Assignment: Application: Systems Theory
As noted in the Learning Resources, systems theory provides a meaningful and beneficial means of examining challenges in health care organizations. To do this effectively, however, it is essential to assess all system components, as some may be relatively healthy while others are problematic.
For this Assignment, you apply systems theory to the examination of a problem in a department or a unit within a health care organization. (Note: You may use the same problem you identified for the Discussion as long as it meets the criteria for this assignment.)
To prepare:
- Review the Meyer article, “Nursing Services Delivery Theory: An Open System Approach,” in this week’s Learning Resources. Focus especially on the information presented in Table 1 (p. 2831) and Figure 2 (p. 2833).
- Reflect on your organization or one with which you are familiar. Within a particular department or unit in this organization, identify a problem the staff is encountering.
- Using Table 1 in the Meyer article as a guide, analyze the department or unit, identifying inputs, throughput, output, cycles of events, and negative feedback. Consider whether the problem you have selected relates to input, throughput, output, cycles of events, and/or negative feedback.
- Think about how you could address the problem: Consider what a desired outcome would be, then formulate related goals and objectives, and translate those goals into policies and procedures.
- Research professional standards that are pertinent to your identified problem.
- Reflect on the organization’s mission statement and values. In addition, consider how addressing this problem would uphold the mission and values, while improving the organizational culture and climate. (Depending on the organization you have selected, you may have explored these in the Week 1 Discussion.)
Write a 3- to 5-page paper (page count does not include title and reference page) that addresses the following:
Describe a department or unit within a health care organization using systems theory terminology. Include a description of inputs, throughput, output, cycles of events, and negative feedback.
Describe the problem you identified within the department or unit using an open- systems approach, and state where the problem exists using the systems theory model (input, throughput, output, cycles of events, or negative feedback).
Based on this information, explain how you would address the problem as follows:
Formulate a desired outcome.
Identify goals and objectives that would facilitate that outcome.
Translate those goals and objectives into policies and procedures for the department or unit.
Describe relevant professional standards.
Explain how your proposed resolution to the problem would uphold the organization’s mission and values and improve the culture and climate.
Week 1 Discussion
My whole career as a Registered Nurse is devoted to home care from the very first day of it that is strikingly different from the usual image of a nurse in a hospital. It was my conscious choice when being back in the nursing program, because the scope of practice of the home care nurse gives her an opportunity to improve the skills at a higher level of responsibility for the sake of health and safety of the patient. On one hand it is an opportunity to take care of the patient in his home environment, the most favorable place for the recovery and health maintenance. On the other hand it puts the nurse in position when decisions must be made in the most secure and timely manner for the patient, when you’re alone with him without direct support from the managers, supervisors and other leaders. During my career as a homecare nurse, I work in the different capacities, basically I have extensive work experience in almost all of the aspects of a homecare, both short-term and long-term, that allows me to explore my profession deep enough to see the field you want to change or improve somehow.
My nursing career for the last year is connected with MAXIMUS/Medicaid Choice. MAXIMUS was founded in 1975 with the mission of “Helping Government Serve the People” and has built a reputation of excellence assisting states with their health and human services programs. MAXIMUS is a national leader in the provision of Medicaid Managed Care Enrollment Broker services, providing outreach, education and enrollment services in several states throughout the country, as well as in other countries. In 1998, MAXIMUS joined with the New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH) and Local Department of Social Service (LDSS) offices, to provide these same high quality services in the effort to transition New York State’s Medicaid consumers into managed care. These services are provided through the York Medicaid Choice (NYMC) Program, which is based in New York City. Today, NYMC provides enrollment and education services throughout a number of select NYS counties. The principal task for MAXIMUS for this project is to ensure that consumers choose the Health Plan and Primary Care Provider that best meets their needs.
In my current job capacity as a Nurse Evaluator my job responsibilities are defined very straight-forward, and I work autonomously as a visiting nurse, implementing Uniform Assessment System for New York (UAS-NY) for initial eligibility assessment for the members of different Managed Long Term Home Care Programs (MLTC). My mission is to provide assessment according to the guidelines of Department of Health (DOH) via use of information technology, not a traditional hands-on nursing assessment, and to submit (upload) my findings and recommendations to the appropriate MLTC in a timely manner in order to facilitate development of the plan of care for the member. My work is almost self-contained which reduces to the minimum necessary contact with managers and other leaders at my work. According to Marquis & Huston (2015), vision statement is a description in words that conjures up a picture for all group members of what they want to accomplish together. The vision of the company where I work states: “To be the leading service provider of home health care and health care personnel staffing services by defining industry quality standards through cost effective provision of innovative service delivery models, staff training and education and through the use of advanced technology to improve client care”. Culture is a social control system. In his article Defining and assessing organizational culture Bellot (2015) defined organizational culture as a total of organization’s values, language, tradition, customs, and described different aspects of the term. One of them reads: “Organizational culture is the sum of values and rituals which serve as ‘glue’ to integrate the members of the organization.” According to Michael Watkins (Bellot, 2015) culture is the organization’s immune system, it is a form of protection that has evolved from situational pressures. It prevents “wrong thinking” and “wrong people” from entering the organization in the first place. Organizational climate can be defined as a set of attributes specific to a particular organization that may be induced from the way that organization deals with its members and its environment. For the individual members within the organization, climate takes the form of a set of attitudes and experiences which describe the organization in terms of both static characteristics (such as degree of autonomy) and behavior outcome and outcome- outcome contingencies. Some persons have used organizational culture and organizational climate interchangeably. But there are some basic differences between these two terms. According to Bowditch and Buono (2001), “Organizational culture is connected with the nature of beliefs and expectations about organizational life, while climate is an indicator of whether these beliefs and expectations are being fulfilled.” Organizational climate influences to a great extent the performance of the employees because it has a major impact on motivation and job satisfaction of individual employees. Organizational climate determines the work environment in which the employee feels satisfied or dissatisfied. Since satisfaction determines or influences the efficiency of the employees, we can say that organizational climate is directly related to the efficiency and performance of the employees.
References:
Bellot, J. (2011). Defining and assessing organizational culture. Nursing Forum, 46(1), 29–37. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
Bowditch, J. L., & Buono, A. F. (2001). A primer on organizational behavior. New York: Wiley.
Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2015). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.
Nelson, W. A., & Gardent, P. B. (2011). Organizational values statements. Healthcare Executive, 26(2), 56–59. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
