Communication Styles of Senior Leaders in Health Insurance During Times of Organizational Change

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the communication styles used by senior leaders in health insurance to manage organizational change in upstate New York. Using transformational leadership theory as a lens, this study sought to gain a better understanding of which communication style senior leaders in health insurance are using during organizational change, such as state and federal mandates. Data in this study were collected using the Communication Style Inventory (CSI) (de Vries et al., 2009), a Likert-style questionnaire completed by senior leaders in health insurance, to evaluate perceived styles of communication. A purposeful sampling model was used to select existing health insurance organizations in upstate New York that offer a Medicaid product to examine the specific communication style used by senior leaders. This study demonstrated that senior leaders in health insurance can close the comprehension gap of communication, especially during organizational change, by using a specific style of communication. In addition, the study focused on the communication style used most commonly by a senior leader in health insurance and paired it with a leadership style which would be most complementary to avoid cynical employees. Using inferential and descriptive statistics, the research led to understanding a specific communication style used by senior leaders and its correlation with age and gender. Findings from this study will help the understandings within health insurance organizations and how a specific communication style may be used in the development of its senior leaders

Cynicism about change, work engagement, and job satisfaction of Public Sector Nurses

This paper uses the job demands‐resources theory to examine the consequences of changes on nursing work. Data were collected from 220 public sector nurses in Australia to test the model. We conducted a two‐wave data collection process where independent variables (organisational change, workload, job control, nursing administrative stressors, cynicism about organisational change, and demographic variables) were collected in Time 1. The dependent variables (nursing work engagement and job satisfaction) were collected 6 months later. Changes to nursing work were found to cause high workload and an increase of administrative stressors that leads to an increase in nurses’ change cynicism. Job control was needed to cope with the increase in workload and reduction in cynicism about change. Cynicism about organisational change was found to have a direct negative effect on nurses’ engagement which in turn was found to negatively impact job satisfaction. Our contribution to theory and practice arises from the discovery that the connections between organisational change, work environment variables, and job outcomes of nurses are more complicated than previous research suggests. Theoretical and practical implications will be discussed

Exploring experiences of burnout, engagement, and social support networks: a qualitative study of hospital medicine physicians

2019 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.Studies on burnout and engagement for US physicians have resulted in few changes to improve the lives of affected physicians who suffer from the negative effects of burnout that include negative effects to patient care. Research has suggested that physician social support networks can provide protections against burnout that theoretically would lead to a more engaged physician. This qualitative study was conducted to understand the nature of hospitalist experiences of burnout, engagement and social support networks for 15 hospital medicine physicians (i.e., hospitalists). Two sources of burnout related to hospitalist leaders and hospitalists (non-leader role) emerged: (a) lack of hiring authority, (b) lack of business support, and (c) disruptive peer behavior. Sources of burnout for hospitalists (non-leader) came from: (a) unrealistic expectations from a boss and (b) stress from the employment contracting process, and (c) enough time in the day to finish work. Sources of engagement came from: (a) time spent with patients during difficult diagnosis, (b) appreciation expressed from patients, and (c) meaningful connections with patients. Social support networks for hospitalists were represented by: (a) clinical support, (b) non-clinical support; and (c) leader support. Social support networks were influenced by the quality of relationships hospitalists had with their boss and degree of support received from their leaders. Implications from the study suggested burnout and engagement are separate constructs; engagement is defined differently by hospitalists and their leaders, and sources of stress that lead to burnout need to be identified to enact effective interventions

