A Descriptive Study of Nursing Home Organizational Culture, Work Environment and Culture Change From the Perspectives of Licensed Nurses

Licensed nurses are often identified as a major barrier to the successful implementation of nursing home culture change initiatives, but there is little knowledge of their perceptions of the culture change experience. This study was designed to explore licensed nurses\u27 perceptions of organizational culture and work environment, as well as perceptions of factors that influence the adoption of a specific culture change initiative, the Wellspring Program. All licensed nurses ≥.25 FTE from two nursing homes were invited to complete surveys. Overall response rate was 57% (N=47): 55% from Facility One (n=27) and 61% from Facility Two (n=20). A subset of 13 respondents, targeted for their increased length of tenure in their nursing home, was invited to participate in an interview. Data were triangulated to determine complementarity. Three themes emerged from the data: Confusion over culture change and the role of the licensed nurse, Conflict over the integration of traditional care models with a resident-centered model and Commitment to the resident as an individual and to providing quality nursing care. What is perceived by administrators as nurses\u27 resistance to change may, in fact, be a struggle by licensed nurses to make sense of the motivation and reasoning for changes or to understand the actual changes and their roles in the change process

Defining and Assessing Organizational Culture

PROBLEM.  Using theories from several disciplines, the concept of organizational culture remains controversial. Conflicting definitions, lack of semantic clarity, and debate over the most appropriate methods for assessing organizational culture have led to disagreement over the value and validity of such inquiry. METHODS.  This paper reviews development of the concept of organizational culture and methods for assessing organizational culture, focusing on the healthcare environment. FINDINGS.  Most work on organizational culture concerns the traditional corporation. Therefore, some adaptation to the central goals and focus of a human services organization are necessary before application to healthcare settings

Taking care of Tootsie: Making a place for nurses.

Theresa “Tootsie” Smoder, better known as my grandma, always seemed larger than life. She bore eight children in nine years (The “Crazy Eights”), raised them almost single-handedly when her husband died and managed a 160 acre farm. Doing whatever it took to create security and stability for her family, Tootsie worked multiple jobs to feed her brood. She was a social butterfly who always tended to others and modeled the value of caring throughout her life

Creating a custom e-book for your course

Dr. Bellot used AcademicPub to create a custom ebook for her course. Students were able to purchase the ebook edition for use on their iPads or chose to have a print copy made and mailed to them. AcademicPub makes it easy to incorporate your syllabus, presentations, a collection of content from different text books and journal articles into a single book for your course. Dr. Bellot will describe the process, compare it to past practices and report on student satisfaction with this new format for course materials. 12 PowerPoint slide

Use of quick response coding to create interactive patient and provider resources.

BACKGROUND: Since their creation more than 20 years ago, the proliferation of Quick Response (QR) codes has expanded tremendously. Little was found in the literature to support the innovative use of QR coding in the classroom or in health care provision. Thus, the authors created a doctoral-level practicum experience using QR coding to create interactive, individualized patient or provider resource guides. METHOD: Short, descriptive surveys were used before and after implementation of the practicum experience to determine students\u27 comfort level using QR technology, their knowledge base, ease of use, and overall satisfaction with the practicum. RESULTS: Students reported high levels of satisfaction with this exercise, and all agreed that use of QR coding could have important implications in the clinical environment. CONCLUSION: This practicum experience was a creative, practical, and valuable example of integrating emerging technology into individualized patient care. [J Nurs Educ. 2015;54(4):224-227.]

Advancing the Future of Nursing: A Report by the Building Academic Geriatric Nursing

In the United States, the number of older adults will double during the next 25 years (United States Census Bureau, 2008). This dramatic demographic shift is changing the landscape of health care practice as more people live longer with multiple chronic conditions. To better prepare nurses to care for this future population, the John A. Hartford Foundation partnered with the American Academy of Nursing in 2000 to launch the Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity (BAGNC) program. Since that time, 251 scholarships and fellowships have been awarded to nurses to advance geriatric nursing education, research, and practice. In 2009, the BAGNC nurse scholars and fellows formed an alumni organization to expand and continue their leadership development through peer networking and mentored policy initiatives. The BAGNC Alumni organization represents an elite set of new leaders in gerontological nursing to advance geriatric nursing education, research, and practice (Fagin, 2012). To this end, at the 2011 Council for Advancement of Nursing Science\u27s Special Topics Meeting, the BAGNC Alumni presented their ongoing and completed projects that relate to the Institute of Medicine (2011) (IOM) report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Summaries of the individual presentations from this panel addressed the four key IOM messages and are presented in this article to highlight the action of these scholars and fellows

Patient Safety Symposium: Issues, Analyses, Prevention

Abstract Introduction: While learning the basics of patient safety, students can also learn about the contribution members of the various health professions can make to patient safety, which is why we stress the importance of interprofessional interactions in this Introduction to Patient Safety Symposium. Methods: This 4-hour symposium is designed as an introduction to patient safety presented in a classroom setting, with students seated in groups made up of representatives of each health profession. The course revolves around a case scenario presentation of a hypothetical patient who has had his knee replaced and is the victim of a series of medical errors, with consequent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. The course is taught through four modules: (1) Culture of Health Team Communication and Conflict Management, (2) Root Cause Analysis and System Problems, (3) Error Disclosure, and (4) Second Victim Trajectory. Each module begins with a didactic presentation, and then learners apply their knowledge in an interactive learning activity with their interprofessional colleagues. Following the fourth module, students complete a pre-/posttest, satisfaction survey, and reflection paper. Results: The course has been presented to 305 students in the schools of medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy (PT), and radiologic sciences at Thomas Jefferson University. While results of the pretest revealed that many students arrived with some knowledge of medical errors and the importance of communication, the posttest showed increased knowledge in how to report an error, root cause analysis, and the term second victim. In response to the satisfaction survey, 80%-100% of radiologic science, nursing, pharmacy, and PT students reported they were satisfied or very satisfied, but only 36% of medical students reported that level of satisfaction. Stated reasons for medical student satisfaction level included redundant material and session length. When asked if at least 40% of the material was new, more than 65% of nursing, PT, and radiologic science students agreed, whereas only 54% of pharmacy students and 25% of medical students did. The themes on the individual reflection papers from all students included the importance of communication, teamwork, a culture that promotes acknowledgment of errors, and knowledge of policies and procedures. Discussion: This symposium effectively increased the students\u27 knowledge of the meaning and process of medical errors/patient safety. Since students came from different disciplines and different programs, their knowledge base regarding patient safety was variable. This created a challenge when deciding at what level to teach. Although this symposium was the first interprofessional patient safety experience for all students, some of those who had been taught patient safety in their own disciplines were less satisfied with the course. Educational Objectives By the end of this session, learners will be able to: Discuss patient safety issues, including barriers and systems solutions. Describe the definition of medical error and types of sentinel events. Apply information to know when and how to report medical errors. Promote interprofessional collaboration and communication to improve patient safety. Analyze sentinel events using the process of root cause analysis. Discuss issues of error disclosure. Describe closure and needs of staff who were involved in the error

Navigating distance learning technologies using team teaching

In 2004, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) adopted the position to move the current level of preparation necessary for advanced practice nurse (APN) roles from the master\u27s degree to the doctoral level. AACN also called for educating APNs and other nurses seeking top leadership and clinical roles in Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Programs. In September 2007, the Jefferson School of Nursing welcomed its first cohort of 18 DNP students. Students represented a wide variety of practice specialties including acute care, primary care, healthcare administration, population health, education and industry. Twenty students comprise the second cohort entering in September 2008. Nationwide, Jefferson is one of 79 schools of nursing offering a DNP degree

Accelerating design and transforming baccalaureate nursing education to foster a culture of health

Healthcare reform and changing population health demographics call for a radical transformation in healthcare delivery and the education of healthcare providers. Nurses comprise the largest proportion of healthcare providers making it necessary to ensure that they are prepared to address the challenges that arise from the evolving healthcare delivery system. A key message of the Institute of Medicine’s The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, is that nurses must lead healthcare change. To accomplish this, nurses must recognize their role in educating the new nursing workforce about creating a culture of health. Specifically, nurse educators must act as stewards for promoting health and wellness, and reducing health disparities and inequities. They must also recognize their role in forming partnerships with community organizations to improve primary care and population health by addressing social determinants of health. The purpose of this paper is to describe the structure for developing an innovative baccalaureate nursing curriculum and lessons learned that can inform the efforts of others interested in accelerating design of new curriculum