NURS 6053 Week 7 Discussion Workplace Environment Assessment
The workplace is replete with various issues that require careful assessment, diagnosis and treatment. Incivility in nursing is a persistent issue that require careful management by the leadership so as to improve the workplace environment. Tools such as the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory play a fundamental role in providing the assessment results. Thus, based on the results of the Work Environment Assessment Template, the present paper will describe the above results, analyze a theory presented in a selected article, and recommend strategies that will lead to the presence of interprofessional teams within the current writer’s workplace setting.
Part 1: Work Environment Assessment
The comprehensive assessment of the workplace using the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory revealed a score of 70. In the analysis, only two areas of the workplace, that is, the employee satisfaction and interprofessional, scored full marks at 15. Moreover, eight areas of the tool including employee perception, celebration of employee achievements, active participation in organizational activities, fair employee treatment, effective conflict-resolution, democratic culture, competitive remunerations, and employee attraction and retention, were regarded as somewhat true (Clark, 2015). Further, employees were neutral on 6 aspects of a healthy workplace inclusive of shared vision, trust levels, effective communication, improved organizational culture, and nature of workload. However, the presence of resources for professional growth and opportunities for growth were regarded as somewhat untrue. Lastly, the employees also stated that the presence of mentoring program for employees was non-existent. Therefore, the average score for the assessment was 70.
One of the things that surprised me about the scores of the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory is the score itself. I anticipated the organization to score lower than the score obtained in the assessment. The surprise in the observed scores was attributed to the weak organizational structures that have been put in place to achieve the mission and vision of the organization. The other thing that surprised me about the scores of the inventory assessment is the score that the organizational employees would highly recommend the organization as a good place to work to their friends and families. This finding was a surprise because the staff in the organization often feel that the organization does not embrace interventions that address their needs. The rate of staff turnover over the past year has been high due to lack of adequate organizational support. As a result, it is surprising that the employees are willing to recommend the organization to friends and families, yet they are not satisfied with the working conditions in the firm. One of the things that I believed prior and was confirmed in the assessment is the lack of effective systems that promote professional and personal development. Examples of the opportunities for professional and personal development that organizations can implement include coaching, mentorship, and teamwork. The assessment confirmed this since employees marked the statement on the existence of comprehensive coaching for staffs as untrue.
As noted above, the organization scored 70% in the inventory assessment. The meaning of a mildly health workplace is that the organization might support the implementation of quality improvement initiatives. However, the existing organizational structures are not effective in facilitating the realization of the desired outcomes of the quality improvement initiatives. The implication of the results is also that the leadership and management styles utilized in the organization do not have the effectiveness to drive the desired organizational success. As noted above, the meaning of the score of the organization is that the systems and structures put in place are not adequately effective in promoting the desired success. Secondly, the leadership in the organization is not effective in promoting the organizational success. However, improvements can be made on the existing structures to enhance effectiveness in organizational processes. The other implication of the score on the civility of the organization is that there are minimal rules that guide employee behaviors in the organization. The score also implies that the management and leadership of the organization have to explore interventions that can be used to improve engagement among the employees. The leadership should also focus on creating organizational culture that is characterized by a focus on safety, quality, a