The Purpose of an Organization’s Values, Vision, and Mission
A mission statement communicates an institution’s reason of being and how it intends to serve its major stakeholders (consumers, investors, and employees) (Rubino et al., 2018). An organization’s mission statement serves as the starting point of its goal setting and strategic planning procedure. It ensures that an institution’s external and internal stakeholders comprehend what the organization is trying to accomplish.
A vision statement is a future-oriented declaration of an enterprise’s aspirations and purpose. Vision statements are typically time-bound, with projections of between five to ten years (Rubino et al., 2018). An organization’s strategy must flow directly from its vision because the strategy is intended to help it achieve its vision and ultimately satisfy the enterprise’s mission.
Value statements define an institution’s fundamental ideals, principles, and philosophy; they establish the ethical tone for an organization. They are declarations regarding how the organization intends to value its consumers and suppliers and be valued within its internal community. Value statements explicitly elucidate how employees interact within the enterprise (Ginter et al., 2018).
Mission, Vision, and Values’ Significance for Patient Outcomes and Nurse Engagement
First, well-developed organizational mission, vision, and values improves organizational alignment, which, in turn, promotes employee engagement and positive patient outcomes (Kang et al., 2020). When a healthcare organization’s nursing workforce is wholly aligned with its mission and vision and essential processes implemented to reinforce this alignment, patient experience, clinical outcomes, and nurse engagement are increased significantly (Van Bujtene & Foster, 2019). Second, aligning nurses with an institution’s mission and vision promotes resilience, which ultimately counters disengagement and poor health outcomes.
Third, an organization’s mission, vision, and values are crucial in minimizing workplace conflicts by defining critical organizational components. This, in turn, provides a clear focus, reduces disagreements, and enhances collaboration among nurses, that ultimately improves care delivery and patient outcomes (Ginter et al., 2018). Lastly, these components provide nurses with a practical decision-making framework by delineating crucial organizational ideals; this, in turn, helps minimize potential errors during care delivery, thereby promoting better patient outcomes and minimal disagreements during practice.
Factors that Lead to Conflict in Professional Practice
Competition for limited resources
If resources, including supplies, space, office services, and budget funds, are scarce, competition between departments or workers for limited resources may arise and trigger significant conflict levels (Ginter et al., 2018).
Communication breakdowns
Communication is a complex procedure, and barriers to its efficacy can provoke conflict. Whenever the two-way communication between an organization’s employees and the top management is hampered, misunderstandings are likely to emerge. Inadequate communication hinders effective coordination of activities and efforts.
Personality clashes
People have varying perceptions and values regarding several issues. Whenever different parties are autocratic and dogmatic (closed-minded), they are likely to disagree and cannot find common ground for mutual agreement (Ginter et al., 2018). Values and needs cherished by individuals with a desire for autonomy will always conflict with an autocratic or authoritarian leader’s management style.
Overlapping Jurisdictions
Unclear job boundaries typically create rivalry or competition for control and resources. Lack of clarity regarding the range or boundary of duties and power may trigger overlapping responsibility, causing conflict to ensue between two units or parties.
Task interdependence
This type of conflict is common in instances where the accomplishment of a unit’s or employee’s goals depends on other workers to execute their tasks (Rubino et al., 2018).
Status-related issues
Workplace status refers to the level of prestige and respect given to an individual in the status hierarchy. Whenever members disagree regarding status hierarchy, they often become resentful and frustrated. Every person attempts to safeguard or improve their position, and conflicts may emerge due to status discrepancies. Status issues primarily cause staff and line conflicts. Status-related conflicts may also arise due to working conditions, inequitable rewards, job assignments, and status symbols (Rubino et al., 2018).
Impacts of Organizational Values and Culture on Conflict Resolution
Organizational conflicts typically arise from the mismatch of different levels of values. If a multiplicity of views characterizes an institution, disagreements based on individual beliefs and values may emerge. Every individual has specific values and beliefs that guide their character. Therefore, an organization must develop behavioral standards based on its statement of values to effectively prevent and facilitate conflict resolution. Behavioral norms are grounded on core values; with these values in place, leaders and followers can agree and resolve their differences (Ginter et al., 2018). A reciprocal interdependence exists between workplace relationships and conflicts (Ginter et al., 2018).
According to Ginter et al. (2018), workplace relations impact conflict-related outcomes, which, in turn, manifests itself in the values that emerge during conflict resolution. This view is in line with the argument that values affect conflict-related results through interaction. Therefore, shared values can form a basis for enhancing the conflict resolution process; it helps create a culture that promotes positive workplace relations.
Organizational culture impacts the conflict resolution approaches used by employees. A collaborative culture allows employees to utilize the collaborative conflict resolution approach to solve disputes. Without a well-communicated vision, disagreements may arise since every individual in the institution attempts to develop top-level objectives and define identity (Ginter et al., 2018). However, when a manager develops the mission and conveys goals to the team – workers will have a common ground for executing their tasks and addressing conflicts collaboratively.
