NURS6221 Managing Human Resources
NURS6221 Managing Human Resources
Week 1 Discussion
Organizational Fit
What does it mean to “fit” within an organization? In considering nurse recruits, how important is it for a potential nurse hire to share the beliefs and values of the organization? Yet, is fit important in all areas? In what ways might different perspectives on quality nursing be welcome in a healthcare setting?
These are all questions to consider as you prepare for this first Discussion. As a nurse executive, imagine interviewing three candidates for a specific job. The details of the position are not provided, only an assessment of each candidate’s basic qualifications. Consider your responses and perspectives on each candidate and how the concept of fit factors in your decision making.
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To Prepare:
Review the Learning Resources. Pay particular attention to information that explains the role of nurse executives in recruitment and selection of employees and guidance for determining applicant qualifications, such as stages of ability in developing specific skills.
Consider the following scenarios of three candidates (A, B, and C) to interview. As a nurse executive, how would you view each?
Candidate A has all the necessary competencies but discussion, during the personal interview, suggests that the individual may not be a team player or open to working in a collaborative environment.
Candidate B lacks some of the necessary competencies but demonstrates clear evidence of being a team player and is comfortable in a collaborative environment.
Candidate C went to the same nursing school as you and, as you speak, you realize your social networks overlap as you know many of the same people, professionally and personally. This candidate lacks several of the necessary competencies for this position.
Consider the challenge of assessing both fit and technical qualifications when interviewing candidates and making hiring decisions. Are there situations where there is a tradeoff between fit and technical qualifications? If so, how might such a situation present itself?
Reflect on the potential for rater bias in this scenario. To what extent would you be drawn to the candidate with whom you can best identify? How do you assess the truthfulness of a candidate’s responses to questions? How much would you consider other explanations, such as nervousness, in assessing why the first candidate did not seem like a team player? How do you assess the validity of the interview information, including how you weigh different selection criteria?
Decide which candidate you would hire, and why.
Consider your reasoning for not hiring each of the other candidates.
By Day 3 of Week 1
Post the following:
A brief explanation of which candidate you would hire, and why. Explain what qualities you would give the most consideration and how your hiring decision relates to either good fit or bad fit for the organization. Also, explain your strategies for assessing the validity of interview information and for avoiding rater bias. Be specific and provide examples, with support from the Learning Resources or other current literature.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
By Day 6 of Week 1
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by explaining how your understanding of bias influences or contributes to potential challenges in hiring applicants for an organization. Describe any possible bias you detect in a colleague’s hiring decision and your reasoning. Support your conclusions with the Learning Resources or other current literature.
Note: For this Discussion, you are required to complete your initial post before you will be able to view and respond to your colleagues’ postings. Begin by clicking on the Post to Discussion Question link, and then select Create Thread to complete your initial post. Remember, once you click on Submit, you cannot delete or edit your own posts, and you cannot post anonymously. Please check your post carefully before clicking on Submit!
NURS6221 Managing Human Resources
Week 4 Discussion
Creating Psychologically Safe Healthcare Teams
As you consider necessary qualities for a nurse executive, where do you place the capacity to persuade? Although the position may come with authority to make decisions and give orders, the ability to establish an environment where employees feel free to disagree may be as important, if not more so, than the power invested in your position.
Creating psychologically safe environments within a healthcare setting is one such example.
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Environments are generally fashioned by the people in charge and changing how people react and respond is not as simple as flipping a switch—or even issuing a directive. It often requires providing strong evidence that encourages a change in behavior.
For this Discussion, you will explore the process of creating psychologically safe healthcare teams by considering how you would educate others about the necessity of providing psychological safety and, specifically, how to achieve it.
To Prepare:
Review the Learning Resources on psychological safety. In particular, review the video resources featuring Amy Edmondson, a Harvard professor and expert on psychological safety in the workplace.
Consider the role of team leaders in creating psychologically safe environments, and based on the resources provided, the specific benefits for healthcare organizations.
Reflect on your role as a nurse executive and how you would explain to team leaders and other managers in a healthcare setting their roles in creating psychologically safe environments for team members, including benefits for teams and the organization. Consider possible types of resistance from team leaders and others, and how you would respond.
