations. Proper training and education limits and decrease risk of patient injury. If an organization does not place patient safety high on their priorities, then it would most likely be a deal breaker for me to accept the position as Director of Rehabilitation. With it being a low priority then it is quite likely the organization will not be open to new concepts or guidelines.