Sustainability and Change in the Healthcare Industry
In the health care industry, change may come in the form of demographic change, regulatory change, or other some other form. For a health care organization to be sustainable, health care leaders must embrace a lifestyle of change to create the culture of a learning organization that is amenable to and supportive of innovation, adaptation, and change. In this assignment, you will continue to use knowledge fdrom this course and prior courses to explore the relationship of sustainability and change in the health care industry.
General Requirements:
Use the following information to ensure successful completion of the assignment:
This benchmark assignment assesses the following programmatic competencies:
EdD Organizational Leadership with an emphasis in Health Care Administration
12.2: Evaluate the influence of governmental regulations on quality of care. 1
2.5: Integrate sustainability with the requirements for quality care.
Refer to the Topic 3 assignment, "Change and the Learning Organization."
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
Doctoral learners are required to use APA style for their writing assignments. The APA Style Guide is located in the Student Success Center.
Refer to Chapters 2-4 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) for specific guidelines related to doctoral level writing. These chapters contain essential information on manuscript structure and content, clear and concise writing, and academic grammar and usage.
This assignment requires that at least two additional scholarly research sources related to this topic, and at least one in-text citation from each source be included.
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.
Directions:
Part 1
Present a revised version (1,500-1,800 words total) of the paper “Change and the Learning Organization” that makes improvements in the caliber of the writing and incorporates instructor feedback regarding content and writing. Include the following in your submission:
A reflection (250-300 words) that provides a bulleted list of the changes you made to the paper and discusses your revision process including how you incorporated your instructor's feedback into the revised version. Similar to an abstract, this section will receive its own page following the title page and preceding the introduction to the paper.
The revised paper that incorporates instructor feedback; clarifies the thesis statement and solidifies supporting arguments; edits for grammar, spelling, and punctuation; adjusts word choice to display professional and scholarly language; and adjusts sentence structure for improved readability.
Part 2
Write an additional 1,000-1,250 words in which you continue to explore the relationship of sustainability and change in the health care industry. This section should flow naturally from the revised paper. So, you may also need to revise your introduction and thesis statement to allow the ideas to connect. Include the following in your paper:
A research-based discussion of how creating the culture of a learning organization allows health care organizations to adapt to changes in regulations and improve quality of care regardless of the perceived positive or negative image of the regulation. (Benchmarks C12.2: Evaluate the influence of governmental regulations on quality of care.)
A research-based discussion of how creating the culture of a learning organization allows health care organizations to be sustainable while meeting the requirements for quality care. (Benchmarks C12.5: Integrate sustainability with the requirements for quality care.)
Sustainability and Change
Student's Name
Institution
Reflection
The feedback from my instructor revealed that there were two key areas that I needed to make changes to improve my paper. These areas are thesis development and purpose, as well as the synthesis of source information and argument. I read the entire paper and identified areas of priority based on the feedback given. To incorporate the instructor's feedback, I made the following changes to my paper:
* Clarified the thesis statement to support the purpose of the paper
The instructor had indicated that I had developed a clear thesis. However, it needed to be clearer to keep the purpose of the paper. I highlighted the relationship between sustainability and change by indicating that a learning organization supports change, and adapting to change an important part of sustainability.
* Adjusted the thesis to enhance the flow and connection of ideas
Here, I changed the thesis to ensure a flow of ideas from the revised paper to the additional paper. The process involved specifying the main ideas discussed in the revised paper and creating a natural flow. The introduction section was adjusted.
* Solidified the arguments to sufficiently support the claims
The instructor noted that the arguments provided minimal support for the claims. To adequately justify the claims, I incorporated stronger evidence and facts. This entailed conducting further research on the main ideas and incorporating synthesized information into the paper to make it more convincing.
* Appropriately synthesized the source information
In this area, I first re-evaluated my synthesis of information. The instructor had indicated that although sources in the initial paper had been synthesized, the synthesis was pedantic. Part of my revision process involved focusing more on the key details than the sources' minor details.
Sustainability and Change
Healthcare organizations exist in an ever-changing environment. This requires healthcare organizations to adapt through change to ensure sustainability constantly. Healthcare organizations have to become learning organizations because, through learning, they can keep up with changes in the environment and enhance their survival. According to Evans et al. (2017), a learning organization creates a climate that allows members to identify problems, suggest solutions, and make the needed change to address the issues. Thus, healthcare organizations' sustainability depends on their ability to adapt to change, and the learning culture influences the ability to adapt to change. This paper explores the relationship between sustainability and change by focusing on a learning organization in the healthcare industry. Specifically, it examines the learning organization as a sound structure for a healthcare organization, the role of theories in creating a learning organization, and the role of a learning organization in maintaining fiscally sound staff development and promoting inter-professional teaming and collaboration. The paper also explores the relationship between a learning organization and regulation changes and the integration of sustainability with the requirements for quality through a learning organization.
Learning Organization as a Sound Structure for a Healthcare Organization
A learning organization forms a sound structure for healthcare organizations because learning allows organizations to embrace change, thus enhancing sustainability. According to Alonazi (2021), a learning organization is an organization that facilitates continuous learning such that employees can constantly gain, create, and share knowledge within the organization. A learning organization provides systems and structures that enable organizational learning.