By Day 3 of Week 4
Post the following:
A brief explanation of how, as a nurse executive, you would make the case to team leaders in a healthcare setting for the importance of developing a culture of psychological safety for team members. Describe how you would present the role of team leaders in creating psychologically safe environments, challenges you might face in working with team leaders on this goal, and how you would respond to overcome those challenges. Cite the Learning Resources or other literature to support your post.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
By Day 6 of Week 4
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by providing alternative reasoning or approaches to making a case for psychologically safe environments in a healthcare setting and in working with team leaders to achieve that goal. Support your responses with the Learning Resources or other current literature.
Note: For this Discussion, you are required to complete your initial post before you will be able to view and respond to your colleagues’ postings. Begin by clicking on the Post to Discussion Question link. and then select Create Thread to complete your initial post. Remember, once you click on Submit, you cannot delete or edit your own posts, and you cannot post anonymously. Please check your post carefully before clicking on Submit!
NURS6221 Managing Human Resources
Week 6 Discussion
Improvement vs. Fear Through Performance Reviews
The face-to-face performance review is one part of performance management. Observing an employee, and then sitting down to discuss areas of strength and need is intended to produce constructive outcomes. Yet, too frequently, the reality falls far short.
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When considering performance reviews, “positive” or “negative” does not refer to the substantive evaluation but to how the information is presented and discussed. For example, in a “positive” performance review, negative information is not avoided and, significantly, not communicated in a punitive way or as a reflection on employee character. Rather, negative information is detailed as an opportunity for improvement.
For this Discussion, you will reflect on circumstances and behaviors that can lead performance reviews awry, and how to support a review process with constructive outcomes.
To Prepare:
Review the Learning Resources on performance reviews and appraisals. Pay particular attention to the media programs for potential problems and solutions to consider.
Consider the benefits and drawbacks of performance reviews and appraisals.
What are the characteristics of a positive and effective performance review? What factors create a performance evaluation that contributes to improved performance, rather than injecting fear and self-protection in the workplace? In what ways can performance reviews impact the effectiveness of employees and the healthcare organization?
Draw on the Learning Resources, as well as your own experiences with performance reviews in healthcare settings, to consider how to avoid performance reviews that provoke fear and how to ensure a process that supports performance improvement through openness, honesty, and collaborative problem solving.
Consider insights from your Module 3 Assignment interview to apply to the Discussion, such as examples of criteria used to evaluate employee performance, and if and how that criteria is communicated to employees.
By Day 3 of Week 6
Post the following:
A brief description of factors that contribute to generating fear in employee performance reviews in a healthcare setting. Include examples from your own experience, and/or those of colleagues and other acquaintances, of positive or negative performance reviews. Explain strategies to eliminate fear and to develop and implement constructive reviews that improve performance. Support your post with the Learning Resources or current literature.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
By Day 6 of Week 6
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by providing additional or alternative factors that contribute to generating fear in performance reviews and/or strategies for reviews that promote improved performance. Include examples and insights from your Module Assignment interview with a nurse executive. Support your responses with the Learning Resources or other current literature.
Note: For this Discussion, you are required to complete your initial post before you will be able to view and respond to your colleagues’ postings. Begin by clicking on the Post to Discussion Question link, and then select Create Thread to complete your initial post. Remember, once you click on Submit, you cannot delete or edit your own posts, and you cannot post anonymously. Please check your post carefully before clicking on Submit!
NURS6221 Managing Human Resources
Week 8 Discussion
Differences at Work and “Identity Abrasions”
A more diverse workforce can create abrasive interactions that require your attention as a nurse executive. Miscommunication, misunderstanding, or entrenched and antiquated attitudes and beliefs may result in situations where one employee is offended, perhaps deeply, by others. These “identity abrasions” that occur when ideas and attitudes clash naturally vary but relate most typically to gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and other defining qualities of individuals.
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This Discussion provides examples of conflict situations and offers an opportunity to consider how you would respond as a nurse executive. Given understanding and empathy are key in supporting employees, approach each vignette from the perspective of the individual who feels wronged and what that individual may need in terms of resolution.
To Prepare:
Review the Learning Resources on diversity and inclusion in healthcare organizations.
Your Instructor will identify three “Differences at Work” vignettes as the focus of this Discussion. Read the three case studies and choose one as the subject of your Discussion post.
Identify the issues in your chosen case study and reflect on how a diversity and inclusion perspective might mitigate, address, or contribute to the concept of “identity abrasion” in the workplace.
Consider how this situation might affect organizational performance, staff morale and retention, and/or competitive advantage.
Consider how you would respond if you were the employee in your chosen vignette and what kind of support and resolutions you might seek, or what you would recommend to this individual in terms of responses.
