NURS 6053, Week 9, Workplace Environment Assessment

Workplace Environment Assessment William Jud Humphries MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner Tract, Walden University NURS 6053, Week 9, Workplace Environment Assessment Dr. Donnelli October 31, 2021 Introduction The workplace environment in healthcare faces multiple challenge such as economic constraints, increasing technology advances, interpreting high quantities of data, and increased demand for patience for complex with medical needs. These challenges create stressful in the emotionally taxing environments. The American Nurses Association and the Joint Commission report that incivility and bullying are at epidemic levels (Kroning, 2019). Workplace harassment and bullying are commonly discussed and educated on in leading healthcare organizations. The work environment assessment tool provides insight to an employee's views and opinions of the individuals workplace environment. Part 1: Work Environment Assessment Review the Work Environment Assessment Template you completed for this Module’s Discussion. The Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory was informative in helping me understand how I perceive my workplace. Civility and respect in the workplace are related to increased job satisfaction, feelings of equality among employees, and an overall healthy environment. It is strongly associated with increased morale and teamwork, and improved supervisor and staff relationships. Workers in a healthy work environment have lower levels of sick leave, turn over, invest more time in personal and professional development. Being uncivil towards each other in a work environment will have a domino effect. When uncivility is normalized or left unaddressed, these uncivil and disruptive behaviors may emerge into an incivility spiral, depicted among a continuum from an unintentional act leading to intentional retaliation, escalating to work bullying and even violence (Clark et al, 2011). Describe the results of the Work Environment Assessment you completed at your workplace. According to the inventory I completed for my home clinic, we received a 91. I gave almost every category a four or five except for the second to last statement. Which would indicate a very healthy workplace. I don't believe our organization attracts and retains the best and brightest. The organization I work for is a massive organization in Forbes Global 500. Our interviewing and hiring practices are very structured. I personally believe I gain more insight into an applicant's skills and personality through a one-on-one tour and interview. Fostering a healthy and civil work environment is important throughout our organization. Through daily huddles and an openness by management to listen and address all employee and patient concerns, we maintain a 100% retention rating and high employee satisfaction scores at my primary clinic. Identify two things that surprised you about the results and one idea you believed prior to conducting the Assessment that was confirmed. I wasn't very surprised about any aspect of the work environment assessment That I submitted. I gave this assessment to the rest of my staff and allowed them to anonymously fill out the assessment form. I was surprised to see that their score was a little lower than mine. Their average score was 89. Two areas that surprised me on their assessments were that some members didn't fully believe that we lived by a shared vision and some staff didn't believe that they were involved in shared governance. The one area of their assessment that confirmed a prior belief of mine was that we work in a moderately to very healthy work environment. I believe there is always a way we can strengthen our civility and respect for each other and strengthen our work environment. Explain what the results of the Assessment suggest about the health and civility of your workplace. As I previously stated, I gave my work environment in 91. This score indicates a very healthy work environment. My staff, when given the assessment anonymously, gave an average score of 89. Their results fall on the high side of the moderately healthy work environment category. This indicates that my staff and I consider the work environment at our home clinic as civil and healthy. The workplace assessment did identify areas of improvement. Working together to bolster a shared vision and governance in our clinic is an area that we can improve on. Part 2: Reviewing the Literature Briefly describe the theory or concept presented in the article(s) you selected. Clark et al (2011) pointed out that work environments that are uncivil and disruptive staff can fall into a downward spiral or domino effect that continues feeding and encouraging negative workplace attitudes and behaviors. As I have stated in previous discussions, I have been tasked with managing another clinic beyond my home clinic. This clinic (Fifth Ward) falls on the opposite end of the spectrum for civility from my home clinic. I was only able to give this survey to one of the staff members at that clinic, and they gave a score of 64. This clinic has had poor management for years, and it has been a challenge to change the culture. I found it interesting that some of the staff would engage in some of the behaviors listed in the articles I reviewed for this assignment. When normalized or left unaddressed, these uncivil and disruptive behaviors may emerge into an incivility spiral, depicted among a