Change is inevitable but compliance is optional : coworker social influence and behavioral work-arounds in the EHR implementation of healthcare organizations

textThe implementation of planned organizational change is ultimately a communication-related phenomenon, and as such, it is imperative that organizational communication scholars examine the interactions surrounding EHR implementation and understand how users (e.g. healthcare practitioners) utilize, evaluate, and deliberate this new technological innovation. Previous research on planned organizational change has called for researchers to adopt a more dynamic perspective that emphasizes the active agency of organizational members throughout implementation processes and focuses on informal implementers and change reinvention (work-arounds) as individuals actively reinterpret and personalize their work roles during implementation socialization. This dissertation seeks to fill this gap in research by demonstrating how communication between doctors, nurses, and other health professionals affects the adoption, maintenance, alternation, modification, or rejection of EHR systems within health care organizations. To delve into these inquiries and examine the intersecting domains of medical informatics and organizational communication research, this dissertation proceeds in the following manner: First, a literature review, capitalizing on Laurie Lewis’s work in planned organizational change and social constructionist views of technology use in organizations, outlines the assumptions that undergird this research. Next, this dissertation builds a model that predicts the communicative and structural antecedents of the study outcome variables, which include 1) organizational resistance to EHR implementation, 2) employees’ perception of EHR implementation success, 3) levels of change reinvention—or work-arounds—due to change initiatives and activities, and 4) employees’ perceptions of the quality of the organizational communication surrounding the change. Hypotheses guiding the model specification are provided and are followed by a description of the empirical methods and procedures that were utilized to explore the variable relationships. Results of the SEM model suggest that work-arounds could play a mediating role governing the relationship between informal social influence and the outcome variables in the study. In addition, one-way ANOVAs and multiple regression analyses reveal that physicians are the most resistant to EHR implementation and perceived change communication quality positively predicts perceived EHR implementation success and perceived relative advantage of EHR and negatively predicts employee resistance. A discussion of the expected and unexpected results is offered in addition to study limitation and future directions.Communication Studie

Relationships Between Project Cost, Project Team Member Role, Project Schedule, and Burnout

Employees affected by burnout syndrome often experience reduced engagement and decreased job performance, costing their organizations through lost productivity and profit. However, it is not clear what causes employee burnout in working environments. The purpose of this correlation study was to examine the relationships between project cost, project team member role, project schedule, and project team member burnout. This study was grounded in the job demands-resources theory, which states that all employees experience demands in their work that may lead to long-term stress and eventually burnout syndrome if these demands are not mitigated by job resources. The population for this study consisted of project management team members located in the Southern United States. The research question for this study examined the relationships among project cost, project team member role, project schedule, and burnout of project team members. A survey provided the data for analysis (N = 159). Study data were evaluated using correlational analysis. Multiple linear regression results indicated no significant relationships existed between project cost, project team member role, project schedule, and the 3 constructs of burnout syndrome: cynicism, exhaustion, and professional efficacy. This study may contribute to social change by increasing awareness of what contributes to employee burnout. This research is relevant to project management team members and business leaders. Burnout leads to reduced employee engagement, lost profit for the business, and health impairment for burned out employees. Project teams and business leaders would benefit by incorporating information from this study in programs designed to reduce, mitigate, or eliminate burnout among project management personnel

J Bus Psychol

PurposeThe present study examined the moderating effects of family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) on the relationship between two types of workplace aggression (i.e., patient-initiated physical aggression and coworker-initiated psychological aggression) and employee well-being and work outcomes.MethodologyData were obtained from a field sample of 417 healthcare workers in two psychiatric hospitals. Hypotheses were tested using moderated multiple regression analyses.FindingsPsychiatric care providers\u2019 perceptions of FSSB moderated the relationship between patient-initiated physical aggression and physical symptoms, exhaustion and cynicism. In addition, FSSB moderated the relationship between coworker-initiated psychological aggression and physical symptoms and turnover intentions.ImplicationsBased on our findings, family-supportive supervision is a plausible boundary condition for the relationship between workplace aggression and well-being and work outcomes. This study suggests that, in addition to directly addressing aggression prevention and reduction, family-supportive supervision is a trainable resource that healthcare organizations should facilitate to improve employee work and well-being in settings with high workplace aggression.OriginalityThis is the first study to examine the role of FSSB in influencing the relationship between two forms of workplace aggression: patient-initiated physical and coworker- initiated psychological aggression and employee outcomes.R21 OH009983/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States2018-03-19T00:00:00Z29563665PMC5858561vault:2765