By Day 3 of Week 8
Post the following:
Briefly describe the case study you selected, and explain the elements of “identity abrasion” in the employee’s experience. From the position of the employee, describe what actions and strategies would be most welcome and effective for resolving this conflict situation. Support your post with Learning Resources or current literature.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
By Day 6 of Week 1
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days, preferably one colleague who selected the same case study and one who selected a different case study. For a colleague with the same case study, compare your understanding and analysis of the situation and expand on or propose different strategies or actions for responding to the employee’s experience. For colleague(s) with different case studies, explain your questions or insights on the case study from the colleague’s description and suggest additional or alternative responses. Support your ideas with Learning Resources or current literature.
Note: For this Discussion, you are required to complete your initial post before you will be able to view and respond to your colleagues’ postings. Begin by clicking on the Post to Discussion Question link, and then select Create Thread to complete your initial post. Remember, once you click on Submit, you cannot delete or edit your own posts, and you cannot post anonymously. Please check your post carefully before clicking on Submit!
NURS6221 Managing Human Resources
Week 10 Discussion
Incident in the ER
A nurse executive’s leadership in ethical decision making is vital. This is true across the board but never more so than in situations where competing voices and priorities and a sense that timing is critical converge in ways that may be detrimental for a patient and staff.
This Discussion is based on a dramatic scenario that offers two takes on the same emergency room case. As you watch and listen, consider how this Discussion can offer valuable preparation and perspective for high stakes decision making, as well as analyzing factors that influence the decisions of others.
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To Prepare:
Review the readings and videos in the Learning Resources on responding to legal and ethical issues in a healthcare setting.
The focus of your Discussion is the two-part video, Incident in the ER, in the Learning Resources. Follow this approach to viewing and reflecting on each part:
View Part 1. Consider the events portrayed, the particular influences and pressures on the healthcare team, their responses and decision-making process, and your insights on the organizational culture from those actions.
View Part 2. Consider the alternative scenario presented. Apply the same process as you followed in Part 1 to analyze the decision-making process, and consider what can explain the different outcome from Part 1.
Reflect on the legal and ethical issues illustrated in these two scenarios. As a nurse executive, what principles can you garner from this comparison to guide your legal and ethical decision making in a healthcare setting? How would you use your leadership role to guide others in positions of power and decision making on patient care and team interaction?
By Day 3 of Week 10
Post the following:
A brief explanation of the issues and considerations at work in the Incident in the ER scenarios. Explain the lesson(s) you see illustrated in this comparison and the principle(s) that you would identify to guide legal and ethical decision making in healthcare settings. From a leadership perspective, explain your recommendations for nurse executives on safeguards to avoid “incidents” like that portrayed in Part 1 and responses to ensure the outcome in Part 2. Support your post with Learning Resources or current literature.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
By Day 6 of Week 10
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by agreeing or disagreeing with their interpretation of the scenarios and providing alternative recommendations for responses and actions as nurse executive. Support your ideas with Learning Resources or current literature.
Note: For this Discussion, you are required to complete your initial post before you will be able to view and respond to your colleagues’ postings. Begin by clicking on the Post to Discussion Question link, and then select Create Thread to complete your initial post. Remember, once you click on Submit, you cannot delete or edit your own posts, and you cannot post anonymously. Please check your post carefully before clicking on Submit!
NURS6221 Managing Human Resources
Week 11 Discussion
Understanding Legal Mandates
Think drug use by healthcare employees and harassment, sexual or other, of employees in a healthcare setting, and you have two scenarios that are sure to test your knowledge and judgment as a nurse executive with human resource responsibilities. Check yourself, and draw on the perspectives and responses of your course colleagues, with a Discussion of these problem situations.
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To Prepare:
Review each of the following scenarios and choose one as the subject of your Discussion post.
Scenario 1: A star surgeon is a revenue generator and holds significant power within a healthcare organization. The surgeon is also verbally abusive to lower-level staff and threatens with outbursts and inappropriate demands. Staff complaints have been frequent and responses inadequate. Another recent outburst by the surgeon has created renewed demands for effective action.
Note: For more on this scenario, review the document “Mr. Coolidge’s Dilemma” in the Learning Resources. This presentation by text author Bruce Fried is based on a compilation of real situations.
Imagine you are a new nurse executive in this healthcare setting drawn into a discussion on what to do about this surgeon. Consider issues raised by this situation, such as impact on morale, possible assault charges against the doctor, and potential damage to the hospital’s reputation. How do you respond?
