Introduction
The problem addressed by the present project is nursing understaffing at Palmetto Hospital that is associated with a variety of negative outcomes in the staff cooperation and teamwork that, in turn, translate into the decreasing quality and safety of care provided to the patients of the institution (Rogowski et al., 2015). With an appropriate assessment of the problem, its nature, causes, and contributing factors, it is possible to plan and implement change designed to address the challenges created by understaffing. Further, as a follow-up phase of the implementation of change, an assessment is required showing whether or not the transformations put into practice have made a difference.
Analysis
As pointed out in the relevant academic literature, this connection is specific not only to Palmetto Hospital but is a common correlation observed in many different healthcare organizations (Hinno, Partanen, & Vehviläinen-Julkunen, 2012). In addition, some of the researchers noted that nursing understaffing in the healthcare organizations is noticed differently from the perspectives of the staff members and the patients (Medina-Mirapeix, Del Baño-Aledo, Oliveira-Sousa, Escolar-Reina, & Collins, 2013).
In that way, the engagement of the patients as another party providing insights on the problem could be beneficial as a part of such stages of change management as assessment and planning. In other words, one of the ways to assess the effects created by the organizational change is based on the engagement of staff members and patients of the organization for the purpose of obtaining their experiences and impressions of the implemented solutions. In particular, the perspectives of the aforementioned parties could be acquired by means of a questionnaire (standardized or specifically developed) targeting the respective experiences of the assessed sides – the perceived quality of care for the patients, and the teamwork and staff-related workplace impressions of the employees.
Another way of assessing the change and the effects it has or has not produced is with the help of organizational research focusing on the internal dynamics and issues such as the operations, costs, patient outcome statistics, the performance of staff, and the other indicators related to the implemented change. In fact, this type of assessment could be combined with the one targeting the perspectives of patients and staff members. In other words, internal organizational research could consist of two parts. The first part would focus on exploring the quantitative data presented by the statistics, cost (saved or lost since the beginning of the change implementation project), the organizational performance in terms of quality indicators and patient outcomes. At the same time, the second part of the assessment research could involve the collection of the qualitative data provided by the stakeholders through the questionnaires. The latter could include both closed- and open-end questions in order to ensure guidance and the acquisition of the most relevant information and also provide the respondents to express the additional ideas and points of view concerning the assessed aspects.
Conclusion
To sum up, the implementation of change based on EBP is a complicated process that requires thorough planning and a detailed follow-up aimed at assessing the effects produced by the transformations. When the implemented change targets an issue as broad as the nursing understaffing in a hospital, it is critical to evaluate its diverse aspects and dimensions indicating its qualitative and quantitative effects. In regard to the present project, the twofold assessment would include the perspectives of the organization’s staff and patients on the effects produced by the change and the quantitative data in the form of statistics and measurable outcomes and quality indicators.
References
Hinno, S., Partanen, P., & Vehviläinen-Julkunen, K. (2012). Nursing activities, nurse staffing and adverse patient outcomes as perceived by hospital nurses. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 21(11), 1584-1593.
Medina-Mirapeix, F., Del Baño-Aledo, M. E., Oliveira-Sousa, S. L., Escolar-Reina, P., & Collins, S. M. (2013). How the rehabilitation environment influences patient perception of service quality: A qualitative study. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 94(6), 1112-1117.
Rogowski, J. A., Staiger, D. O., Patrick, T. E., Horbar, J. D., Kenny, M. J., & Lake, E. T. (2015). Nurse Staffing in Neonatal Intensive Care Units in the United States. Research in Nursing & Health, 38(5), 333-341.