A critical part of nursing leadership is promoting a healthy work environment. An assessment of the workplace based on tools like the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory allows healthcare leaders to implement measures to enhance employee performance and productivity. Nurse managers and organizational leaders should provide an environment where nurses and other healthcare workers feel comfortable and motivated to air their opinions and address concerns arising from their work activities (Peng, 2023). A healthy work environment does not imply the absence of real or perceived threats to health but should foster the physical, mental, and social wellness of the staff (Ota et al., 2022). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the results of the work environment assessment, review the literature on these areas or concepts, and suggest strategies to enhance highly efficient inter-professional teams.
| Summary of Results – Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory | The healthy workplace inventory offers a means to understand the status of the work environment and what ails it by focusing on a host of aspects or issues. The inventory lists certain criteria like having a shared vision, sufficient communication, trust among staff and administration, engagement of employees, and addressing emerging concerns. The scores range from 20% to 100%. A score greater than 90% implies the work environment is very healthy while a less than 50% score suggests it is a very unhealthy or toxic work culture. The scores show moderately, mildly, or barely healthy work environments.The score based on the inventory for our organization was 60%, meaning it is a mildly healthy work environment, with just a point above barely healthy. The result emanates from the current situation where nurses and other employees do not feel the organization endures its vision. Their concerns are not addressed as they feel that the planned expansion to a new state-of-the-art facility did not happen. Many are contemplating seeking new employment places and opportunities due to a decline in the team culture. The environment fails to obtain better scores based on the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory due to toxic leadership that does not understand medical aesthetics as a specialty. |
| Identify two things that surprised you about the results. Also, identify one idea that you believed before conducting the Assessment that was confirmed. | Two things that surprised me were the score of 60% implying mildly healthy, and the decline in the vision that nurses and other staff had for the organization. I was surprised that it was even mildly healthy. I was surprised because six months before the assessment, the result would have been a very healthy workplace. One change in the leadership by an individual could lead to this significant shift in the organization’s culture. I reckoned that if the assessment happened again after a week, the workplace environment would get a score of barely healthy.A healthy workplace environment is essential and allows employees to focus on organizational goals and the attainment of its vision. An idea that I believed before conducting the assessment which was confirmed is that the workplace environment was already toxic due to the leadership change and actions that the leader was taking without consulting and engaging employees. The unbiased review based on the inventory was categorical that the workplace environment was not conducive for nurses and other healthcare providers in the facility. |
| What do the results of the Assessment suggest about the health and civility of your workplace? | The results of the assessment are categorical that leadership change has had a significant negative effect on the work culture. The assessment shows that the health and civility of the workplace are missing and require immediate interventions to bring change and inspire nurses. Civility is the foundation for patient safety, a healthy work environment, healthy staff, and increased productivity and performance. Nurse leaders and nurses should demonstrate civilized conduct, courtesy, politeness, and a polite act or expression of views and other aspects that impact the workplace environment. Civility impacts morale and job satisfaction among employees, including nurses. These results show that a healthy workplace can enhance collaboration, and effective communication, and lead to better patient outcomes when embedded in the organizational culture. In their article, Hossny et al. (2020) show that civility influences effective collaboration between nurses and physicians to attain better patient outcomes. Ota et al. (2021) emphasize the role of nurse leadership in fostering and supporting civility in the workplace. The study suggests ways and strategies for nurses to pragmatically promote and maintain civility in healthcare settings. The implication is that the results of the assessment indicate the nurse leader has failed to promote civility in the facility because of single-handedly making decisions without engaging nurses and understanding the nature of the work environment. |
| Briefly describe the theory or concept presented in the article(s) you selected.Explain how the theory or concept presented in the article(s) relates to the results of your Work Environment Assessment. | The selected article by Clark (2019) explores the concepts of civility and respect in nursing. Clark asserts that disrespect and uncivil workplace environment breeds harm, especially for patient safety. The article is categorical that disrespectful and uncivil behaviors in healthcare settings can lead to detrimental effects on nurses, teams, organizations, and patient safety, especially in life-threatening mistakes and even preventable complications. The article shows that incivility has significant effects on the patient care environment. The concept of incivility is essential as it implies that organizational leaders and nurses should develop evidence-based strategies to enhance and foster a culture of civility and respect. Clark (2019) observes that incivility and disrespect are associated with poor patient outcomes, dissatisfaction among employees, and increased turnover rates, as currently happening in our facility. The concept presented in this article relates to the outcomes of the Work Environment Assessment as it demonstrates that having a healthy work environment reduces harm and fosters civility and respect among employees and management. The article shows that when a work environment is toxic, civility cannot thrive as employees and the management do not collaborate or work cooperatively to fix a problem or resolve emerging conflicts. The current work environment is uncivil and disrespects nurses and other providers (Clark et al., 2022). Therefore, the article emphasizes that nurse leadership should foster respect and engage nurses to attain increased job satisfaction, develop a positive work environment, and enhance collaboration among all stakeholders. |
| Explain how your organization could apply the theory highlighted in your selected article(s) to improve organizational health and/or create stronger work teams. Be specific and provide examples. | The organization can use the concepts of civility and respect for nurses to improve the current toxic environment where nurses perceive that the leadership is not responsive to their concerns. The organization should implement the evidence-based strategies as proposed by the article to improve civility and respect for nurses. The article recommends an eight-step process that allows the organization to improve civility and satisfaction among nurses. For instance, the article suggests that the first step is to raise awareness and build leadership support. The leadership should raise awareness of the positive effects of civility and educate key stakeholders about the negative impacts of incivility. The next step is assembling and empowering civility teams and ensuring they have broad-based support or recognition within the workplace. These strategies among others are essential to the organization as it can leverage them to improve employees’ welfare and patient safety. For example, the new nurse leader should engage nurses and seek their views on the proposed facility and its effects on productivity and performance. Civility and respect are essential, and the nurse leader should ensure nurses give their views and vision as depicted a few months ago before her arrival (Clark et al., 2022). She needs to understand aesthetic care as a specialty that is broad-based and not narrow since it allows individuals to have access to life-changing treatment based on their desired interventions. |
| General Notes/Comments | Work environment assessment is a critical aspect of understanding the positive aspects of an organizational culture. The assessment of our facility shows a mildly healthy environment that requires significant improvement to enhance employee motivation and attainment of organizational goals. As posited by research evidence through the articles, civility is essential and enhances organizational performance and employee satisfaction. Therefore, the facility should implement the suggested evidence-based strategies to attain civility and foster respect leading to better patient outcomes and employee satisfaction. |
Clark, C. M. (2019). Fostering a culture of civility and respect in nursing. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 10(1): 44-52.
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2155-8256(19)30082-1
Clark, C. M., Gorton, K. L., & Bentley, A. L. (2022). Civility: A concept analysis revisited. Nursing Outlook, 70(2): 259-270.
Hossny, E. K., & Sabra, H. E. (2021). Effect of Nurses’ perception of workplace civility climate on nurse-physician collaboration. Nursing Open, 8(2): 620-627. DOI: 10.1002/nop2.666
Ota, M., Lam, L., Gilbert, J., & Hills, D. (2022). Nurse leadership in promoting and supporting civility in healthcare settings:
A scoping review. Journal of Nursing Management, 30(8): 4221-4233. DOI: 10.1111/jonm.13883 Peng, X. (2023). Advancing Workplace Civility: A Systematic Review and meta-analysis of Definitions, measurements, and associated Factors. Frontiers in psychology, 14, 1277188. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1277188