If sexual harassment were suspected in the surgeon’s “inappropriate” requests, what legal mandates, such as those under Title VII, would you need to abide by to address this situation?
What ethical principles would guide your response?
What strategies/approaches could support employees impacted by the surgeon?
Scenario 2: A prospective employee tests positive for marijuana on a drug test in a state where marijuana is not legal.
What is your role as a nurse executive in the hiring process?
What are the legal mandates that you need to abide by in this situation?
How would you engage with this prospective employee?
What if this was a current employee? What would guide your response and how would you engage with this employee?
For each scenario, reflect on the issues and considerations that stand out to you. Choose one scenario as the subject of your Discussion post. Keep in mind that you will be required to respond to at least one peer whose post is the scenario you do not select.
Review Learning Resources related to both scenarios, to help you formulate your Discussion post and prepare your response to peers.
Indicate your choice of scenario in the title of your Discussion post, i.e., Harassment or Marijuana Use.
By Day 3 of Week 11
Post the following:
A brief explanation of the issues and considerations at work in your chosen scenario and how you would respond from your position as a nurse executive. Explain your decision-making process, specific actions you would take, and your reasoning. Support your thinking with the Learning Resources or current literature.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
By Day 6 of Week 11
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days, with one response to a colleague who chose the same scenario as you, and a colleague who chose the other scenario. Agree or disagree with their interpretations of their respective scenarios and provide additional or alternative recommendations for responses and actions as a nurse executive. Support your ideas with the Learning Resources or current literature.
Note: For this Discussion, you are required to complete your initial post before you will be able to view and respond to your colleagues’ postings. Begin by clicking on the Post to Discussion Question link, and then select Create Thread to complete your initial post. Remember, once you click on Submit, you cannot delete or edit your own posts, and you cannot post anonymously. Please check your post carefully before clicking on Submit!
NURS6221 Managing Human Resources
Week 2 Assignment (Module 1)
Recruitment and Selection Plan
Think back to an experience, either recent or particularly memorable, in securing a position in a healthcare setting. How did you become aware of the position? Was the job description an accurate representation of the duties and responsibilities of the position? What was the interview process like and were there aspects you would recommend changing? When you were hired, did you feel this was a position that you would want to retain and in which you could grow?
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This Assignment will involve you in following key steps in the recruitment and selection process. No doubt you have experienced this process from the candidate’s perspective. In keeping with your human resource functions as a nurse executive, for this Assignment, you will consider the recruitment and interview process from the hiring perspective. As you do, consider how you can apply your own experiences and insights, in combination with the Learning Resources you use, to develop the most effective recruitment and selection plan that strengthens a healthcare setting with high-quality employees.
Note: There are two parts to this Assignment. Both Parts 1 and 2 will be due on Day 7 of Week 2. Plan your time accordingly. Access and review the document, Recruitment and Selection Plan: Guidelines and Worksheet (located in the Learning Resources), for support in completing the Assignment. The preparation steps this week are intended to guide completion of Part 1 of your Assignment.
Part 1: Job Description Analysis
To Prepare:
Review the Learning Resources on human resource management and recruitment, job analysis, and job design.
Identify a job description from your current healthcare organization or where you have previously worked. Choose a job description that will enable you to determine the type of employees you are looking for as well as the selection criteria.
Based on the job description, develop a recruitment and selection plan. For Part 1, you will focus on developing and refining the job description. Consider:
What are the responsibilities of this job?
What are the competencies and KSAOs (knowledge, skills, abilities, other attributes) required for this job?
How would you evaluate a candidate to determine fit for this position, both in terms of technical competencies for the job and fit with the culture and values of the organization?
How could the job description be improved to ensure a successful hiring process?
Consider how you could use social media, such as LinkedIn or online employment recruitment sites, to maximize the field of qualified recruits.
If you are on LinkedIn, explore how the site functions as a recruitment source. If you are not on LinkedIn, create a profile for this Assignment, and then begin your research.
Identify and explore recruitment websites (e.g., Indeed, ZipRecruiter, CareerBuilder) that have been used to recruit for this type of position. Depending on the job, also explore discipline-specific websites where jobs are advertised (e.g., Nurse.org, ANA’s Career Center). Pay particular attention to how jobs are presented to interested job seekers.
Part 1 Assignment: Job Description Analysis
In 2–3 pages, include the following:
Explain the role of the nurse executive in developing job descriptions and why it represents an essential human resource management function.
