In today’s nursing practice, much attention is paid to the promotion and management of a working environment, also known as culture. The development of a safe environment plays an important role for employees and patients to choose helpful educational resources, prevent harm, and make positive changes (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2020). In this paper, the differences between staff, patient, and organizational cultures will be discussed to prove their significance for healthcare facilities and patient care.
To apply the concept of culture to a healthcare setting, one should clearly understand the differences between patients, employees, and organizational needs. According to Braithwaite, Herkes, Ludlow, Testa, and Lamprell (2017), culture is a unique characteristic that must be properly identified to promote positive care outcomes and increased quality of life. Organizational culture consists of different ways of thinking and feeling, attitudes, and beliefs that can be shared within an entire organization, including employees, leaders, and clients. It is a combination (a consensus) between what different people want.
Compared to organizational culture, staff one is focused on employees’ needs and abilities only. Patient culture refers to the goals and beliefs at an individual level with its racial, religious, and social differences (Sharma, Abbott, & Jensen, 2018). The major difference between these three concepts lies in their impact on particular groups of people.
The concept of organizational culture has to be applied to a healthcare organization to improve the quality of work and care that is offered to patients. Mannion and Davies (2018) admit that culture should be considered as a metaphor to produce desirable future outcomes. For example, there should be a list of rules and values commonly shared by the staff and patients like cooperation, education, and communication. All the parties need to participate in a treatment process and introduce their thoughts about the conditions and expected results.
The improvement of organizational effectiveness is the responsibility of the staff and leaders. Many empirically-supported organizational strategies (a system of feedback, teamwork, or decision-making) may be suggested to healthcare organizations (Glisson, 2015). After patients and employees participate in surveys and leave their feedback about the quality of care and working conditions, a new plan of work is offered. It can be applied according to the Lewis change model when enough grounds are gathered to change the current situation.
Some organizations find it normal and effective to work, following constant culture and norms. This approach has a certain impact on an organization and patient care. On the one hand, it is easy to predict outcomes and control human behaviors.
Similar treatment methods are clear to the staff, and no unclear points occur. On the other hand, progress is ignored, and an organization fails to improve the level of patient care in regard to recent technological achievements and available devices. As a result, a dissonance cannot be ignored in terms of which new options and development are observed. A dissonance in organizational culture is not dangerous in case it is properly identified, analyzed, and managed.
In general, to succeed in its development and improve the quality of patient care, any healthcare organization must understand its culture and enhance staff and patient cultures as well. Despite the existing differences in attitudes, goals, and beliefs, any type of culture has to be applied according to specific strategies and models. The environment under which the staff, leaders, and patients cooperate is a key dimension in human services and its social context, and it should never be ignored.
References
Braithwaite, J., Herkes, J., Ludlow, K., Testa, L., & Lamprell, G. (2017). Association between organisational and workplace cultures, and patient outcomes: Systematic review. BMJ Open, 7(11). Web.
College of Nurses of Ontario. (2020). How to support a patient safety culture. Web.
Glisson, C. (2015). The role of organizational culture and climate in innovation and effectiveness. Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance, 39(4), 245-250.
Mannion, R., & Davies, H. (2018). Understanding organisational culture for healthcare quality improvement. BMJ, 363. Web.
Sharma, S., Abbott, J. H., & Jensen, M. P. (2018). Why clinicians should consider the role of culture in chronic pain. Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy, 22(5), 345-346.