NURS 6053 Discussion Workplace Environment Assessment

NURS 6053 Discussion Workplace Environment Assessment
You may think your current organization operates seamlessly, or you may feel it has many issues. You may experience or even observe things that give you pause. Yet, much as you wouldn’t try to determine the health of a patient through mere observation, you should not attempt to gauge the health of your work environment based on observation and opinion. Often, there are issues you perceive as problems that others do not; similarly, issues may run much deeper than leadership recognizes.
There are many factors and measures that may impact organizational health. Among these is civility. While an organization can institute policies designed to promote such things as civility, how can it be sure these are managed effectively? In this Discussion, you will examine the use of tools in measuring workplace civility.
To Prepare:
• Review the Resources and examine the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory, found on page 20 of Clark (2015).
• Review and complete the Work Environment Assessment Template in the Resources.
By Day 3 of Week 7
Post a brief description of the results of your Work Environment Assessment. Based on the results, how civil is your workplace? Explain why your workplace is or is not civil. Then, describe a situation where you have experienced incivility in the workplace. How was this addressed? Be specific and provide examples.
By Day 6 of Week 7
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by sharing ideas for how shortcomings discovered in their evaluations and/or their examples of incivility could have been managed more effectively.
Holly Etheredge
RE: Discussion – Week 7
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Leadership Week 7 Initial Post
Results of the Clark Health Workplace Inventory concluded that the organization I am employed with is a moderately healthy
workplace (Clark, 2015). I am surprised that the results fell in the category they did, I expected a lower score. The reasoning behind
the score I expected was because of the current pandemic. Employees are leaving for higher paying jobs and many have been
unhappy with the stress caused by the pandemic. However, the employees of the organization share the same vision to improve
the lives of the community and we have leaders that are open to listening to our concerns, maintaining a civil work environment. I
was also surprised by the emphasis by the assessment regarding employee self-care and teamwork. Even during the pandemic, our
organization as encouraged self-care giving quiet rooms with massage chairs and our manager has been available even on
weekends and late at night to ensure the unit’s needs are being met. During the stress and chaos of the pandemic, I moved to the
intensive care unit. I was met by a unit that was constantly full of high acuity patients than normal even for the ICU. However, I
found that the team worked well together and communicated effectively presenting a work environment that was civil and healthy
and I am proud to be apart of .
The main idea that I had regarding the results was that the organization runs smoothly because of the shared mission, values
and goals of the organization. Christus Good Shepherd’s mission is to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ with core values of
dignity, integrity, excellence, compassion, and stewardship. The vision of Christus Health is to be a leader and advocate in the
creation of innovative health and wellness solutions to improve the lives of the individuals of the community so that all may
experience the healing love of Jesus Christ (Christus Health, 2021). However, as shown by the results of the assessment not falling
in the top category, the current pandemic has put a strain on certain aspects including competitive pay and tension in everyday
work.
One instance where I have felt that I had an uncivil encounter was when I was in the ICU and one of the physicians started yelling
orders at me during a stressful situation and griping in front of the patient that it was late in the day to be inserting lines and such.
Clark (2015) states that the most effective way to stop incivility is to address it when it occurs. However, this takes practice and
requires effective communication and competent dialogue. At the time, I was unable to address the physician outside of the
patient’s room, however I have a wonderful team that did address it with the doctor. The team member gently spoke with the
physician in the appropriate environment and reminded him that we are all exhausted, but that appropriate communication is
essential to decrease work stress between staff and provide safe and effective patient care. Working under conditions of civil
communication, promotes role performance of team members (Liu, et. al., 2020). Even under stressful working conditions, it is
important for each team member to promote a civil working environment to support optimum work performance of each team
member.
NURS 6053 Discussion Workplace Environment Assessment
References
Christus Health (2021). Christus Health: Our vision, mission, and values. Retrieved from https://www.christushealth.org/about/our-
mission-values-and-vision
Clark, C.M. (2015). Conversations to inspire and promote a more civil workplace. American Nurse Today, 10(11), 18-23. Retrieved
from https://www.myamericannurse.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ant11-CE-Civility-1023.