Analyze the job description you have selected as the focus of your Assignment. Include the source of the job description and critique the job description for clarity and accuracy.
Explain how well the job description defines the required employee attributes for the job and how it could be improved. If information is available, describe how the tasks and competencies associated with this job may have changed since the job description was conceived.
Write a new or revised job description that reflects your analysis and which you would use for advertising the position and recruiting candidates for the job.
Explain how you would use social media and online job search technology to maximize presentation of the job description and reach a broader share of potential recruits.
Describe two examples of how jobs similar to your chosen position are presented to interested job seekers from the social media and online job sites you visit.
Part 2 Assignment: Interview and Selection Plan
Based on the job description you created or revised in Part 1, design an interview and selection process for that job. In 3–4 pages, include the following:
Describe the ideal candidate for this job, and explain the sources of information you would use in evaluating applicants.
Explain an overview of your process to identify, and select that candidate.
Focusing on the interview, explain:
Who within the healthcare organization would be involved in the interview process, and why
Pre-interview guidance and preparation for interviewers and recruits
How interview outcomes would be compiled
How differences in interview ratings would be resolved
List five essential questions you would ask in an interview to evaluate key employee characteristics for this job. For each question, explain what you would look and listen for in the candidate’s response.
Explain how you would measure a candidate and assess the recruit’s fitness for the position.
Analyze your interview and selection process for potential challenges, and explain how you would address those challenges to improve the process and outcomes, including retaining good employees.
The preparation support this week guides completion of Part 2 of your Assignment. Among the requirements is to identify five questions that you would ask a candidate you are interviewing for the specific job you have selected in Part 1, and how you would rate potential responses to each question. Recall the Week 1 Discussion on organizational fit, as well as being mindful of rater bias in evaluating job candidates. Keep in mind both considerations as you plan your approach to the interview and selection process.
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To Prepare:
Review the Learning Resources on recruitment and selection of job applicants. Pay particular attention to Chapter 5 of your Fried & Fottler text on the interview process and developing effective interview questions. Also review the document, “Recruitment and Selection Plan: Guidelines and Worksheet,” found in the Week 2 Learning Resources, to assist your preparation for the Module 1 Assignment.
Based on the job description that you selected and revised, develop a plan for interviewing and evaluating candidates for the target job. Include the following:
Consider competencies and KSAOs (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other attributes) that you identified in Part 1 of this Assignment.
Identify information sources for assessing the competencies and KSAOs, such as credentials; past work experiences; references, material submitted in the job application, and interview questions.
Determine how to prioritize and evaluate the different requirements for the job.
Identify which specific competencies/KSAOs are best assessed with the use of interview questions. Note that interview questions may supplement other sources of information, such as checking references.
Consider how rater bias will be prevented, identified, and addressed.
Decide who should be involved in the interview process and what guidance and training to provide to interviewers.
Determine how information will be consolidated for each interview and how divergent impressions may be resolved.
Draw on your own experience as a job applicant in a recent or particularly memorable recruitment episode to analyze the recruitment and selection process from an interviewee’s perspective. Consider issues that arose (e.g., internal vs. external applicants treated inequitably), specific challenges, positive and negative outcomes, as well as how the process can be improved.
NURS6221 Managing Human Resources
Week 4 Assignment (Module 2)
Impacts of Employee Empowerment and Psychological Safety
Note: You will begin this Assignment in Week 3, and it will be due by Day 7 of Week 4. Plan your time accordingly.
How does healthcare compare with other fields in markers, such as employee empowerment and engagement? Investigating that question is one purpose of your Module 2 Assignment, for which you will interview three employees in different fields, with one individual in healthcare. You will also consider the theme of psychological safety, which you will explore in more detail in Week 4.
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As you begin your Assignment, reflect on your own experiences and perceptions of a typical work environment within a healthcare setting. As a nurse executive, you will have greater influence over how the nurses you lead function within that environment. Recall examples from the Learning Resources of benefits when nurses are empowered and engaged. Consider how you can use the information you gain through this Assignment to develop your leadership skills, with the goal of providing support that is constructively impactful for nurses, patients, and a healthcare organization.
To Prepare:
Choose and secure the agreement of three individuals you know well (i.e., family and friends) to be interviewed on the topics of employee empowerment, engagement, and psychological safety in the workplace. One person you interview must work in a healthcare setting.
Review the Learning Resources on employee empowerment, engagement, and psychological safety in the workplace. Consider definitions that clarify these concepts and which you can explain to your interview subjects in enlisting their participation and guiding responses.
