PART 1: Work Environment Assessment
Summary of Results – Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory | The assessment score indicates the health of the organization in terms of civility. From the assessment, the organization scored 78, which is in the mildly healthy (70 – 79) category. The outcome revealed that the workplace score was lower than the health category (90-100), as well as the moderately healthy range (80-89). However, the score was higher compared to those workplaces that fall in the barely healthy range (60-69), the unhealthy workplaces (50-59), and very unhealthy (lower than 50). Overall, the organization is relatively healthy in terms of the degree of civility. |
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 Environment Assessment was elaborate but had some surprising elements. For example, I had always believed that the organization was highly civil because I had never witnessed major conflicts among employees. Therefore, I was surprised to learn that the score was only 78. Another surprising aspect of the Workplace Environment Assessment was that conflict was not the only measure of civility in the workplace. The measure includes other elements, such as the relationship between leadership and followers and the potential to work towards a shared vision. The idea that I believed before the assessment, which was confirmed, was the role of leadership in creating a healthy organization. The evaluation provided essential insights into the ability to create a positive working environment. |
What do the results of the Assessment suggest about the health and civility of your workplace? | The results of the Workplace Environment Assessment showed that the organization rated averagely in terms of the level of civility. A score of 78 reveals a positive performance, but a room for improvement to increase the health of the workplace. Employees can work better without any conflict to enhance the quality of clinical practice. Leaders can work with subordinates through transformational leadership to improve the current score and the quality of care they provide to patients. They can change the score from mildly healthy to moderately healthy. The results provide a mechanism for leaders to identify problematic areas and implement effective remedies to improve clinical practice at the workplace. |
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 main concept in research includes civility and the strategies that leaders can implement to improve the health of the workplace. The focus is on the ways that leaders can avoid incivility and create a positive environment for all employees. Clark (2018) studied the potential of combining cognitive rehearsal, simulation, and evidence-based scripting to deal with incivility. The theory and concepts relate to the assessment results because they provide the means to improve the health of the organization. Such approaches can change the current score from 78 to more than 80. Leaders should learn and understand the concepts, theory, and the evidence-based mechanisms they can implement to improve their workplace.
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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. | The hospital where I work could benefit from using the theory proposed by Clark (2018) to improve the level of civility. The hospital could use cognitive rehearsal theory in training nurses to identify causes of incivility and use effective psychological mechanisms to prevent the negative outcome. The organization could improve the level of civility through training using a blend of strategies, including debriefing, simulation, deliberate practice, and evidence-based scripting. The theory is useful in the creation of a culture that supports civility in a health care setting. Overall, the method can inform the development of an evidence-based practice that includes various approaches to address incivility in the workplace.
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General Notes/Comments | My organization has a relatively civil working environment because employees relate to leaders effectively to achieve a shared mission. However, since it has a score of 78 in the Workplace Environment Assessment, the organization should implement strategies proposed in research to improve its health. Leaders could apply evidence-based strategies, including debriefing and cognitive rehearsal as well as simulation, evidence-based scripting. If effectively adapted to the culture of the organization, the management will increase the level of civility in the hospital. |
Part 2: Reviewing the Literature
Research focuses on effective mechanisms to address the issue of incivility in the workplace. Some scholars have focused on specific strategies that leaders in health care can use to deal with the challenge and create a positive workplace. Clark (2018) studied a blend of strategies, such as CR, simulation, and scripting. The author revealed the efficacy of these strategies in creating constructive work relationships. For example, leaders should train nurses to use cognitive rehearsal to develop a positive mental attitude in reaction to incivility in the workplace. Evidence-based training methods are proven effective in clinical settings (Clark & Kenski, 2017). The article is relevant to nursing students and also applicable to practicing caregivers because such information assists in developing the mechanisms to deal with cases of incivility in organizations. Training employees can create and enhance a culture that supports civility.
