Organizational Values
- A set of beliefs every organization has
- Typically written down
- Strong inherent corporate culture
- Serve to guide administrative and employee’s actions
- Respect, integrity, excellence, trust, and caring
- May have significant differences
Organizational values summarize the goals of a company and the means of obtaining them. Healthcare organizational values emphasize integrity and care for the patient (Yarbrough, Martin, & Alfred, 2016).
Nursing Values
- Promotion of health in the community
- Needs of the patient come first
- Cost requirements cannot compromise treatment
- Utilizing nursing frameworks in practice
- Personal values may differ from organizational values
- Defined by ANA
Nursing values are based on holistic principles that put the health of the patient first (Yarbrough et al., 2016). These values may come in conflict with for-profit organizational values.
Alignment between Organizational and Nursing Values
- Is necessary to ensure organizational effectiveness
- Nurses work better when values are shared
- Turnover rates increase if values conflict
- Emphasis on profits results in quality drops
- Patient safety must always come first
- For-profit hospitals have higher chances of conflict
Alignment between organizational and nursing values is necessary for healthcare organizations. Healthcare is a value-driven industry. Lack of alignment results in quality drop and high turnover (Yarbrough et al., 2016).
Communication Techniques and Workplace Challenges
- Depersonalizing conflicts
- Solving conflicts immediately
- Keep superiors not involved if possible
- State complaints clearly and concisely
- Have a mediator to resolve a conflict
- Promote teamwork
Workplace challenges often arise in the form of conflicts. To resolve these challenges, a nurse should be impartial, direct, yet understanding. Settle conflicts privately, if possible (Keller, Eggenberger, Belkowitz, Sarsekeyeva, & Zito, 2013).
Techniques to Promote Group Collaboration
- Open-door policy
- Promote giving feedback
- Define individual roles and responsibilities
- Building team spirit
- Handle conflict carefully
- Communicate effectively
Group collaboration in nursing is a complex process involving numerous forms of communication. Ensuring group transparency, willingness to give feedback, and communicating efficiently would improve group collaboration (Keller et al., 2013).
Communication Techniques to Promote Problem Solving
- Identifying the problem
- Identifying all the stakeholders involved
- List possible solutions
- Evaluate the options
- Provide feedback
- Contingencies, mentoring, and evaluation
In nursing, collaboration serves as a primary method of problem-solving. Since nurses work as a team, it is paramount to involve everyone in the discussion (Keller et al., 2013). The following list of techniques provides a systematic guide to problem-solving.
The Influence of System Needs and Cultural Health on Outcomes
- Cultural heritage is important
- Different patients have different cultural needs
- Attention to cultural preferences improves satisfaction
- Patient satisfaction improves outcomes
- Nurses are trained in cultural sensitivity
- Different social and cultural backgrounds influence system needs
Attention to the patient’s culture and system needs has become one of the main motifs of modern nursing care. Depending on a patient’s culture, some approaches may be better received and effective than others (Holland, 2017). A patient’s needs define treatment.
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
- The most cost-effective way of preventing disease
- Requires cultural sensitivity to be effective
- Works on individual and community levels
- Nurses are primary agents
- Aimed at vulnerable groups
- Effectiveness depends on many external factors
As healthcare agents, nurses are required to promote healthcare and prevent diseases. Disease prevention programs are cost-effective. Cultural and community sensitivity are required for vulnerable minorities (Edelman & Kudzma, 2017).
Example Case: Lack of Nursing and Organizational Values Co-alignment
- Healthcare setting: Private primary care organization
- Budget deficit throughout 2016-2017
- Needed to increase income
- Put an emphasis on quantity instead of the quality of care
- Nurses were told to spend less than 15 minutes per patient
- Nursing and organizational values did not align
A private healthcare organization I am familiar with changed its values in favor of profits over quality service. They tried to service more patients by reducing service time.
Results
- Temporary profit increase
- Significant drop in quality
- One-third of nursing personnel quit
- Increased customer dissatisfaction
- Reduced successful patient outcomes
- Healthcare organization closed
While the strategy had a short-lived positive effect on profits, the drop in quality and conflict between organizational and nursing values ended with a loss of profits, customers, and employees.
References
Edelman, C. L., & Kudzma, E. C. (2017). Health promotion throughout the lifespan (9th ed.). New York, NY: Elsevier.
Holland, K. (2017). Cultural awareness in nursing and health care: An introductory text (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Keller, K. B., Eggenberger, T. L., Belkowitz, J., Sarsekeyeva, M., & Zito, A. R. (2013). Implementing successful interprofessional communication opportunities in health care education: A qualitative analysis. International Journal of Medical Education, 4, 253-259.
Yarbrough, S., Martin, P., & Alfred, D. (2016). Professional values, job satisfaction, career development, and intent to stay. Nursing Ethics, 24(6), 675-685.