Access and review the document Employee Interviews: Guidelines and Questions, located in the Learning Resources, for guidance on planning, conducting, analyzing, and comparing the interview responses.
Note: You are required to submit the signature of each person you interview to confirm the individual’s agreement to participate. Fill in Page 1 of the Employee Interviews: Guidelines and Questions document, print the page, and obtain the signatures. (There is a place for all three signatures on Page 1.) Scan and submit Page 1 as a separate Word file with your completed Assessment.
Conduct a brief (20–30 minutes) phone or in-person interview with each individual. Speak with each person separately so that you have three sets of independent views to compare. Questions to ask are provided in the Guidelines document. Note the questions are repeated in a section for each interviewee. Take notes in the document, or record the interviews with each person’s permission.
When you have completed all three interviews, review each individual’s experiences and sense of empowerment, engagement, and psychological safety at work. Compare and contrast the responses with the goal of arriving at clear conclusions on how the degree of employee empowerment, engagement, and psychological safety influences job performance, satisfaction, and morale.
Compare the responses of the individual who works in healthcare and your own experiences in professional practice in healthcare to the responses of your interviewees working in other areas. Consider conclusions you can make about employee empowerment, engagement, and psychological safety in healthcare compared with other professions.
Consider quality care and safety issues in healthcare and the relationship among psychological safety, employee empowerment, and engagement as positive or negative factors.
Consider strategies nurse executives can apply to improve or enhance employee empowerment, engagement, and psychological safety within healthcare settings.
Assignment:
Based on your three interviews and drawing on current literature, and from the perspective of a nurse executive’s role in supporting employee job performance and satisfaction, write an analysis that addresses, in 4–5 pages, the following points:
Describe the three employees you interviewed, including their industries and job titles.
Explain your working definitions of “employee empowerment” and “employee engagement” that are the basis of the interviews.
Summarize how the interviewees characterized the culture of employee empowerment and engagement within their organizations.
Analyze how employee empowerment and employee engagement within healthcare organizations compare with other industries.
Explain your working definition of “psychological safety” that is the basis of the interviews.
Summarize how the interviewees characterized the presence, absence, and/or degree of psychological safety within their organizations.
Analyze how psychological safety within healthcare compares with other industries.
Analyze how degree of psychological safety, employee empowerment, and engagement are positive or negative factors for quality care and safety issues within healthcare.
From the position of a nurse executive, explain at least two leadership strategies you would recommend for actions to improve or sustain psychological safety, employee empowerment, and engagement within healthcare organizations. Speak generally, or specifically, to your current healthcare organization or one where you have worked in the past.
As you wrap up your analysis of the three interviews you completed, draw on the information and perspectives gained through the Learning Resources and Discussion, this week, to assess psychological safety in each workplace. As a nurse executive, you will have new avenues for making a difference for staff and patients. With those opportunities in mind, consider how to apply the insights you gain regarding psychological safety in healthcare settings.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
To Prepare:
Review Learning Resources that will guide your analysis of employee empowerment, engagement, and psychological safety.
Use the Guidelines & Questions document, from the Learning Resources, to help you in completing your Assignment, including providing the signature sheet to confirm your three interviews.
Assignment:
Finalize your Module 2 Assignment.
NURS6221 Managing Human Resources
Week 7 Assignment (Module 3)
Evaluating Performance Management Systems
Note: You will begin this Assignment in Week 5 and it will be due by Day 7 of Week 7. Plan your time accordingly.
Depending on your experience in healthcare, and other fields as well, you may be familiar with a performance management system or primarily with one aspect of assessing performance, the annual performance review. As a critical distinction from the annual review, performance management goes beyond a list of skills to rate or expected behaviors to check off, to a larger consideration of goals to reach and specific improvement strategies to implement.
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Gaining understanding and perspective on a nurse executive’s role in performance management is the purpose of this Module 3 Assignment. To help inform your thinking and both the opportunities and challenges of performance management, you will gain firsthand information through an interview with a nursing professional whose responsibilities include those you will assume as a nurse executive.
Follow the guidelines for this Assignment as provided in the overview documents. You are encouraged to give yourself adequate time to reflect on your interviewee’s responses, the better to support you in assuming this aspect of the work of a nurse executive.
To Prepare:
Review the Learning Resources on performance management for support in preparing for your interview with the human resources nurse manager.
Access and review the Performance Management System Interview Guidelines and Questions document for guidance on selecting a nurse executive to interview, and on planning, conducting, and analyzing the interview responses.
Note: You are required to complete and submit Page 2 of this Guidelines document in a Word file identified as “Interviewee Profile and Confirmation Signature.” Be sure to obtain the full signature of your nurse executive interviewee to confirm the individual’s participation. Initials and/or only first or last name are not sufficient.
Access and review the Performance Management System Interview Matrix Summary Template. Consider how you can use this matrix to help organize information and conclusions from your interview.
When you have completed the interview, reflect on the results, including background information on the professional, the healthcare organization, and performance management system. As needed, follow up with your interviewee by phone or e-mail to clarify answers and conclusions.
Assignment:
Part 1: Interview Matrix Summary
Complete the Performance Management System Interview Matrix Summary, provided with the Assessment materials, to create a visual summary of the information gathered through your interview with the nurse executive.
Part 2: Interview Reflection
In a separate Word document, write 2–3 pages that reflect on the interview and your overall impressions. Include the following points in your reflection:
Briefly describe the professional you interviewed, including title, years of experience, and his/her healthcare organization (e.g., size, location, special services). Note: Be mindful of your interviewee’s privacy in the details you provide.
Explain the concept of “performance management” that guided your interview and the interviewee’s responses.
Evaluate the healthcare organization’s performance management system for effectiveness, drawing on the interviewee’s assessment and your own observations and conclusions.
Describe characteristics and/or factors that stand out to you as contributing to the system’s strengths and weaknesses.
Describe actions, strategies, or approaches that you would recommend to address weaknesses in the system..
Your Module 3 Assignment continues this week. As you prepare for your interview or reflect on the conversation you have held, draw on the information and insights you gain on performance reviews, what can make them particularly challenging, and how to promote a system for performance improvement that is inherently positive in its view of assessment and critique, and which communicates that assurance to employees.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
To Prepare:
If you have not yet conducted your interview with a nurse executive on the performance management system in the individual’s healthcare organization, do so as soon as possible.
Following the interview, reflect on the results, including background information on the professional, the healthcare organization, and performance management system. Consider how you would summarize information gained in the interview using the Matrix Template and your Reflection paper to provide a thorough description of the performance management system.
Consider strengths and weaknesses of the system, as described by the interviewee and from your own analysis.
Review the Learning Resources for supporting information to help in your understanding and evaluation of this performance management system and strategies and approaches for addressing its weaknesses.
NURS6221 Managing Human Resources
Week 9 Assignment (Module 4)
Influence of Diversity and Inclusion on Organizational Culture
Note: You will begin this Assignment in Week 8 and it will be due by Day 7 of Week 9. Plan your time accordingly.
There was a time when diversity might be gauged by physical differences alone, and being included might be considered inclusion enough. However, changing perspectives on diversity and inclusion require a broader look at what each means, as well as the significance of each. This Module Assignment involves researching two healthcare organizations of your choice for the state of diversity and inclusion, and impact on the culture of each organization.
You will consider how—and how well—each healthcare organization is leveraging diversity and inclusion as human resource management strategies to achieve organizational goals. You will illustrate your findings and conclusions in a PowerPoint presentation that you might share with current colleagues or save for future reference.
To Prepare:
Identify two healthcare organizations to compare. These may be two healthcare settings in which you have worked or are otherwise familiar with, such as through experiences of people you know well, or reliable resources, including Learning Resources in both weeks of this module.
Compare the terms “diversity” and “inclusion,” how each is defined, and the influence of each on the culture of a healthcare organization.
For each organization, research to identify the dimensions of diversity and degree of inclusion (e.g., race, ethnicity, language, gender, age, religious beliefs, disabilities, as well as others described in the resources you use). Consider evidence you would use in assessing each organization and in comparing your views of each. Specifically, what would you look for to assess the level of diversity and concerns regarding inclusion? How would you go about obtaining this information? For example, on an organization’s website, look for mission statements on diversity and inclusion; employee forums addressing equity issues; and task forces on improving diversity and inclusion, or meeting related goals.
Based on your research, reflect on the culture of each organization as it relates to issues of diversity and inclusion. Speculate on how diversity and inclusion issues affect, positively and negatively, such areas as:
Organizational performance
Staff morale
Patient care
Business case for diversity and inclusion
Compare your evidence and insights on each organization for conclusions on the influence of diversity and inclusion within healthcare organizations.
