BY DAY 3 OF WEEK 3
Quite often, nurse leaders are faced with ethical dilemmas, such as those associated with choices between competing needs and limited resources. Resources are finite, and competition for those resources occurs daily in all organizations.
For example, the use of 12-hour shifts has been a strategy to retain nurses. However, evidence suggests that as nurses work more hours in a shift, they commit more errors. How do effective leaders find a balance between the needs of the organization and the needs of ensuring quality, effective, and safe patient care?
In this Discussion, you will reflect on a national healthcare issue and examine how competing needs may impact the development of polices to address that issue.
Post an explanation of how competing needs, such as the needs of the workforce, resources, and patients, may impact the development of policy. Then, describe any specific competing needs that may impact the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected. What are the impacts, and how might policy address these competing needs? Be specific and provide examples.
Module 2: Assignment
Competing needs arise within any organization as employees seek to meet their targets and leaders seek to meet company goals. As a leader, successful management of these goals requires establishing priorities and allocating resources accordingly.
Within a healthcare setting, the needs of the workforce, resources, and patients are often in conflict. Mandatory overtime, implementation of staffing ratios, use of unlicensed assisting personnel, and employer reductions of education benefits are examples of practices that might lead to conflicting needs in practice.
Leaders can contribute to both the problem and the solution through policies, action, and inaction. In this Assignment, you will further develop the white paper you began work on in Module 1 by addressing competing needs within your organization.
To Prepare:
Review the national healthcare issue/stressor you examined in your Assignment for Module 1, and review the analysis of the healthcare issue/stressor you selected.
Identify and review two evidence-based scholarly resources that focus on proposed policies/practices to apply to your selected healthcare issue/stressor.
Reflect on the feedback you received from your colleagues on your Discussion post regarding competing needs.
The Assignment (1-2 pages):
Developing Organizational Policies and Practices
Add a section to the 2-3 page paper you submitted in Module 1. The new section should address the following in 1-2 pages:
Identify and describe at least two competing needs impacting your selected healthcare issue/stressor.
Describe a relevant policy or practice in your organization that may influence your selected healthcare issue/stressor.
Critique the policy for ethical considerations, and explain the policy’s strengths and challenges in promoting ethics.
Recommend one or more policy or practice changes designed to balance the competing needs of resources, workers, and patients, while addressing any ethical shortcomings of the existing policies. Be specific and provide examples.
Cite evidence that informs the healthcare issue/stressor and/or the policies, and provide two scholarly resources in support of your policy or practice recommendations.
Due to the nature of this assignment, your instructor may require more than 7 days to provide you with quality feedback.
To Prepare:
Review the national healthcare issue/stressor you examined in your Assignment for Module 1, and review the analysis of the healthcare issue/stressor you selected.
Identify and review two evidence-based scholarly resources that focus on proposed policies/practices to apply to your selected healthcare issue/stressor.
Reflect on the feedback you received from your colleagues on your Discussion post regarding competing needs.
The Assignment (1-2 pages):
Developing Organizational Policies and Practices
Add a section to the 2-3 page paper you submitted in Module 1. The new section should address the following in 1-2 pages:
Identify and describe at least two competing needs impacting your selected healthcare issue/stressor.
Describe a relevant policy or practice in your organization that may influence your selected healthcare issue/stressor.
Critique the policy for ethical considerations, and explain the policy’s strengths and challenges in promoting ethics.
Recommend one or more policy or practice changes designed to balance the competing needs of resources, workers, and patients, while addressing any ethical shortcomings of the existing policies. Be specific and provide examples.
Cite evidence that informs the healthcare issue/stressor and/or the policies, and provide two scholarly resources in support of your policy or practice recommendations.
Due to the nature of this assignment, your instructor may require more than 7 days to provide you with quality feedback.
Module 3 discussion 1
A walk through the Business section of any bookstore or a quick Internet search on the topic will reveal a seemingly endless supply of writings on leadership. Formal research literature is also teeming with volumes on the subject.
However, your own observation and experiences may suggest these theories are not always so easily found in practice. Not that the potential isn’t there; current evidence suggests that leadership factors such as emotional intelligence and transformational leadership behaviors, for example, can be highly effective for leading nurses and organizations.
Yet, how well are these theories put to practice? In this Discussion, you will examine formal leadership theories. You will compare these theories to behaviors you have observed firsthand and discuss their effectiveness in impacting your organization.
