NUR 590 Benchmark Evidence-Based Practice Project Proposal: Organizational Culture And Readiness

Assessment Description

In order to successfully implement a change within an organization, the change agent must assess the organization’s culture and readiness for change. In 750-1,000 words, analyze the culture and level of readiness of the organization for which your evidence-based practice project is proposed. You will use the assessment of the organization’s culture and readiness in the Topic 8 assignment, during which you will synthesize the various aspects of your project into a final paper detailing your evidence-based practice project proposal.

Include the following:

Describe the organization’s culture and explain to what degree the culture supports change. Consider organizational and leadership structure, mission and values, interprofessional collaboration/team engagement, communication, perception of the organization by employees, etc.
Select an organizational readiness tool and assess the level or readiness for change within your organization. Identify the readiness tool and summarize the survey results. Discuss the degree to which the culture will support and sustain an evidence-based practice change. Consider strengths and weaknesses, potential barriers, stakeholder support, timing of the proposal, and resources. Provide rationale.
Discuss what health care process and systems you would recommend for improving quality, safety, and cost-effectiveness for the organization.
Propose strategies to better facilitate the readiness of the organization.
Identify the stakeholders and team members for the project. Include what their duties will be in the evidence-based practice project proposal.
Explain what information and communication technologies are needed for the implementation and how they will be integrated in the setting by the internal stakeholders. Explain how these will help improve nursing practice and care delivery for individuals and populations for your intervention.

Refer to the “Evidence-Based Practice Project Proposal – Assignment Overview” document for an overview of the evidence-based practice project proposal assignments.

You are required to cite a minimum four peer-reviewed sources to complete this assignment. Sources must be published within the last 5 years and appropriate for the assignment criteria and nursing content.

Complete the “APA Writing Checklist” to ensure that your paper adheres to APA style and formatting criteria and general guidelines for academic writing. Include the completed checklist as an appendix at the end of your paper.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite technical support articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance.

The evidence-based practice process entails various steps which have to be followed for the success of the project. One such stage is the implementation phase, which is arguably the most important stage. Implementing such a change in an organization requires that the change implementers assess the organization’s culture and readiness for change (Ost et al.,2020). Such an assessment is key in making the necessary adjustments that would enhance the chances of the project’s success. The assessment of an organization’s culture can be accomplished using various tools, which can be picked depending on the need at hand. Therefore, the purpose of this assignment is to present the findings of the assessment of the organization’s culture and readiness for the implementation of the proposed intervention.

The Organization’s Culture and The Degree It Supports Change

A positive organizational culture supports the implementation of change. As such, it is key to assessing the organization and how it supports change (Cleary‐Holdforth et al.,2021). The organization’s leaders have shown indications of offering support to initiatives such as the EBP process with a major focus on improving the organization’s performance and patient outcomes. In addition, the organization targets to gain magnet status hence supporting change initiatives. The organization’s mission and aim is to provide exemplary and excellent patient care services at affordable cost by employing the latest strategies of care. The organization also urges staff and other employees to offer support for the mission and vision and embrace positive change within the organization. As part of the organization’s focus, interprofessional teams and collaborations are encouraged to improve patient outcomes. As such, the organization’s culture supports EBP and is ready for change.

The Selected Organizational Readiness Tools and Summary of Results

The selected tool is the organizational culture and readiness for the System-Wide Integration of the EBP survey tool, which has been shown to be effective in assessing an organization’s capacity to cope and adapt to potential changes (Melnyk et al.,2022). The tool was key in exploring the leaders’ and staff’s understanding of the potential change of using the new CAUTI bundle. From the survey conducted, important results were revealed. Around 91% of the employees indicated that they support the proposed change, an indication that only a minority were not supporting the initiative. The majority of the organization’s leaders were also ready to support change, as up to 80% of the leaders showed a willingness to support the proposed change. The majority of the leaders and staff support the proposed change; hence the organization’s culture would support and sustain the proposed change.

Even though the culture supports the proposed change, it is worth noting that there are potential barriers and weaknesses that may derail implementation. For example, lack of support by minority leaders as staff can be a major drawback. The assessment will also be key in exploring the staff knowledge in using the proposed CAUTI bundle, which will then help to formulate strategies for improving their knowledge. The leaders supporting the initiative will play an important role in availing the required resources and supporting the project through making effective decisions and formulating change champions who can then help on driving the change initiative as appropriate.

Suggestions for Health Care process and Systems For Improvement

The use of a CAUTI bundle has been proposed to help solve the practice gap identified at the facility. Hence one of the strategies is to collaborate with healthcare organizations that are already using the CAUTI bundle. Such collaborations will help the organization improve outcomes (Luckenbaugh & Auffenberg, 2018). Interprofessional collaboration within the organization will also be key for improvement and in helping in the successful implementation of the project as well as its sustenance.

Strategies To Facilitate The Readiness

Improving readiness can be key in change implementation. The current patient care initiative has not been effective in improving patient outcomes, which calls for change implementation. Such statistics on increased rates of CAUTI will be used to let the staff know why it will be key to accept the change (Advani & Fakih, 2019). Education will also be used as a way of preparing the staff for the impending change.

The Project’s Key Stakeholders and Team Members

Identifying stakeholders and team members is important for the success of the project. The implication is that such stakeholders and team members should be identified in time. The stakeholders include physicians, nurses, unit leaders, nurse managers, patients, and their families (Melnyk et al.,2022). As part of the project, every stakeholder has a significant role to play.

The Information and Communication Technologies Needed For Implementation

Information communication technology is important in the implementation process. One of the tools to be used is electronic health records. Electronic health records will be used to obtain existing data and to collect the required data (Melnyk et al.,2022). The collected data will be analyzed to help determine the effectiveness of implementing the CAUTI care bundle.

Conclusion

The nature of an organization’s culture impacts how an EBP can be implemented in the organization. Hence it is important to assess the culture. The assessment carried out showed that the organization’s culture supports EBP. It also revealed that the staff and the leaders are ready for change

References

Advani, S. D., & Fakih, M. G. (2019). The evolution of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI): is it time for more inclusive metrics?. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 40(6), 681-685. Doi: doi:10.1017/ice.2019.43

Cleary‐Holdforth, J., O’Mathúna, D., & Fineout‐Overholt, E. (2021). Evidence‐based practice beliefs, implementation, and organizational culture and readiness for EBP among nurses, midwives, educators, and students in the Republic of Ireland. Worldviews on Evidence‐Based Nursing, 18(6), 379-388. https://doi.org/10.1111/wvn.12543

Luckenbaugh, A. N., & Auffenberg, G. B. (2018). Leveraging the clinical collaborative model to drive value improvement. Current Opinion in Urology, 28(4), 348-353. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.numa.0000372027.22111.c5

Melnyk, B. M., Hsieh, A. P., & Mu, J. (2022). Psychometric properties of the Organizational Culture and Readiness Scale for System‐Wide Integration of Evidence‐Based Practice. Worldviews on Evidence‐Based Nursing, 19(5), 380-387. https://doi.org/10.1111/wvn.12603

Ost, K., Blalock, C., Fagan, M., Sweeney, K. M., & Miller-Hoover, S. R. (2020). Aligning organizational culture and infrastructure to support evidence-based practice. Critical Care Nurse, 40(3), 59–63. https://doi.org/10.4037/ccn2020963