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Organizational Life Story Based on Three Concepts

Name

Institution

Course

Instructor

Date
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Organizational Life Story Based on Three Concepts

Introduction

Working as a nurse is a great undertaking. My desire to help people and serve the

community was the main drive to embark on a nursing career which has been a great adventure

for me. I started my exposure in this line of work before completing my college degree, where I

was allowed to work as a routine nurse in a health care center. I worked there for three months

and was offered the same position after graduating which I did passionately for two more

months. I was later employed at my current working place, where I work in a 100-bed long-term

care facility (LTCF). In this facility, I work as a routine nurse leading a team of 15 nurses to look

after the in-patients. Based on this description I resonate well with three major concepts which

will be analyzed in this paper. These elements are; elements of management, effective small-

group decision-making, and network roles. These elements are encompassed in an all-round

aspect of work, especially in the current position looking at patients vulnerable to falls.

Identify key problems

The current work environment encompasses most of the time I have worked. As a result,

it is a general mark of my career. Working in a long-term care facility is critical as patients are

vulnerable to injuries and complications. First, the facility encompasses or registers older adults

and surgical patients. Due to their body conditions, they are at high risk of falling and would

therefore require critical attention from nurses and other caregivers. Nurses and nursing

management utilize numerous strategies to ensure that these patients get the best care they

deserve. The unit has been recording an increasing rate of patient falls. When patients are left

unattended, they resort to taking matters at hand, including using pities or visiting the restrooms

independently. These cases have resulted in high falls, raising the management’s attention.
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Additionally, there has been an issue with communication between nurses and fellow nurses, and

between nurses and patients, creating miscommunication. Lastly, technology has not been well

incorporated. The facility relies on human efforts, such as nurses making rounds in the room to

check for patients needing attention. With high fall cases, complications and injuries increase

lowering the recovery rate and tainting the institution’s reputation. As a result, it has become

critical that the matter be resolved appropriately. 

As the team leader, it has been my responsibility to study the situation and devise the

right strategies which will be implemented through the help of the team as the solution.

Implementing this intervention has required me to consult and employ different concepts to

achieve the goal of reducing patient falls in the unit. Firstly, I must embark on aspects of

management. Reacting to harmful occurrences in a workplace would likely start with looking

deeper into the current management practices. If the management fails, the rest of the team fails

to affect the overall performance.

Under the concept of elements of management, five fundamental elements are

highlighted likely to enhance operations in a unit or organization (Miller, & Barbour, 2014). First

is the element of planning, where the teams look at the future of their team to strategize on the

best practices to be implemented to reach these goals. When planning, organizational resources

are put to use after their most appropriate method of use is identified. Secondly, the managers

organize where they arrange the available resources, such as workers, and evaluate their roles

(Miller, & Barbour, 2014). The next element of management is coordination, where activities

and strategies of a process are harmonized into a common unit working towards the realization

of a common goal.
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Under this element, the nurses are managed differently to implement the right strategies

and foster success and commitment. This element is important in aligning the separate

employees with the set goals and objectives (Miller, & Barbour, 2014). The last element embarks

on the controlling aspect through which managers compare the goals against the undergoing

activities, examining the progress. Through control, those activities swaying from the project’s

goals are altered to ensure they are back on the right track. It has been an important adventure in

using this concept since I could identify the gaps in the management of the nursing staff and the

implementation of the appropriate strategies. Nurses were missing from their shifts out of

unreasonable excuses, which was against policies and codes of conduct. As a result, management

elements have been put into place, and success is imminent.

On the same note, it has been important to ensure every member takes part in the process.

This is achieved through embarking on democratic leadership focused on the concept of effective

small-group decision-making. Every nurse takes part in attending to the matter. The functional

theory makes claims that good decisions are accomplished when everybody is involved in the

decision-making process (Miller, & Barbour, 2014). Here, for the decision to be effective, it

depends on how group members attend to critical functions perpetuated through effective group

communication. There are different strategies and functions through which groups can

implement these functionalities. The first function demands that a correct understanding of the

issue at hand be established within the group. This ensures members know what is going on and

stay aligned with the ultimate goal.

Secondly, the group must determine and highlight an alternative’s minimum qualities

before being accepted or implemented. In the unity of group members, there should be an

establishment or identification of available alternatives to resolve particular workplace problems

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(Miller, & Barbour, 2014). After they are identified, members should critically evaluate and

examine these alternatives based on the agreed-upon qualities. After this evaluation, the most

qualified alternative relevant to the problem is implemented. This concept was implemented in

the issue of patient falls in our unit. As the main concerns were the rising number of falls, the

team needed to come up with better intervention criteria to replace or supplement physical

rounds by nurses monitoring the patients. 

When ensuring the appropriateness and effectiveness of strategies, I ensure that every

person in the team has their roles to play and that these activities tie the group as a network

towards the achievement of the set goals. Networks are connections of different links among

components such as people (Miller, & Barbour, 2014). These people forming a network of the

team in the workplace are known as network content. They form an array of channels through

which communication passes different information types. In the clinical setting, nurses are

responsible for passing the correct information timely to assist in the accuracy of care provided.

Under this network, employing the concept of network roles is critical. This concept is

based on the roles and responsibilities that each” node” or individual is expected to play for the

team’s success. A network role, therefore, is how people connect within a group or unit. It forms

a major aspect of enforcing effective communication of ideas and commands in an organization.

This concept has been effective in our unit since proper and accurate communication is key to

success. The nursing staff in the unit assemble information, and the progress is evaluated, which

I communicate to the nurse manager. This flow of information is critical in an institution.

Conclusion

Working as a leader in a long-term care facility has been an important encounter where I

have developed skills in management, group decision-making, and role-playing through the
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division of labor. Working with another team can bring huge success, but it must be

implemented correctly. Since each member is a vital team element, they need to be motivated by

generating a positive and effective working environment. As a result, management needs to be

practiced effectively to ensure that duties are assigned appropriately and that each member

performs their duties without inconveniencing the rest of the team. Each member is also allowed

to take part in decision-making. For example, searching for the right alternatives should be a

group work and agreed upon consensus. Lastly, it is essential to ensure all members understand

their duties and that they play by the rules. These duties will converge toward the common goal

of reducing patient falls in the unit.

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Reference

Miller, K., & Barbour, J. (2014). Organizational communication: Approaches and processes.

Cengage Learning.