Liu, Y., Vashdi, D. R., Cross, T., Bamberger, P., & Erez, A. (2020). Exploring the puzzle of civility: Whether and when team civil
communication influences team members’ role performance. Human Relations, 73(2), 215–241. https://doi-
org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1177/0018726719830164
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10 months ago
MARTHA CHIMHASHU
RE: Discussion – Week 7
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Response 1 to Holly Etheredge
Hi, Holly
I enjoyed reading your response. Our organizations share a few similarities. We have experienced a mass exodus of well-trained nurses leaving to working as COVID travel nurses. One of my co-workers got frustrated with floating to the COVID unit weekly and decided that she was better off working as a travel nurse. She loves the pay and the flexibility. I am happy that our organization has offered bonuses and critical pay to entice nurses to stay so we have not been hit hard with the nursing shortage like other places. Having financial incentive makes the stress somewhat bearable. My organization has been focusing on the wellness of its employees during this time. We had licensed massage therapists come and give shoulder massages during the Christmas break. That was a welcomed and much needed treat.
Effective communication is the key to achieving organizational goals (Luu & Phan, 2020, p. 31). I am glad your new unit utilizes effective communication. Effective communication has been shown to enhance the quality of patient care and reduce errors (Broome & Marshall, 2020, p. 157). According to Broome and Marshall (2020), active listening is the most effective tool for successful communication. Yelling is verbal abuse. According to Clark (2015), bullying and harassment should not be tolerated. Kudos for your team member speaking up against the yelling doctor because such behavior can negatively impact one’s ability to perform their job. “Engaging in clear and courteous communication fosters a civil work environment” and enhances the delivery of care (Clark, 2015, p. 19). Clark (2019) developed an evidence-based technique where nurses can practice addressing workplace issues in a safe environment with a trainer overseer. I think your organization would benefit from having such a class in place, especially for new staff members to teach them how to address stressful situations effectively.
References
Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2020). Transformational Leadership in Nursing: From Expert Clinician to Influential Leader (3rd ed.). Springer Publishing Company.
Clark, C. (2015). Conversations to inspire and promote a more civil workplace. American Nurse Today, 10(11), 20. https://www.myamericannurse.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ant11-CE-Civility-1023.pdf
Clark, C. M. (2019). Combining Cognitive Rehearsal, Simulation, and Evidence-Based Scripting to Address Incivility. Nurse Educator, 44(2), 64–68. https://doi.org/10.1097/nne.0000000000000563
Luu, D. T., & Phan, H. V. (2020). The Effects of Transformational Leadership and Job Satisfaction on Commitment to Organisational Change: A Three-Component Model Extension Approach. The South East Asian Journal of Management, 14(1), 31–33. https://doi.org/10.21002/seam.v14i1.11585
RE: Discussion – Week 7
Hey Chelsea
I really enjoyed reading your post. As you stated incivility is just as insidious and disruptive to productivity as more extreme behaviors. In fact, it’s been described as the or creation of a hostile work environment which makes incivility worthy of every leader’s attention (Monych, 2018). Incivility means different things to different people, so it can be easy for a manager to overlook or miss. This conduct tends to be less of a black-or-white issue compared to more blatant forms of undesirable work conduct such as sexual harassment, stealing, or lying (Monych, 2018).
Working in an environment where your manager express concerns and can be trusted means a lot and makes you feel valued as an employer. Regardless of a person title, respect goes a long way. Working in a healthy environment is beneficial for the staff as well as the patients too. Most people value civility. They want to treat one another how they themselves want to be treated. But sometimes, things get in the way. External pressure, the pressure to produce results no matter what, can act like a bug in the operating system (Edmonds, 2017). Otherwise, civil people can “malfunction,” behaving in ways they never would otherwise; treating one another in ways that are dismissing, discounting, and demeaning (Edmonds, 2017).
Reference
Edmonds, S. C. (2017, April 14). Council Post: Four Steps Proven To Cultivate Workplace Civility. Retrieved April 12, 2021, from Forbes website: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/04/14/four-steps-proven-to-cultivate-workplace-civility/?sh=36c3f98137cf
Monych, B. (2018, July 3). 6 ways to combat workplace incivility – Insperity. Retrieved from Insperity website: