The sphere of nursing undergoes considerable changes from time to time (Osborne & Gardner, 2004). A professional nurse has to be ready to admit a variety of possible changes, improve personal understanding of the matter, and achieve good results in the chosen practice. Alignment between the values of an organization where a nurse works and the values of a particular nurse has to be taken into consideration as it may influence the process of treatment and communication with a patient as well as the outcomes which are expected. The chosen profession of being a nurse has a number of peculiarities that have to be taken into consideration in order to apply the best communicative techniques and promote a successful problem-solving process.
The nature of organizational values in nursing is based on the ability to reflect properly the culture and climate set in society. These types of values “shape normative behaviors, perceptions, and social mores within the employment environment” (Nagelkerk, 2005, p. 66). The way of how the values of an organization are formulated has a considerable impact on how a nurse can perform the functions set and meet the expectations of the patients. The point is that in case a nurse’s personal values cannot be implemented with the ones set by an organization, the effectiveness and patients’ satisfaction may be decreased a lot (McNeese-Smith, 2003).
For example, personal work experience helps to understand how the alignment between organizational values and values of a particular nurse is crucial for effective nursing. A nurse has rather strong religious beliefs which forbid her from taking some steps in regard to a patient without considering professional assistance. She is not as confident in personal skills and opportunities as she should be. This is why the values set by the organization she works at contradict her own values and require some urgent work to be done within a short period of time. In my opinion, in this case, the values of a particular nurse have to be changed to meet a number of the organizational values.
However, the necessity to implement some changes connected with personal values and the requirements set by an organization may lead to some problems and misunderstandings between people. This is why in order to find an effective problem-solving decision, it is better to make use of several communicative techniques.
They are as follows: eye contact that may become appropriate to the patient culture as well as to the nurse culture; active listening that may be promoted between nurses as an integral part of their work; and finally, an appropriate formulation of a plan of nurse’s actions that provides a nurse with a variety of actions which have to be done under particular conditions. In case some of the above-mentioned techniques are used, there is a good chance to realize how effective a nurse work can be, to identify nurse’s strengths, weaknesses, and readiness to work, and, finally, to explain the priorities of organizational values in the chosen hospital (Dyess, 2010).
In general, the idea of organizational values and their alignment with the values of a nurse plays an important role in nursing. The way of how a nurse is able to evaluate and accept the values of an organization of the whole work. The profession of a nurse is not easy, still, the use of appropriate communicative techniques and readiness to be adapted to the rules and requirements set should become a helpful means in various problem-solving processes in the chosen organization. This is why the vast majority of nurses have to gain a particular level of knowledge to comprehend the requirements set, and only then they may be allowed to practice and cooperate with patients.
References
Dyess, S & Boykin, A. (2010). Integrating Caring Theory with Nursing Practice and Education: Connecting with What Matters. Journal of Nursing Administration, 40 (11), 498 – 503.
McNeese-Smith, D. (2003). Nursing Values and a Changing Nurse Workforce: Values, Age, and Job Stages. Journal of Nursing Administration, 33 (5), 260 – 270.
Nagelkerk, J. (2005). Leadership and Nursing Care Management. St. Louis: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Osborne, S & Gardner, G. (2004). Imperatives and Strategies for Developing an Evidence-Based Practice in Perioperative Nursing. ACORN, 17 (1), 18-24.