Organizational assessment is required for any change project – it is the foundation on which such initiatives are built. During the evaluation process, the nurse leader identifies the problems in the organization and determines the strong and weak points, resources, gaps, and other factors that determine how the project will develop. Therefore, a needs-based assessment has to include internal and external data gathering and analysis. In the proposed DNP project, the practicum site is a rehabilitation center and nursing home. It serves patients with many conditions and a high rate of diabetes and prediabetes, which is directly related to the DNP project practice change.
To start the assessment process, one must identify the needs of the particular organization. During this step, one collects data about the organization to determine its current performance, culture, processes, and problems (Harrison et al., 2022). For example, a clinic may have outdated practices or not have prevention and education services for a common health issue among its patients. This discrepancy between the current practice and potential improvement becomes an area of opportunity. Next, using the gathered data, one has to identify the leadership styles of the organization to see which approaches are the most effective when implementing change. Furthermore, one may also determine the organizational climate, communication channels, and culture to see how people share and receive information (Miake-Lye et al., 2020). These steps are necessary to plan an effective intervention that suits the facility’s needs.
The following step is finding the stakeholders – people affected by the change project and those who can play a role in its implementation. In the case of nursing change projects, stakeholders are often nurses, including leaders and administrators, as well as patients and other personnel (Wu et al., 2019). Their response to and readiness for change are also part of this assessment. Based on this data, one may choose an appropriate change theory or framework to achieve the best results and adequately prepare for resistance to change.
In the proposed DNP project, the change is concerned with introducing a new educational and support program for patients with diabetes. It is focused on providing people with information and resources to reduce their blood glucose levels through learning about self-management and lifestyle changes. Therefore, one may see several ultimate goals for this project. The first one is to improve the participating nurses’ knowledge about self-malmanagement programs and implement a new way of helping patients deal with type 2 diabetes. Second, this DNP project aims to combat problems related to diabetes in patients, leading to a better quality of life and health outcomes.
The organization under review combines rehabilitation and nursing services. Its mission is to provide care of excellent quality, grow as a professional facility, and create an environment of integrity and kindness. The DNP project’s goals correspond to this mission, as it is also based on such values as quality care and excellence. Improving the programs the organization offers to patients with diabetes may result in better patient outcomes and improve patients’ quality of life. The results of this intervention will demonstrate whether such programs can help individuals with diabetes to self-manage their condition and create another opportunity for the organization to grow as a local leader in the industry.
Overall, organizational assessment is an integral part of change projects. It is impossible to determine knowledge and practice gaps without researching the current state of services and operations at any business. Therefore, the evaluation of a facility should include data gathering and analysis, stakeholder analysis, leadership and communication appraisal, and change model choice. The proposed DNP project aims to introduce a practice change that will improve diabetes self-management and patient outcomes. These aims align with the organization’s values because they are concerned with the quality of care and organizational growth.
References
Harrison, R., Chauhan, A., Le‐Dao, H., Minbashian, A., Walpola, R., Fischer, S., & Schwarz, G. (2022). Achieving change readiness for health service innovations.Nursing Forum, 2022, 1-5. Web.
Miake-Lye, I. M., Delevan, D. M., Ganz, D. A., Mittman, B. S., & Finley, E. P. (2020). Unpacking organizational readiness for change: An updated systematic review and content analysis of assessments.BMC Health Services Research, 20(1), 1-13. Web.
Wu, J., Wang, Y., Tao, L., & Peng, J. (2019). Stakeholders in the healthcare service ecosystem. Procedia CIRP, 83, 375-379. Web.