NRSE 6053A: Interprofessional Organizational and Systems Leadership

Running Head: WORK ENVIRONMENT ASSESSMENT 1

WORK ENVIRONMENT ASSESSMENT 2

Walden University

Dr. Bernadette Pollard

Francis Mercado

Overview.

Work Environment Assessment is a practice or a process in which employees evaluate various factors within a workplace to ascertain how well the management supports and ensures that there is a conducive working environment for its workforce. Worth noting is that during Work Environment Assessment it is advised to assess how the company or organization one may wish to work with or still to work with operates in terms of its internal communication(Hargis, 2014). This provides clear knowledge of the extent to which employees are involved in organizational activities, particularly on the issues related to ongoing projects and other processes that are meant to improve the work climate in an organization. The essence of conducting a Work Environment Assessment is to help determine various components such as management style, type of leadership, employee recognition and rewards, organizational reputation, as well as employees' training and career development programs so as to assess how the said component facilitates effective productivity through its employees.

Part 1: Work Environment Assessment.

Describe the results of the Work Environment Assessment you completed in your workplace.

From the review of my Work Environment Assessment, much was noted in terms of the workload, quality of care provided to patients, nurse patients ratio, management style, change management within the workplace as well as the existing mode of communication between the staff and the management(Hargis, 2014). After assessing the results obtained from the exercise, I can say that the score of my workplace was 27. As per the assessment scale, this value sounds scary to employees dues to incivility and other challenges associated with the workplace environment. It must be noted that the outcomes of the Work Environment Assessment were a clear indication that the working environment is not healthy nor supportive towards promoting the well-being of the staff and the patients. Sudden change

Identify two things that surprised you about the results and one idea you believed before conducting the Assessment that was confirmed.

From the results obtained during Work Environment Assessment, I can say I never got surprised that much because of the knowledge I had from experience. But what I may say with respect to the assessment results is that the unhealthiness of the working environment resulted from sudden changes that were prematurely introduced by the new management(Hargis, 2014). This not only worsened the already volatile environment but also made it hard for nurses to cope up with the new changes, an aspect that saw many nurses quit their job for other careers. Another key finding from the Assessment is that the workplace lacked effective communication between the management and the staff. This, in turn, impacted the ability of the management team and the staff to cooperate and work towards one objective.

Explain what the results of the Assessment suggest about the health and civility of your workplace.

The assessment result suggests that the workplace is unhealthy and uncivility due to the over domination of the management with the increased level of hostility and insubordination. This has made the workplace too hostile and abusive, thereby affecting the morale of the staff(Ulusoy & Polatkan, 2016).

Part 2: Reviewing the Literature.

Briefly describe the theory or concept presented in the article(s) you selected.

In any organization, effective communication and good leadership are the best strategies to deploy. Based on the article selected, I can say that among the basic concepts and theories acquired include effective communication in promoting a good working environment alongside authentic leadership. When employees feel respect, the morale and motivation to execute their duties as expected is boosted. But when bullying, incivility, hostility, and lack of proper ways of sharing organizational ideas make employees feel less valued and even oppressed(Ulusoy & Polatkan, 2016). This affects their ability to perform their duties in the required manner. Many studies from the article I selected have shown that my workplace lacks some of these concepts, which are essential for effective employee management.

Explain how the theory or concept presented in the article(s) relates to the results of your Work Environment Assessment.

The concepts presented in the article selected relate to the Work Environment Assessment in the sense that it may work place there is no lack of good leadership and communication. These two aspects determine the success of an organization. From the Assessment, my organization lacked authentic leadership, which greatly contributed to the challenges of management, leading to the disintegration of various critical processes within the healthcare organization(Ulusoy & Polatkan, 2016).

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 organization may apply this concept by initiating proper communication strategies that will not only improve workflow but also facilitate effective sharing of healthcare knowledge across various departments and extend the communication to promote safety and quality care for patients. Through team-building, continuous employee training, and career development, authentic leadership can be developed, and new skills in terms of leadership acquired for implementation of change to promote productivity and well-being of nurses. Collaboration among nurses should be embraced at all costs, and the management should consider involving nurses in many of the decisions made before implementing them, and by so doing, success will be achieved at any given endeavor.

Part 3: Evidence-Based Strategies to Create High-Performance Interprofessional Teams

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

Since the workplace is not safe for the employees, it will be highly recommended that management establish better management strategies that will make employees feel safe and valued in their work. One of such strategies is to publicly reward and recognize employees who have performed well in various departments. Rewarding serves as a motivational strategy that not only increases morale but also makes employees work hard and objectively towards realizing organizational objectives, vision, and mission(Chandrashekar, Moodley, & Jain October 2019. Secondly, the organization also will need to adopt better and effective communication strategies that focus on providing clear, accurate, and thorough communication to facilitate sharing of critical ideas among the healthcare professionals, patients, and the management. This will make it easy for the management to establish challenging issues and perhaps prioritize solving them to enable nurses to concentrate on their daily work.

Recommend at least two strategies that can be implemented to bolster successful practices revealed in your Work Environment Assessment.

As mentioned early, Work Environment Assessment results revealed that the workplace was not that good, and there was much hostility and oppression from the management. In order to bolster the success of the practices recommended for my workplace, the key strategies to facilitate all this will be the enactment of a policy that prevents violence, oppression, and harassment at the workplace(Chandrashekar, Moodley, & Jain October 2019. Secondly, progressive training of employees to create awareness of the key factors to adopt for workplace violence prevention will be the best path to walk.

References

Beard, C. A., & Barrow, C. W. (2019). Promote the General Welfare. The Republic, 106-118. doi:10.4324/9781315134536-8

Chandrashekar, P., Moodley,, S., & JainOctober, S. H. (2019, October 17). 5 Obstacles to Home-Based Health Care, and How to Overcome Them. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2019/10/5-obstacles-to-home-based-health-care-and-how-to-overcome-them

Hargis, B. C. (2014). LANL Safety Conscious Work Environment (SCWE) Self-Assessment. doi:10.2172/1119592

Ulusoy, H., & Polatkan, R. (2016). Assessment of the nurses' work environment using the nursing work index scale. Cumhuriyet Medical Journal, 38(4), 246-246. doi:10.7197/cmj.v38i3.5000196868