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Action Research: The Riverbend Case Scenario

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course Code and Number

Instructor’s Name

Date
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Introduction

The case discusses communication problems the Hmong community is having with the

Riverbend City Medical Center. Initially, it seemed like everyone working in the hospital was

doing their best to meet the needs of the patients. Several members of the Hmong Community

were critically hurt in a train derailment in Riverbend City. After the tragic tragedy, they went to

the Riverbend City Medical Center (RCMC) for urgent care. The Hmong people rely on shaman

healers as their primary source of healthcare. Some of the methods employed are generally

considered risky and unconventional. As a result of misunderstandings, fights have broken out in

the ER. The newspaper described an event involving a member of one family's employee at the

emergency room. The employee's lack of respect for the Hmong population and its culture

directly results from the widespread mistrust within the Hmong community. A strategy is needed

to implement changes throughout an entire organization.

Learning Organization Disciplines

Personal Mastery

In this scenario, that personal mastery is the key discipline at play. The term refers to the

study of enhancing one's capacity for learning and development (Senge, 2006). In this instance,

the team was concerned about fostering an environment where members of the Hmong

community were treated with dignity and sensitivity. Personal mastery is relevant to this case

because hospital employees are required to find out how the Hmong community prefers to

interact with the facility, improve their communication with the Hmong, and implement the

program that the Nurse Training Manager was interested in implementing with the entire staff

team so that they could better help the Hmong community and avoid any further tragedies. The

nurses were given special training that they must use when caring for patients from the Hmong
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population. Personal mastery is the foundational discipline that will allow them to learn about the

Hmong and their culture, rituals, and healing practices.

Shared Vision

In light of the case, the relationship between the hospital employees and the community

requires improvement to enhance good communication. For this to occur, it is crucial to

emphasize key stakeholders, their dedication, and their participation in addressing these issues.

The shared vision discipline advances the problem-solving process (Reese, 2020). Stakeholders

have the power to drive the organization forward in its objective to effect change from within

due to their vested interest and participation in the business. Stakeholders can improve their

chances of making this happen by learning more about the miscommunication that led to the gap

and the ideal circumstance in which the Hmong community and hospital staff work together.

Senge (2006) argues that change is impossible if people don't have a common goal to work

toward. Nothing will change without an appreciation for how challenging the present situation is.

Mental Models

Mental models are a representation of how something operates. Mental models influence

our actions, perspectives, and relationships (Hoe, 2019). When relationships are tested and

pushed to the forefront, stakeholders can modify their attitudes, mental models, and behavior. As

a result of productive dialogue, preconceived notions of how Eastern and Western medicine are

practiced will shift. It is important to keep track of any progress made to look back and see how

far things have come. Satisfaction surveys and weekly meetings to discuss the atmosphere and

progress with patients and employees will keep everyone informed and engaged.

Organizational Disabilities and Systems Archetypes

Organization Disabilities
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The inability of the CEO and any of the nurses to satisfy the requirements of the Hmong

community is an example of an organizational disability in this scenario. Furthermore, the nurses

needed to understand the most important aspects of effective communication with the Hmong

community. Nonetheless, the case does not illustrate or discuss the disagreement, but they

indicate difficulty communicating with the Vang family. This is where everything started to go

wrong for them, creating the organizational issue.

The System Map/Archetypes

The
The
nurses
Shaman

Hmong Shaman
Training Program

The Hmong
Community-
Patients

The provided diagram depicts the systems map of the Riverbend City Medical Center,

showing individuals and groups at Riverbend Medical Center, including the nurses affiliated

with the institution, the spokesperson representing the Hmong community who assumes the role

of a shaman, and the Hmong Community as a collective entity. The program outcome holds

significant importance for all individuals within this group. To ensure the program's success,

embracing the cultural diversity inherent within the community is imperative.

Change Management Strategies

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Two key change management strategies include activated leadership and empowering

workers via communication. Surveys, focus groups as well as other forms of informal feedback

collecting can be used to encourage two-way communication and participation (Reese, 2020).

Employees are more inclined to accept change and pitch in to make it happen if they believe

their contributions matter. For a change to occur, managers are responsible for actively educating

employees on their tasks and providing the resources they need to drive change successfully.

Nurse managers would have assumed that all nurses understood their role of knowing

community cultures and means of engaging in peaceful conversations with them.

Knowing what questions to ask is crucial to get to any level of understanding. The

objective is to learn the fundamental beliefs that shape the position of all stakeholders.

Questions to be considered include:

What are the undisclosed aspects of the medicinal effectiveness of Shamans?

Is there a way to improve community connections and communication with the staff?

Why do Hmong people hesitate to undergo some types of medical treatment?

The Four Stages of Change

The Four-Stage Process was developed on the "creative tension" concept that Peter Senge

presented in The Fifth Discipline. This approach suggests that the desire for change can be

mobilized by creating a difference between what individuals want and where they are in their

lives at any time (Senge, 2006). These stages are designed to allow leaders to work strategically

toward facilitating change in their companies over the long term.

Stage 1- Building a foundation for change.

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The Riverbend Medical Center establishes a framework for instigating transformation by

ensuring a shared understanding among all stakeholders about effective communication

strategies with the Hmong Community. Individuals must ensure comprehensive awareness of the

specific healthcare procedures and treatments desired by patients within the Hmong community.

Stage 2- Engaging all stakeholders.

During Stage 2, stakeholders are actively urged to comprehensively understand the

ongoing processes and their respective roles within them. Nurses must communicate effectively

with communities regarding contemporary pharmaceutical interventions' potential benefits and

drawbacks. Nurses are advised to carefully consider the available options on their personal

beliefs and rituals while acknowledging the prevailing dominance of modern medicine over

traditional practices.

Stage 3- Engage in the decision-making process.

Assist them in making an informed choice in favor of their true interests. This requires

nurses to explain the benefits and drawbacks of both the traditional practices that patients from

the Hmong community wish to employ and the Western medical interventions that the nurses

prefer.

Stage 4- Close the gap between their values and reality.

The state involves locating potential advantages and implementing a system allowing

ongoing education and increased participation. When Hmong patients are brought into Riverbend

Medical Center, the nurses working there have a responsibility to help patients comprehend

every step of the treatment process, and every document explained to them.
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Practical Recommendations

The primary concern identified in the case study pertains to communication. In the future,

it is recommended that the CEO organize a training program for both existing and new

employees, focusing on cultural diversity and the corresponding cultural requirements. A trial

and error method could also be implemented, wherein nursing teams simulate scenarios

involving patients with diverse perspectives and attitudes toward contemporary medical

practices. Further, the CEO could conduct individual meetings with the nurses to gauge their

feedback on the training, address any inquiries or apprehensions they may have, and ensure their

overall satisfaction.

Conclusion

The introduction of any form of change inevitably gives rise to various challenges. The

case study highlighted various challenges between the community and hospital employees,

revealing an unhealthy connection characterized by communication issues, trust issues,

misunderstanding, misinformation, and stereotyping due to a lack of comprehensive knowledge.

Utilizing the four-stage change process enables the gradual and quantifiable implementation of

change rather than a sudden and all-encompassing approach. The confluence of several elements

facilitates the facilitation of stakeholders' endeavors to effect organizational change.

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References

Hoe, S. L. (2019). Digitalization in practice: The fifth discipline advantage. The learning

organization, 27(1), 54-64.

Reese, S. (2020). Taking the learning organization mainstream and beyond the organizational

level: an interview with Peter Senge. The Learning Organization, 27(1), 6-16.

Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization.

Broadway Business.