Reflect on leadership roles in healthcare organizations, including nurse executives, in supporting and promoting greater diversity and inclusion in healthcare settings.
Assignment:
Using the Template document provided, create a PowerPoint presentation that compares the two organizations you researched and highlights your conclusions on the impact of diversity and inclusion in each organization. Prepare 10–12 slides, plus Title and Reference slides, to include the following:
Define “diversity” and “inclusion” as applied to your presentation that will compare two healthcare organizations.Describe the two healthcare organizations you are comparing, including type and degree of diversity and inclusion, as well as organization type, size, location, and other distinguishing factors. Include supporting sources.
Analyze the culture of the two healthcare organizations and how each is influenced by diversity and inclusion.
Compare the cultures of the two healthcare organizations based on the role of diversity and inclusion in each, and strengths and weaknesses that relate to or derive from the degree of diversity and inclusion.
Summarize your conclusions on the impact of diversity and inclusion on organizational culture in healthcare settings based on your comparison.
Apply leadership strategies for a nurse executive to promote greater diversity, retain diverse staff members, and build cohesive teams and work groups.
Influence of Diversity and Inclusion on Organizational Culture
Note: You began this Assignment in Week 8. Plan your time accordingly to complete a PowerPoint presentation of 10–12 slides, plus Title and References slides, by Day 7 of Week 9.
The emergence of the Chief Diversity Officer within some healthcare organizations may be among the strongest evidence that the push for greater diversity and inclusion must include those at the top—both as advocates and representing greater diversity themselves.
Senior-level support is required to promote shifts in organizational culture that enable the organization to realize the benefits of diversity and inclusion.
As a nurse executive, your leadership role will afford opportunities to strategize on improving and sustaining diversity and inclusion to develop the most able teams and achieve the best patient care. As you complete your Module Assignment this week, consider where and how you might use the ideas in your PowerPoint presentation, now or in the future, to make your case or support your development endeavors.
To Prepare:
Review the Learning Resources. Consider information and examples in the resources that address the impact of diversity and inclusion on organizational performance, staff morale, patient care, and the business of healthcare.
Reflect on leadership roles in healthcare organizations, including nurse executives, in promoting and supporting diversity and inclusion in healthcare settings.
Assignment:
Finalize the Module 4 Assignment.
NURS6221 Managing Human Resources
Week 10 Assignment (Module 5)
Workplace Discrimination: Understanding Legal and Ethical Requirements
Much of employment law and ethics is intended to avoid or address discrimination in the workplace. Based on your own experiences, or those of family or friends, you may be aware of the damaging effects of discrimination in hiring, promotion, compensation, and myriad other aspects of work.
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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the federal agency charged with ending employment discrimination. In that role it may not, as yet, have succeeded in wiping out discrimination in employment, but as you will discover in researching its website, the EEOC is dedicated to its mission.
For your Module 5 Assignment, you will create a PowerPoint presentation for nurse executives on recognizing and responding to employment discrimination in healthcare settings. Be aware that this Assignment is due by Day 7 of Week 10.
To Prepare:
Review the Learning Resources, with particular attention to those on employment law and discrimination.
In particular, review the EEOC website for the following:
Trends on reporting of discrimination in organizations (for example, browse the “Newsroom” and “Laws, Regulations, Guidance & MOUs” sections to spot trends), as well as trends in discrimination charges through the years
Information on the types of discrimination reported to the EEOC
Data on discrimination charges by type (e.g., age, disability, pregnancy, etc.) and the basis of the charge (e.g., race, religion, retaliation, disability)
Process for filing a complaint and protections against retaliation
Consider implications for healthcare organizations in the EEOC findings.
Consider the legal and ethical role of nurse executives in responding to cases of discrimination and in setting and enforcing policies to avoid discriminatory behavior.
Assignment:
Based on your research, in 8–10 slides, plus Title and Reference slides, include the following:
Explain basic legal and ethical terms and guidelines that pertain to the topic of workplace discrimination.
Summarize your findings from the EEOC website, including types of discrimination and those most frequently charged, trends in reporting of discrimination, and implications for healthcare organizations in statistics and trends.
Explain legal protections for employees with regard to discrimination in the workplace.
Explain the role of nurse executives in reporting potential violations of employment law.
Analyze potential ethical conflicts nurse executives may face in accusations and lawsuits related to charges of discrimination.
Explain recommendations for negotiating those ethical conflicts.
Explain the role of nurse executives in preventing discriminatory practices in a healthcare setting and ways discrimination may be managed.
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