Introduction
As a healthcare professional with high career aspirations related to making a change in the healthcare system via improving daily care and increasing the level of the nation’s health status, I am interested in working at a highly professional organization. A facility that I consider an ideal environment for my professional development due to its leadership characteristics, work environment, and healthcare delivery culture in Forrest Hills of DC. It is a retirement community with long-term assisted living care, short-term rehabilitation, and memory services with a 130-year history situated in Forrest Hills, Washington, DC (“About us,” 2022). The values that this organization cultivates include respect, integrity, inclusivity, compassion, and sustainability (“About us,” 2022). The vision of the facility is “to provide quality care and services for seniors and their families in the greater Washington DC area” (“About us,” 2022, para. 5). The organization performs at a high level, is awarded for its care and service quality, and might be an aspiring workplace setting. This paper is aimed at analyzing the leadership style used at Forest Hills of DC, exploring the opportunities for contributing leadership skills aimed at facilitating organizational performance.
Leadership Style Analysis
In the field of healthcare, leadership plays a pivotal role in integrating talent and resources into the organizational culture that facilitates positive patient outcomes. Thus, the leadership theory utilized by a healthcare facility predetermines the opportunities such an organization might have in terms of development, staff training, and ultimate patient care results. Berridge et al. (2020) state that contemporary “leadership should change from focusing on authority management toward knowledge management” (p. 1255). Indeed, Forrest Hills of DC prioritizes knowledgeable staff recruitment and talent development through training and continuous education (Railand, 2021). However, knowledge management is not the only characteristic of a well-developed leadership style applicable to a healthcare setting. The creation of a collaborative and supportive work environment based on employee empowerment and instilling a culture of value-based team cooperation is another significant leadership aspect that is effectively implemented in Forrest Hills of DC. Indeed, the facility’s mission is to “continually grow as a supportive community that inspires and engages seniors and their caregivers” (“About us,” 2022, para. 4). Such an approach demonstrates that the organization uses transformational leadership to guide employee management and ultimate patient care.
Indeed, transformational leadership theory holds that a leader works toward achieving organizational goals by setting an example for followers and transforming the culture and performance patterns of the facility toward improvement. Researchers indicate that the “four components characterizing transformational leaders are: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration” (Seljemo et al., 2020, p. 2). In such a manner, a leader motivates employees to work beyond their needs and serve the expectations and benefits of the group. In addition, a leader adhering to a transformational style “will also identify the organizational needs and work to transform the organizational culture, to the benefit of the organization itself” (Seljemo et al., 2020, p. 2). In this regard, Forrest Hills of DC demonstrate effectiveness in empowering and motivating employees by creating a culture of continuous learning and improvement to meet the needs of the served senior population (Railand, 2021). Thus, the use of transformational leadership helps the organization manage its issues and strive for performance excellence, which translates from employee proficiency and teamwork to patient care outcomes.
Potential Contribution to the Organization
Since I have selected Forrest Hills of DC as my desired healthcare setting for employment, I should identify the ways in which I might make a contribution to the organization. While the facility demonstrates high levels of performance, strict care standards, positive patient outcomes, and effective leadership approaches, there are potential benefits that it might obtain when employing an aspiring professional. In this section, my opportunities for fitting the organization and contributing skills to the leadership of the organization will be addressed.
Fitting in the Organization
When considering whether one is capable of fitting into an organization as a workplace setting, it is essential to explore the work culture and organizational approach to employee management. Indeed, at Forest Hills of DC, a sense of belonging to a reliable and supporting professional community enables one’s willingness to grow in competence. Indeed, the organization claims to “strive to maintain an environment in which employees can find personal satisfaction, professional growth, and fulfillment” (“Careers at Forest Hills of DC,” 2022, para. 1). In this regard, I think I will be able to fit into uch a setting.
Such an opinion is justified by my prioritization of opportunities for professional growth since I consider myself a skilled professional, whose ethics and attitude to work will comply with the facility’s requirements. Furthermore, the organization claims to be committed to “having the best possible staff,” which is why Forrest Hills of DC provides “continuing education programs to help our employees improve their caregiving and leadership skills” (“Careers at Forest Hills of DC,” 2022, para. 2). Hence, my ability to fit such an environment will be facilitated by the opportunity to contribute my leadership skills to the organizational culture. A more in-depth discussion of the potential to integrate my leadership skills into the selected organization will be presented in the following section.
Contributed Leadership Skills
The concept of leadership is particularly celebrated among the management and staff members at Forrest Hills of DC. As the CEO of the facility states, a nursing staff development program “will build apprenticeship career ladders as well as providing leadership training for its participants” (Railand et al., 2021, para. 9). For that matter, a healthcare leader is a crucial actor whose expertise, knowledge, and skills predetermine organizational outcomes. In this regard, I will be able to contribute skills in the fields of mindfulness and emotional intelligence, multidisciplinary team management, advocacy, and change management.