continuum from an unintentional act leading to intentional retaliation, escalating to work bullying and even violence (Clark et al, 2011). Explain how the theory or concept presented in the article(s) relates to the results of your Work Environment Assessment. Our organizations have zero tolerance policy against bullying and workplace harassment. Kroning (2019) points out how we must make a commitment to foster a culture of safety, model respectfulness, promote effective and professional communication, follow a professional code of conduct, encourage and protect those reporting, and provide support through employee assistance programs to ensure that all employees work in a safe environment. The American Nurses Association (ANA) acknowledges the environment that nurses work in can sometimes lead to stressful situations where emotions can “boil over”. These type situations can negatively impact the results of the work environment assessment. Therefore, it's important to maintain a zero-tolerance policy against bullying and workplace harassment. It is important that managers adhere to this zero-tolerance policy in order to protect health care professionals and patients from risk of physical and emotional harm. Disruptive behaviors among healthcare workers threaten the safety and well-being of both patients and staff (Longo, 2010). Explain how your organization could apply the theory highlighted in your selected article(s) to improve organizational health and/or create stronger work teams. As stated previously, our organization has a zero-tolerance policy against bullying and workplace harassment. Our organization is also implemented annual compliance training that includes and encourages and protects reporting of compliance and harassment concerns. Our organization also has a zero-tolerance policy against retaliation from management towards staff that report compliance or harassment issues. Many of the theories and recommendations from Clark (2011) and Kroning (2019) are currently being utilized by our organization, and these theories are currently embedded in our policies and procedures. 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. While many of the strategies supported in the literature that I have referenced are used by my organization, some of these strategies and policies have not been utilized at the clinic level up some clinics. The two strategies that need to be utilized everywhere include a zero-tolerance policy towards bullying and workplace harassment and promoting a healthy and civil work environment through the use of open communication and sharing of information between a management and staff. A zero-tolerance policy helps to remove staff that are unwilling to treat others with dignity and respect, and it shows employees we want them to be free from risk of physical and emotional harm. The use of open communication and information sharing between all members of a team is essential in achieving a common goal and implementation of new practices. Recommend at least two strategies that can be implemented to bolster successful practices revealed in your Work Environment Assessment. Open communication is the most important strategy in leadership. Ensuring that every member of our team is aware of and understands our organization's common goals is imperative for us all to be successful in providing the highest level of patient care. Open communication involves encouraging team members to ask questions. A back-and-forth dialogue is important so that we may all fully understand and successfully implement interventions and practices. If there are problems or complications with a new intervention or practice, it is usually the team member affected by the intervention or practice that will identify areas for improvement. Those team members should be comfortable expressing those concerns to their leadership. Informing and educating staff is the second most important strategy in leadership. Annual compliance training, harassment training, diversity and inclusiveness training, and conflict resolution education are important for all staff and team members to understand an organization's expectations. Utilizing staff meetings and mock drills helps staff to understand de-escalation techniques, self-defense strategies, and situational awareness in the event of a hostile employee or patient event. Healthcare workers need clear, evidence based, achievable strategies to ensure that incivility is addressed timely and correctly (Kroning, 2019). Conclusion In healthcare we should all have one simple common goal, to provide the highest level of care towards our patients. This doesn't mean we, as healthcare workers, should sacrifice our own emotional and environmental right to a civil and hostile free work environment. We should strive, through team effort, to assist each other and our patients to create a positive, inclusive, and compassionate work environment for everyone throughout every level of our organization. An organizational culture is a combined belief system throughout the entire organization. If that organizational belief system contains distrust, resentment, and selfishness, every aspect of the organization will suffer from negative consequences. if the organizational belief system utilizes trust, team members that model good behavior, utilization of employee feedback, zero tolerance policy's, collaborative practices, and utilizes a professional code of conduct, the organization will thrive and prosper.