Case study: evaluating performance outcomes of a technology change management initiative in a health care organization

The purpose of this research was to examine a case study by evaluating performance outcomes of a technology change management initiative in a health care organization. This study was developed with an array of issues surrounding change management programs with technology platforms, the management of complex change and the amount of criticism that became the impetus behind the implementation of the Electronic Health Records Management Systems (EHRMS) across the healthcare industry and its long-term transformative effects. Despite recognition that user response largely determined the success of a technology implementation or change management program and the fact significant resources are spent on strategic programs to promote acceptance, there was very little research in terms of evaluating performance outcomes which make a change management program more successful in health care settings. The study was challenging and the findings were inconclusive for the research questions. However, the qualitative data gathered from the comments/recommendations section of the eCare Research Survey provided additional information in great detail concerning the research topic. The capture of detailed opinions, attitudes, beliefs and comments/recommendations expressed by the respondents provided suggestions for revisions of the eCare change management program. This qualitative data also provided implications for future research in the field of change management

Burnout and Psychological Capital in Rural Critical Access Hospital Nurses

abstract: Job burnout, a prolonged reaction to job stress, includes mental and physical aspects of exhaustion related to professional work life. Linked to individual health-related problems, decreased job satisfaction, poor organizational commitment, and higher turnover, burnout poses a problem for both employees and organizations. The nursing profession identifies the prevalence of burnout and the resulting harmful effects in many settings, yet until now, rural critical access hospital settings have not been considered. To build and maintain a competent, healthy rural nursing workforce that responds innovatively to growing healthcare needs, it is important to examine burnout levels in rural nurses and to identify factors that might be associated with mitigating burnout. This study focuses on how psychological capital, socio-demographic and organizational work-related factors are associated with burnout in this population. This cross-sectional, descriptive correlational study employed the Maslach Burnout Inventory for Health Professionals, the Psychological Capital Questionnaire, and a sociodemographic questionnaire assessing individual and organizational work-related factors as self-report tools. Descriptive statistics, correlations, and regression analyses were performed to assess aspects of the nurses’ work environment, while describing the relationships among the variables.Means and standard deviations were examined across key variables and compared to reports from other studies. Hypotheses predicted psychological capital would be associated with burnout (negatively associated with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, positively associated with personal accomplishment), and that individual sociodemographic and organizational work-related factors would also be associated with BO. It was further hypothesized that PsyCap would moderate the relationship between work-related factors and BO. Maslach Burnout Inventory results reveal similar findings to those in the global sample. However, levels of emotional exhaustion and professional accomplishment were greater in our rural nurse sample compared to published values. Higher levels of psychological capital were found to be related to decreases in depersonalization and correlated to greater professional accomplishment. Psychological capital was not found to moderate associations within this study. Intent to stay more than one year had a strong, negative correlation with emotional exhaustion. The findings suggest burnout in this sample resembles that of the global problem and sets a baseline from which psychological capital trainings may be built.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Nursing and Healthcare Innovation 201

Cognitive, Affective and Behavioural Responses to an ERP Implementation: A Dual Perspective of Technology Acceptance and Organisational Change

Past studies have drawn on the technology acceptance literature in an attempt to predict users’ behavioural intentions to use a new ERP system. However, few researchers have considered the connections between technology acceptance and organisational change research; and very little ERP research has focused on explanations of user readiness, openness to change and resistance intentions from an organizational change perspective. This paper proposes a model that integrates the perspectives of the organisational change and technology acceptance literatures to define the cognitive, affective, individual and workplace related factors that underpin various behavioural intentions of users during an ERP implementation. The effects of the change management process on cognitions, affects and behavioural intentions are also explored. The context for the study is a South African university undergoing an ERP re-implementation