In particular, emotional intelligence skills are pivotal for a leader in a healthcare setting, which is characterized by continuous stress and tension. While healthcare teams work under pressure and their emotional intelligence in working with patients is key, it is important for a leader to cultivate an environment where emotional intelligence is prioritized. Indeed, as stated by researchers, emotional intelligence is comprised of four elements, namely “the perception and expression of one’s own emotions and those of others, emotional assimilation, understanding emotions, and the capacity to regulate emotions” (Jiménez-Picón et al., 2021). My level of self-awareness and the ability to identify others’ emotions and regulate mine helps me build meaningful collaborative relationships with followers, which motivates them to integrate the same patterns of interaction with patients.
Another set of skills that might be considered my valuable contribution to the organization is multidisciplinary team management skills. Contemporary healthcare, in general, and geriatric care, in particular, are reliant on multidisciplinary teams, which enable the implementation of evidence-based care with minimized errors (Chadborn et al., 2019). Communicational skills, analytical and critical thinking, management skills, planning, and team member engagement are the competencies that enable a leader to work effectively with multi-professional teams (Chadborn et al., 2019). Moreover, the relevance of such an engagement of multiple professionals in the same team to the setting of a retirement assisted living facility is justified by the inclusion of a holistic approach to care at the same organization. Such an approach will facilitate the outcomes of the patients and enhance the opportunities of Forrest Hills of DC’s opportunities to achieve its goals.
In addition, my skills in promoting advocacy in the healthcare setting will be beneficial for the organization due to the importance of advocating for employee needs, which will facilitate their advocacy for patients. Indeed, according to Thelen (2020), employee advocacy allows for better engagement, enhanced motivation, commitment, and performance excellence. In this regard, I would cultivate a setting in which the employees would be empowered to accomplish their professional capabilities while leadership would meet their needs and allocate necessary resources for their growth (Thelen, 2020). Ultimately, advocacy for employees will cultivate a sense of the importance of the role of an advocate in the facility staff, who will perform as reliable patient advocates in promoting their rights and needs.
Furthermore, organizational change management skills are similarly important for the proper functioning of a healthcare facility. It is particularly relevant to the entities that perform under circumstances of uncertainty (such as pandemics) and industry-specific processes. Indeed, one of the issues faced by contemporary medical facilities is understaffing. Skills of change management might be applicable in the context of implementing interventions aimed at minimizing the nursing shortage in the facility. Indeed, nursing staff turnover is one of the significant issues in the field of health care in general and at Forest Hills of DC in particular. As indicated by the facility’s CEO, “there were times in the last year when Forest Hills, particularly in its skilled care, had to limit new admissions due to staffing shortages” (Railand, 2021, para. 13). To address this and similar issues, change management should be implemented by initiating project teams aimed at the rapid and well-planned alteration of shifting toward new evidence-based practices. In this regard, both care-specific and employee-related changes should be implemented via reliable change frameworks to ensure consistency of results and positive outcomes for the organization.
Conclusion
In summation, the identified healthcare setting for a desired employment is Forrest Hills of DC, which is a retirement nursing home providing assisted living and memory services. The mission, vision, and values of the organization allow for assuming that the organization uses the transformational leadership theory. It allows the management of the facility to instill employee empowerment, engagement, and the ability to adapt to the changing healthcare environment. The analysis of the organization’s leadership style has enabled exploring the ways in which a professional might fit into the facility’s team and contribute leadership skills. In particular, the aspiration to grow professionally and share experience and competency with a community of aspiring healthcare specialists serves as a basis for fitting the organization. Furthermore, well-developed skills in the fields of emotional intelligence, multidisciplinary team management, organizational change management, and advocacy might serve as a valuable contribution to the facility.
References
About us. (2022). Forest Hills of DC. Web.
Berridge, C., Lima, J., Schwartz, M., Bishop, C., & Miller, S. C. (2020). Leadership, staff empowerment, and the retention of nursing assistants: Findings from a survey of US nursing homes. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 21(9), 1254-1259.
Chadborn, N. H., Goodman, C., Zubair, M., Sousa, L., Gladman, J. R., Dening, T., & Adam, L. G. (2019). Role of comprehensive geriatric assessment in healthcare of older people in UK care homes: Realist review. BMJ Open, 9(4), 1-9.
Careers at Forest Hills of DC. (2022). Forest Hills of DC. Web.
Jiménez-Picón, N., Romero-Martín, M., Ponce-Blandón, J. A., Ramirez-Baena, L., Palomo-Lara, J. C., & Gómez-Salgado, J. (2021). The relationship between mindfulness and emotional intelligence as a protective factor for healthcare professionals: Systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(10), 1-14.
Railand, K. (2021). Forest Hills of DC CEO: SNF staff need behavioral health services. Skilled Nursing News. Web.
Seljemo, C., Viksveen, P., & Ree, E. (2020). The role of transformational leadership, job demands and job resources for patient safety culture in Norwegian nursing homes: A cross-sectional study. BMC Health Services Research, 20, 1-8.
Thelen, P. D. (2020). Internal communicators’ understanding of the definition and importance of employee advocacy. Public Relations Review, 46(4), 1-11.