Post two key insights you had from the scholarly resources you selected. Describe a leader whom you have seen use such behaviors and skills, or a situation where you have seen these behaviors and skills used in practice. Be specific and provide examples. Then, explain to what extent these skills were effective and how their practice impacted the workplace.
Module 3 discussion 2
Do you believe you have the traits to be an effective leader? Perhaps you are already in a supervisory role, but as has been discussed previously, appointment does not guarantee leadership skills.
How can you evaluate your own leadership skills and behaviors? You can start by analyzing your performance in specific areas of leadership. In this Discussion, you will complete Gallup’s StrengthsFinder assessment. This assessment will identify your personal strengths, which have been shown to improve motivation, engagement, and academic self-conference. Through this assessment, you will discover your top five themes—which you can reflect upon and use to leverage your talents for optimal success and examine how the results relate to your leadership traits.
o Prepare:
Complete the StrengthsFinder assessment instrument, per the instructions found in this Module's Learning Resources.
Please Note: This Assessment will take roughly 30 minutes to complete.
Once you have completed your assessment, you will receive your “Top 5 Signature Themes of Talent” on your screen.
Click the Download button below Signature Theme Report, and then print and save the report. We also encourage you to select the Apply tab to review action items.
NOTE: Please keep your report. You will need your results for future courses. Technical Issues with Gallup:
If you have technical issues after registering, please contact the Gallup Education Support group by phone at +1.[identifier removed]. Support is available 24 hours/day from 6:00 p.m. Sunday U.S. Central Time through 5:00 p.m. Friday U.S. Central Time.
Reflect on the results of your Assessment, and consider how the results relate to your leadership traits.
Download your Signature Theme Report to submit for this Discussion.
BY DAY 3 OF WEEK 5
Post a brief description of your results from the StrengthsFinder assessment. Then, briefly describe two core values, two strengths, and two characteristics that you would like to strengthen based on the results of your StrengthsFinder assessment. Be specific. Note: Be sure to attach your Signature Theme Report to your Discussion post.
Module 3 assignment
o Prepare:
Identify two to three scholarly resources, in addition to this Module’s readings, that evaluate the impact of leadership behaviors in creating healthy work environments.
Reflect on the leadership behaviors presented in the three resources that you selected for review.
Reflect on your results of the CliftonStrengths Assessment*, and consider how the results relate to your leadership traits.
*not required to submit CliftonStrengths Assessment
The Assignment (2-3 pages):
Personal Leadership Philosophies
Develop and submit a personal leadership philosophy that reflects what you think are characteristics of a good leader. Use the scholarly resources on leadership you selected to support your philosophy statement. Your personal leadership philosophy should include the following:
A description of your core values.
A personal mission and vision statement.
An analysis of your CliftonStrengths Assessment summarizing the results of your profile
A description of two key behaviors that you wish to strengthen.
A development plan that explains how you plan to improve upon the two key behaviors you selected and an explanation of how you plan to achieve your personal vision. Be specific and provide examples.
Be sure to incorporate your colleagues’ feedback on your CliftonStrengths Assessment from this Module’s Discussion 2.
Module 4 discussion
How healthy is your workplace?
You may think your current organization operates seamlessly, or you may feel it has many issues. You may experience or even observe things that give you pause. Yet, much as you wouldn’t try to determine the health of a patient through mere observation, you should not attempt to gauge the health of your work environment based on observation and opinion. Often, there are issues you perceive as problems that others do not; similarly, issues may run much deeper than leadership recognizes.
There are many factors and measures that may impact organizational health. Among these is civility. While an organization can institute policies designed to promote such things as civility, how can it be sure these are managed effectively? In this Discussion, you will examine the use of tools in measuring workplace civility.
o Prepare:
Review the Resources and examine the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory, found on page 20 of Clark (2015).
Review and complete the Work Environment Assessment Template in the Resources.
BY DAY 3 OF WEEK 7
Post a brief description of the results of your Work Environment Assessment. Based on the results, how civil is your workplace? Explain why your workplace is or is not civil. Then, describe a situation where you have experienced incivility in the workplace. How was this addressed? Be specific and provide examples.
Module 4 assignment
Clearly, diagnosis is a critical aspect of healthcare. However, the ultimate purpose of a diagnosis is the development and application of a series of treatments or protocols. Isolated recognition of a health issue does little to resolve it.
