ABSTRACT
As health care technology advances and patients require more care, nurses will need to be prepared to change old and incorporate new care practices and systems. Nurses must not only be able to deliver quality nursing care, but will also need to be capable of creating innovative approaches, reacting quickly, and taking calculated risks. Using the Organizational Engineering Model, this study examines the informational processing styles of students entering the nursing profession and in turn, measures the way they process information at the end of their education. The information processing style predicts the ability to innovate, take risks, and change. The findings of this study demonstrate that we attract nursing students who fall within the Conservator information processing style. Conservators focus on outcome certainty and a deliberate response. Schools of nursing also graduate students with this same profile, indicating that we have not altered their information processing style during their education.
Subject(s)
Education, Nursing/organization & administration , Organizational Innovation , Students, Nursing , Models, OrganizationalABSTRACT
To attract nurses to the workforce, scheduling of nurses on patient care units has evolved into a mixture of 4-, 6-, 8-, and 12-hour shifts. The result is chaotic as staff members come and go at varying times, creating the need for multiple handoffs and reassignment of patients. Effective teamwork and continuity of care are difficult, if not impossible, to achieve under these circumstances. The authors describe the effect of using just 1 shift length for all nursing staff.
Subject(s)
Continuity of Patient Care , Nursing Staff, Hospital/organization & administration , Patient Care Team/organization & administration , Personnel Staffing and Scheduling , Health Plan Implementation , Humans , Organizational Innovation , United StatesABSTRACT
The media image of the nurse is a source of concern because of its impact on: recruitment into the profession; the decisions of policy makers who enact legislation that defines the scope and financing of nursing services; the use of nursing services by consumers; and the self-image of the nurse. This article reports on the results of a study of the image of nursing on the Internet utilizing content analysis methodology. A total of 144 Websites were content-analyzed in 2001 and 152 in 2004. Approximately 70% of the Internet sites showed nurses as intelligent and educated and 60% as respected, accountable, committed, competent, and trustworthy. Nurses were also shown as having specialized knowledge and skills in 70% (2001) and 62% (2004) of the Websites. Scientific/research-oriented, competent, sexually promiscuous, powerful, and creative/innovative increased from 2001-2004 while committed, attractive/well groomed, and authoritative images decreased. Doctoral-prepared nurses were evident in 19% of the Websites in 2001 and doubled in 2004. The results of this study suggest that there are important opportunities to use the Internet to improve the image of the nurse.
Subject(s)
Attitude to Health , Internet/trends , Nurses/organization & administration , Social Perception , Adult , Attitude of Health Personnel , Authoritarianism , Cultural Diversity , Educational Status , Empathy , Female , Humans , Intelligence , Male , Mass Media , Negativism , Nurse's Role/psychology , Nurses/psychology , Nursing Methodology Research , Politics , Power, Psychological , Professional Autonomy , Professional Competence , Public Opinion , Self Concept , TrustABSTRACT
This descriptive study, based on the Organizational Engineering conceptual framework, investigates the information-processing styles of nursing staff (RNs, LPNs, nursing assistants, and unit secretaries) that impact how they accept and deal with change and innovation. The study sample was made up of 578 nursing staff and nurse managers. The major finding is that both nursing staff overall and RNs as a separate group are clustered in the "Conservator" (Logical Process--Hypothetical Analyzer) quadrant of the Organizational Engineering Model. In contrast, the nurse managers were significantly more likely to be in the "Changer" (Reactive Stimulator--Relational Innovator) quadrant.
Subject(s)
Attitude of Health Personnel , Mental Processes , Models, Psychological , Nurse Administrators/psychology , Nursing Assistants/psychology , Nursing Staff, Hospital/psychology , Analysis of Variance , Creativity , Diffusion of Innovation , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Hospitals, Community , Hospitals, Veterans , Humans , Logic , Medical Secretaries/psychology , Nurse's Role/psychology , Nursing Assistants/organization & administration , Nursing Methodology Research , Nursing Staff, Hospital/organization & administration , Nursing, Practical , Organizational Innovation , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
A lack of teamwork among nursing staff affects care delivery and unit operations. Barriers present in the structure of a typical patient care unit that make it extremely difficult to achieve a high level of teamwork include large team size, lack of familiarity, instability of the work force and assignments, the absence of a common purpose and destiny, and an inhibiting physical environment. The authors discuss strategies to overcome these obstacles to teamwork.
