Brief Explanation of a Leadership Issue
- Arranging a proper level of unit collaboration
- Increasing overall job satisfaction of units
- Raising the morals of the nursing staff
- Building backgrounds for effective teamwork
- Creating a comfortable environment in a hospital
- Providing a stable operation of all units
Note: For many people, job satisfaction is tightly correlated with the way they collaborate with staff members. If leadership is delivered in a way that is insufficient to raise nurses’ morals, the overall performance of a clinic becomes reduced. As Davis-Ajami, Costa, & Kulik (2014) point out, “there is a gap between best evidence and current health care delivery practice resulting in subpar patient safety and quality outcomes” (p. 17). Eliminating this gap and creating a comfortable work environment is the primary task of a leadership team. A stable clinic operation is only possible if all tasks are paid close attention to.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Nursing Department
- Highly skilled staff, readiness for stressful situations
- Good professional equipment allowing to work faster
- Attendance of a higher number of patients
- Understaffing and low morals of workers
- Higher workload compared to other hospitals
- Weak aesthetical leadership and lack of guidance
Note: Among the strengths of the department one can highlight a well-trained staff of nurses, personnel’s ability to deal with stressful situations, high-quality professional equipment, and the ability to attend more patients per shift. Regarding the weaknesses, the problem of understaffing and, as a result, the issue with low morals of personnel arrive as the major concerns of the management team. While being understaffed, nurses are forced to deal with a higher workload. Also, the lack of guidance leads to less effective decision making.
Opportunities and Threats for the Nursing Department
- Preparedness of the staff to changes
- Learning new ways of working collaboratively
- Attendance of a teamwork-based learning course
- Lack of engagement from higher management
- Nurses’ reluctance to participate in group activities
- Lack of financial support of personnel
Note: The nursing department has created plenty of opportunities for personnel to develop both professionally and personally. Nurses’ readiness for changes and the opportunity to learn new ways of collaborative work serve as a formidable background for raising one’s skill level. According to the research of Uhrenfeldt, Lakanmaa, Flinkman, Basto, & Attree (2014), “collaboration is increasingly promoted as a means of solving shared problems and achieving common goals” (p. 485). However, alongside opportunities, there are clear threats to the department’s operation that require immediate intervention. Thus, the absence of managers’ support, nurses’ unwillingness to participate in training activities, and the lack of funding negatively influence the overall hospital’s operation.
The relevance of the SWOT Analysis
- Helping the department to assess the situation
- Assisting nurses in the evaluation of their skills
- Motivating personnel to arrange a proper teamwork
- Raising moral position of the staff
- Highlighting opportunities that nurses encounter daily
- Bringing the staff together for problem resolving
Note: It is recommended that both managers and employees of the discussed clinic use this SWOT analysis to improve the situation in the nursing department. As Huber (2017) stresses, “leaders guide and motivate nurses to achieve their care provision goals as they practice nursing” (p. 1). Through familiarizing with the outlined strengths and weaknesses, nurses can facilitate a supportive environment and, thus, raise the morals of each other (Uhrenfeldt et al., 2014). While being the largest health care workforce, they can resolve all the existing issues if a proper level of cooperation is established (Davis-Ajami et al., 2014). For the above-mentioned purposes to be achieved, one should never forget that nursing is a service profession, the key mission of which is to deliver care, nurturing, and restoration of human health (Wong, 2015).
Recommendations Based on Current Analysis
- A close investigation of the major weaknesses
- Stimulating better performance through bonus programs
- Inviting public organizations and funds to participate
- Raising hospital ratings through advanced staff training
- Resolving the understaffing issue through the ratings’ increase
- Raising salaries and praising high-performance employees
Note: Among the tasks that the hospital leadership needs to perform to improve the situation, one can highlight a close investigation of the key weaknesses that nurses encounter in their practice and stimulating better performance through a variety of appraisals and bonus programs. Naturally, to have those issues resolved, the hospital needs to find additional sources of funding. It is recommended that the management board address public organizations and funds regarding financial situation improves. When that objective is achieved, one can utilize additional resources and eliminate the understaffing issue through an increase in salaries.
Using Research Data to Create a Strategic Plan for Nursing Department
- Comparing data to those of other organizations
- Using experiences of other health care units
- Focusing on the needs of the hospital
- Developing a strategic model of problems elimination
- Making a presentation for the hospital management
- Giving recommendations to the hospital staff
Note: When developing a strategic plan for a health care organization, one needs to have accurate data in order to compare those to other hospitals’ performance. As Davis-Ajami et al. (2014) stress in their research, “nurse leaders need tools to help identify and close the existing gap between real-world practice and desired service” (p. 17). That gap can only be closed if one focuses on the current needs of the hospital and develops a strategic model that considers those needs.
References
Davis-Ajami, M. L., Costa, L., & Kulik, S. (2014). Gap analysis: Synergies and opportunities for effective nursing leadership. Nursing Economics, 32(1), 17-25.
Huber, D. (2017). Leadership and Nursing Care Management-E-Book. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Uhrenfeldt, L., Lakanmaa, R. L., Flinkman, M., Basto, M. L., & Attree, M. (2014). Collaboration: A SWOT analysis of the process of conducting a review of nursing workforce policies in five European countries. Journal of Nursing Management, 22(4), 485-498.
Wong, C. A. (2015). Connecting nursing leadership and patient outcomes: State of the science. Journal of Nursing Management, 23(3), 275-278.