In this module’s Discussion, you applied the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory to diagnose potential problems with the civility of your organization. In this Portfolio Assignment, you will continue to analyze the results and apply published research to the development of a proposed treatment for any issues uncovered by the assessment.
o Prepare:
Review the Resources and examine the Clark Healthy Workplace Inventory, found on page 20 of Clark (2015).
Review the Work Environment Assessment Template*.
Reflect on the output of your Discussion post regarding your evaluation of workplace civility and the feedback received from colleagues.
Select and review one or more of the following articles found in the Resources:
Clark, Olender, Cardoni, and Kenski (2011)
Clark (2018)
Clark (2015)
Griffin and Clark (2014)
*Template completed in the Week 7 discussion should not be submitted with this assignment.
The Assignment (3-6 pages total):
Part 1: Work Environment Assessment (1-2 pages)
Review the Work Environment Assessment Template you completed for this Module’s Discussion.
Describe the results of the Work Environment Assessment you completed on your workplace.
Identify two things that surprised you about the results and one idea you believed prior to conducting the Assessment that was confirmed.
Explain what the results of the Assessment suggest about the health and civility of your workplace.
Part 2: Reviewing the Literature (1-2 pages)
Briefly describe the theory or concept presented in the article(s) you selected.
Explain how the theory or concept presented in the article(s) relates to the results of your Work Environment Assessment.
Explain how your organization could apply the theory highlighted in your selected article(s) to improve organizational health and/or create stronger work teams. Be specific and provide examples.
Part 3: Evidence-Based Strategies to Create High-Performance Interprofessional Teams (1–2 pages)
Recommend at least two strategies, supported in the literature, that can be implemented to address any shortcomings revealed in your Work Environment Assessment.
Recommend at least two strategies that can be implemented to bolster successful practices revealed in your Work Environment Assessment.
Module 5 assignment
It is one of the most cliché of clichés, but it nevertheless rings true: The only constant is change. As a nursing professional, you are no doubt aware that success in the healthcare field requires the ability to adapt to change, as the pace of change in healthcare may be without rival.
As a professional, you will be called upon to share expertise, inform, educate, and advocate. Your efforts in these areas can help lead others through change. In this Assignment, you will propose a change within your organization and present a comprehensive plan to implement the change you propose.
To Prepare:
Review the Resources and identify one change that you believe is called for in your organization/workplace.
This may be a change necessary to effectively address one or more of the issues you addressed in the Workplace Environment Assessment you submitted in Module 4. It may also be a change in response to something not addressed in your previous efforts. It may be beneficial to discuss your ideas with your organizational leadership and/or colleagues to help identify and vet these ideas.
Reflect on how you might implement this change and how you might communicate this change to organizational leadership.
The Assignment (5-6-minute narrated PowerPoint presentation):
Change Implementation and Management Plan
Create a 5- or 6-slide narrated PowerPoint that presents a comprehensive plan to implement changes you propose.
Your narrated presentation should be 5–6 minutes in length.
Your Change Implementation and Management Plan should include the following:
An executive summary of the issues that are currently affecting your organization/workplace (This can include the work you completed in your Workplace Environment Assessment previously submitted, if relevant.)
A description of the change being proposed
Justifications for the change, including why addressing it will have a positive impact on your organization/workplace
Details about the type and scope of the proposed change
Identification of the stakeholders impacted by the change
Identification of a change management team (by title/role)
A plan for communicating the change you propose
A description of risk mitigation plans you would recommend to address the risks anticipated by the change you propose
Alternate Submission Method
You may also use Kaltura Personal Capture to record your narrated PowerPoint. This option will require you to create your PowerPoint slides first. Then, follow the Personal Capture instructions outlined on the Kaltura Media UploaderLinks to an external site. page. This page will walk you through downloading the tool and help you become familiar with the features of Personal Capture. When you are ready to begin recording, you may turn off the webcam option so that only "Screen" and "Audio" are enabled. Start your recording and then open your PowerPoint to slide show view. Once the recording is complete, follow the instructions found on the "Posting Your Video in the Classroom Guide" found on the Kaltura Media page for instructions on how to submit your video. For this option, in addition to submitting your video, you must also upload your PowerPoint file which must include your speaker notes
Use this resource to support learning, planning and original work. Follow your institution’s academic integrity requirements.