Effective Approaches for Resolving Workplace Conflict
Kenneth Thomas and Ralph Kilmann developed five strategies used in conflict resolution: compromising, collaborating, avoiding, accommodating, and competing (Ginter et al., 2018).
Avoiding
This is a conflict resolution approach whereby conflicting parties opt to ignore or withdraw from the disagreement. According to Ginter et al. (2018), individuals choose this method when the discomfort related to the confrontation exceeds the prospective reward of conflict resolution. No action is usually taken to resolve the conflict.
Competing
This is an approach used by individuals who engage in a conflict to win. This strategy is based on the presumption that one side wins and everyone else loses (Ginter et al., 2018). It does not provide room for integrating diverse perspectives into the conflict resolution process.
Accommodating
This is an approach where one group gives in to the demands or wishes of the other party.
Forcing
This strategy involves using formal authority or other forms of power to gratify one party’s concerns without considering the other party’s needs.
Compromising
It involves resolving conflicts by creating a partially satisfactory solution for both parties.
Collaborating involves searching for the problem’s root cause and developing an equally satisfactory solution for both parties. It involves cooperating with both groups to comprehend their concerns while expressing one’s concerns in an attempt to establish a mutually and completely satisfactory resolution. This approach promotes creative problem-solving, rapport, and mutual respect. It allows leaders to understand the underlying interpersonal conflict situations. It encourages team collaboration by integrating team-building activities, encouraging open communication, and fostering shared knowledge and resources (Ginter et al., 2018).
How an Organization’s Needs and Healthcare Culture Influence Organizational Outcomes
Organizational culture typically reflects an institution’s shared beliefs, values, and assumptions. Addressing organizational needs and implementing an effective culture promotes employees’ active engagement; it positively impacts an institution’s norms and supports its values, vision, and mission. This, in turn, encourages improved communication, employee performance, patient satisfaction, and overall organizational productivity.
A systematic review by Runtu et al. (2019) revealed that addressing organizational needs by developing an appropriate culture influenced care coordination by improving collaboration and teamwork, effective communication, conflict management, and autonomy and supportive leadership practices. Braithwaite et al.’s (2017) systematic review also identified a positive correlation between organizational culture and healthcare-related outcomes. According to the study, meeting an organization’s needs and developing a positive culture helped increase patient satisfaction and reduce falls, mortality rates, and HAIs.
Community health nursing’s primary goal is to promote, preserve, and protect the public’s health. Developing a positive organizational culture that addresses specific organizational needs is crucial in facilitating established healthcare goals’ attainment. Effective infection prevention and control (IPC) depends directly on the successful interplay of several management systems strongly impacted by corporate culture (Braun et al., 2020). An organizational culture that promotes healthcare providers’ ongoing infection control training, patient education, interdisciplinary collaboration, and risk assessment can help improve health outcomes and prevent infectious disease spread.
Relationship with Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Developing a safety culture by implementing quality improvement initiatives focused on promoting quality healthcare delivery encourages health promotion and disease prevention. For instance, implementing sharp injury prevention programs may help reduce patients’ and healthcare providers’ exposure to bloodborne pathogens. Infection prevention approaches, including immunization, standard precautions, hand hygiene, and personal protective equipment, may be instrumental in decreasing pathogenic organisms’ transmission from workers to patients and among patients. Promoting a safety culture and collaboration by engaging patients and employees in safety activities, such as patient education, may increase satisfaction and reduce adverse events (Braun et al., 2020). Appropriate workload assignments and staffing levels can also help reduce mortality rates and adverse events, increase patient satisfaction, minimize burnout and distress, and enhance nurses’ life quality and morale.
References
- Braithwaite, J., Herkes, J., Ludlow, K., Testa, L., & Lamprell, G. (2017). Association between organisational and workplace cultures, and patient outcomes: Systematic review.BMJ Open, 7(11), 1–11. Web.
- Braun, B. I., Chitavi, S. O., Suzuki, H., Soyemi, C. A., & Puig-Asensio, M. (2020). Culture of safety: Impact on improvement in infection prevention process and outcomes.Current Infectious Disease Reports, 22, 1–41. Web.
- Ginter, P. M., Duncan, W. J., & Swayne, L. E. (2018). Strategic management of health care organizations (8th ed.). Wiley.
- Kang, J-Y., Lee, M. K., Fairchild, E. M., Peters, D. E., Beliles, G. R., & Matti, L. K. (2020). Relationships among organizational values, employee engagement, and patient satisfaction in an academic medical center.Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 4(1), 8–20. Web.
- Rubino, L., Esparza, S., & Chassiakos, Y. R. (2018). New leadership for today’s health care professionals (2nd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
- Runtu, T. M., Novieastari, E., & Handayani, H. (2019). How does organizational culture influence care coordination in hospitals? A systematic review. The Second International Nursing Scholar Congress, 29(S2), 785–802. Web.
- Van Buijtene, A., & Foster, D. (2019). Does a hospital culture influence adherence to infection prevention and control and rates of healthcare associated infection? A literature review. Journal of Infection Prevention, 20(1), 5–17. Web.