Research provides evidence-based strategies to address incivility in the working environment. Clark (2018) offers essential knowledge for nurses and their leaders to improve the Work Environment Assessment’s results. The outcome indicated that the organization performs positively, but the leadership can improve the score by using the specific strategies proposed in research. Clark, Olender, Cardoni, and Kenski (2011) and Griffin and Clark (2014) offer significant insight into solving the problem of incivility in the organization to have a better score in future assessment. The leaders should train nurses and other care providers to adopt evidence-based strategies. Such training will change the current organizational culture and address any sources of incivility to make the workplace healthier (Lachman, 2014). Trained nurses and other caregivers can identify potential threats to civility and implement remedies before it affects their work relationships. Therefore, research provides critical evidence of practical measures that can address incivility and improve health care.
The research provides evidence of the efficacy of specific methods of identifying and addressing cases of incivility in the workplace. Evidence-based methods, such as CR can be used alongside other approachess, such as deliberate practice and debriefing to enhance the level of civility in the organization. The theory is useful in workplaces that are uncivil or those that seek to improve their level of civility. Therefore, leaders should understand the theory and concepts to apply them effectively in clinical practice,
Part 3: Evidence-Based Strategies to Create High-Performance Interprofessional Teams
Civility is an essential condition for success when working in interprofessional teams in a healthcare environment. Therefore, leadership should implement effective mechanisms to improve the health of a workplace and enhance the collaboration of various professionals. They should use available and search for additional evidence to ensure that the strategies they implement are tested and proven to be effective in improving work relations. Leaders should use leadership styles, such as the transformational approach, to create effective change while working with subordinates to enhance the working environment (Marshall & Broome, 2017). The leadership approach will change the organizational culture to improve interpersonal collaboration because it includes every member of the organization in the leadership of the health care facility. Although leaders can use various approaches to enhance interprofessional collaboration, culture change and training are practical aspects to address drawbacks evident from the Work Environment Assessment, while innovation and creativity will create effective practices.
One of the ways to create effective interprofessional teams in the health care setting is to change the workplace culture. Leaders should change the clinical practices of all professionals, including nurses, to address incivility and create successful teams. They should model the kind of teamwork they desire in the work environment (Pfaff, Baxter, Jack, & Ploeg, 2014). Such changes will enable them to establish team-based care and improve the health of the hospital from the current level. The most crucial step to improve the workplace and address the current challenges in achieving civility and effective interprofessional team-work is to create a supportive culture. Overall, the organizational culture has a significant impact on teamwork in health care settings.
The culture change can be achieved through practical training of employees to improve efficiency in interprofessional collaboration. Leaders should train various interprofessional collaboration partners in areas that identify weaknesses to improve the working environment. For example, they can develop communication skills to address conflict when different professionals cooperate to enhance the quality of care offered by the hospital. Training will help to create a culture that supports civility and a positive working environment (Nayebi & Majd Teymouri, 2015). Furthermore, they can educate care providers to apply the evidence-based strategies to identify and prevent cases of incivility (Clark, 2018). Training is critical in the workplace because it helps nurses and other professionals to understand their duties and roles in interprofessional collaboration.
Effective leadership is at the core of improving work practices in health care settings. Leaders create the vision of a productive working environment and motivate employees to support it (Boyatzis, Rochford, & Taylor, 2015). The transformational leadership style can help employees to cooperate in teams to achieve shared vision and objectives. Leaders motivate employees to work hard toward common goals. The approach also helps them to improve the working environment to achieve positive outcomes for employees and the workforce. In general, leadership is at the core of success in clinical practice.
Innovation and creativity are other vital strategies that improve clinical practice and enhance the health of the workplace. The qualities are critical to promote teamwork and ensure that they develop a sense of harmony in the hospital. Innovation is also at the core of accountability by members of interprofessional teams. Professionals in health care should work towards building functional and practical teams to improve the work of various care providers. They can use tools such as TeamSTEPPS and Team Development Measure to support innovation in the workplace (Gittell, Beswick, Goldmann, & Wallack, 2015). Innovative teams will improve the practice and quality of care provided to patients.
Overall, the analysis proposes effective strategies to address the drawbacks revealed in the Work Environment Assessment and to improve clinical practice. The leadership should implement mechanisms, such as culture change and training, to address the impediments and encourage innovation and creativity to create effective methods. However, leaders should collect more evidence to improve practice and explore more effective means to address incivility in the workplace. With the proposed changes, leaders will enhance the health of the organization from the current score.