Discussion: Organizational Foundations
RWJBarnabas Health is a strong health organization, which mission, vision, and values align well with the actions conducted by health leaders. Its mission is to provide high-quality services through compassionate innovation and nursing. According to the official website of the organization, the empowerment of self and others based on collaboration between team members composes the vision of the organization (“Our vision”, 2017). Among the values accepted by RWJBarnabas Health, there are compassion, responsibility, genuine, innovation, respect, and nursing excellence.
In order to articulate how the mentioned mission, vision, and values are supported by the organization, it seems appropriate to consider its professional practice model (PPM). The very fact that PPM in the given organization was designed based on nurse leaders’ feedback proves its care about staff and excellence in performance. As a Medical-Surgical Float Pool Nurse, I observed that nurses are satisfied with their work and strive to provide the best care possible, acting in coordination with each other. At this point, patient-centeredness is assigned a top priority: patients and families are in the center of the PPM, while the indicator of professional nursing care is patient satisfaction with the services provided.
The PPM model at RWJBarnabas Health consists of four essential components, including culturally competent interprofessional care, collaborative partnerships, shared decision making, and evidence-based practice innovation. The processes of organization and planning are designed in accordance with the mentioned mission and values.
For example, to achieve a high level of patient satisfaction, the maximum amount of effort is applied by nurse leaders, who strive to enhance the quality and availability of medical care for patients, their comfort during both inpatient and outpatient stay, information on all types of available treatment, and other services provided within the framework of the organization. Since RWJBarnabas Health focuses on community and global health, care providers pay great attention to patient education regarding specific diseases as well as preventative measures.
Speaking of the organization’s culture and climate, one should note that the former refers to behavioral norms and expectations established by management, and the latter is created by employees’ views, perceptions, and vision (Marquis & Huston, 2014). At RWJBarnabas Health, the organizational culture may be characterized as compassionate, genuine, collaborative, and respectful. This completely corresponds to the actual situation in the organization, since health leaders are compassionate about their work and make decisions with regards to patients’ needs and expectations, taking into account their age, gender, culture, and other important aspects.
The existing climate is rather welcoming, transparent, and benevolent. Health providers clearly understand their mission and make every effort to help patients to improve their health outcomes. The team of experts works in a collaboration that excludes any misunderstanding between units. As noted by Reeves, Pelone, Harrison, Goldman, and Zwarenstein (2017) in their recent study, interprofessional work is a key to comprehensive care.
As a nurse leader, I need to be aware of the current trends, challenges, and opportunities encountered by the organization in following the stated mission and values. It is of great importance to help employees in realizing their potential and coping with difficulties on the path to nursing excellence (Marquis & Huston, 2014). More to the point, by monitoring employees’ performance, it is possible to identify any gaps in values and adjust them to the new requirements, thus making the organization services comprehensive.
References
Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2014). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (8th ed.). Philadelphia. PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Our vision. (2017). Web.
Reeves, S., Pelone, F., Harrison, R., Goldman, J., & Zwarenstein, M. (2017). Interprofessional collaboration to improve professional practice and healthcare outcomes. The Cochrane Library, 6(2), 1-5.