Healthcare organizations are forced to constantly change how they operate and function because the healthcare industry is characterized by demographic changes, such as an aging population and the prevalence of infectious diseases (Alonazi, 2021). The recent COVID-19 pandemic proves how drastically the healthcare environment can change and calls for equally drastic changes in how healthcare organizations function. To adapt to such changes, learning is important. As Wells (2021) reveals, change, especially in healthcare, is a continuous realignment of processes and procedures to respond to or anticipate a changing environment. In the presence of a learning climate within the organization, it becomes easy to create or embrace change as a proactive or reactive approach to a constantly changing organization. Healthcare organizations can use the learning organization concept to change because learning empowers healthcare professionals to adapt to internal and external pressure (Wells, 2021). They can even thrive under such pressures, which makes learning an important recipe for organizational sustainability.
More importantly, healthcare organizations are expected to provide high-quality care and maintain patient safety despite existing in an ever-changing environment. This requires creating and implementing evidence-based innovations and technologies. According to Dearing and Cox (2018), healthcare organizations need to have a certain degree of readiness to change or innovativeness to adopt/ implement evidence-based innovations. A learning organization can facilitate this because it prepares employees for change and enhances their level of innovativeness.
Further, a learning organization is essential in the clinical practice and processes of a healthcare organization. As Maddox et al. (2017) indicate, a learning healthcare system or organization is rooted in iterative learning where the practice is informed by evidence and informs evidence, as well. This is important because healthcare organizations need to incorporate new scientific evidence into their approach to stay on top of complex healthcare issues. They also need to collect insights from clinical/patient care areas and use these insights to investigate and identify solutions that can improve the provision of care.
Role of Theories in Creating a Learning Organization
Theories of change play a fundamental role in guiding organizations on how to create and implement change. Healthcare organizations can benefit from organizational theories of change, such as Roger's theory of Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) when creating a learning organization culture. DOI theory describes how information about innovation or new ideas is communicated within a given organization or social system (Dearing & Cox, 2018; Batras et al., 2016). It deals with how messages about new ideas spread over time.
This theory and others that focus on organizational change can help create a culture of learning in healthcare organizations because it involves the acquisition and distribution of knowledge or information about an innovation. As Dearing and Cox (2018) reveal, when an individual within an organization or social system learns about a new idea/innovation that can help improve the organization and its activities, they seek more information about the invention because they are uncertain of how to proceed. Through further research, they gain more knowledge about innovation, which essentially is part of learning. Such information includes, but is not limited to, the innovation's cost, simplicity, and effectiveness. As Akhnif et al. (2017) indicate, research is considered a significant source of knowledge in a learning organization. The theory DOI instills the need for further research before innovation can be fully diffused and can thus help create a learning organization.
In addition, the DOI theory describes the spread of innovation. This requires disseminating information about the invention within the organization (Dearing & Cox, 2018). By sharing the information about the creation, these individuals are sharing knowledge. Akhnif et al. (2017) reveal that acquiring and sharing knowledge is also an important characteristic of a learning organization. This can be done at the individual, group, or organizational level.
Role of a Learning Organization in Maintaining Fiscally Sound Staff Development
A learning organization can have significant, positive impacts on employees, including employee development. As revealed earlier, a learning organization focuses on providing employees with continuous learning (Alonazi, 2021). In the healthcare industry, the skills, training, and competencies of employees play an instrumental role in how healthcare services are provided and how the organization responds to change. Thus, it is imperative to ensure continuous learning to expand the skills and competencies of healthcare professionals. Continuous learning can prepare healthcare professionals for change and help them respond to or anticipate environmental changes. As Vaishnavi et al. (2019) reveal, one factor that enhances a healthcare organization's readiness for change is continuous learning in a learning organization. Continuous learning promotes professional development, which facilitates the adoption/ implementation of evidence-based innovations in clinical settings.
Also, a learning organization can motivate employees to learn new skills and competencies that are essential for supporting change in the organization (Vaishnavi et al., 2019). This is because, in a learning organization, there is a culture of knowledge acquisition and sharing within the organization. Members of the organization become empowered with knowledge, which improves their ability to adapt to and support organizational changes. Healthcare organizations with a learning organization culture become a significant source of information for healthcare staff because such organizations put processes and systems for creating and sharing knowledge that is beneficial to employees in a professional capacity. Through continuous learning, healthcare organizations maintain sound staff development by having a team that is always motivated to learn (Alonazi, 2021). This enhances sustainability through the acquisition of new knowledge and practices that align with changes in the environment.
Role of a Learning Organization in Promoting Inter-professional Teaming and Collaboration
The delivery of care in healthcare organizations involves care coordination amongst different healthcare professionals in various settings. As such, inter-professional collaboration has become increasingly important to ensure the effective delivery of care. A learning organization can promote inter-professional partnership because it provides learning opportunities to learn from others (Lyman et al., 2019). In a learning organization, healthcare professionals create and share new ideas because their environment supports innovation. In addition, as Akhnif et al. (2017) reveal, a learning organization involves research that enables different members of the organizations to document and share their diverse experiences and change implicit knowledge into explicit knowledge. Employees in a healthcare organization that has embraced a learning organization culture find solutions to the organization's problems.
Also, a learning organization fosters interactions among employees, creating a safe environment for employees to share ideas and collaborate amongst themselves for the betterment of the organization (Lyman et al., 2019). Whether formal or informal, positive interactions can be a great source of knowledge exchange between different healthcare professionals. A learning organization also facilitates team/ group learning (Akhnif et al., 2017), ideal for inter-professional teaming and collaboration. Team members engage in ...