Effective Workplace Culture in Clinical Areas

This paper defines culture as the sum of mutually held values, features and behaviors of individuals in organizations or workplace. It discusses the effects of effective organizational culture on healthcare areas such as patient outcomes, person-centred care as well as staff satisfaction. It highlights the importance of person-centred and evidence-based care in an effective workplace culture.

Running Head: EFFECTIVE WORKPLACE CULTURE IN CLINICAL AREAS
Effective Workplace Culture in Clinical Areas
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EFFECTIVE WORKPLACE CULTURE IN CLINICAL AREAS 2
Effective Workplace Culture in Clinical Areas
Introduction
Among clinicians, managers and policy-makers, culture is normally a much-debated
construct. The discourse is usually based on normative considerations, suggesting that an
effective and appropriate, productive or functional culture is preferred to the one which is
dysfunctional, toxic and ineffective. It should be noted that a healthy and safer workplace or
organizational culture is thought to be linked to the positive patient outcomes like reduced length
of stay as well as death rates, enhanced quality of life and reduced level of pain. Empirically,
culture has been found to signify features or attributes of institutional or an organizational life
that are shared across an organization or workplace, among members like their assumptions,
cognitive beliefs as well as attitudes, their activities like interactions, practices and behaviors
(Caspar, Ratner, Phinney & MacKinnon, 2016). The shared means of behaving and thinking
become normalized as well as portray what comes to be observed as acceptable and legitimate
within the organization or workplace. Moreover, they are cognitive, social and normative ‘glue’
that hold individuals within the culture together.
Therefore, culture is ‘the manner in which individuals think around here’ as well as ‘the
manner in which things are undertaken around here’ (Reina & Reina, 2015). Anchored on these
assumptions, this paper defines culture as the sum of mutually held values, features and
behaviors of individuals in organizations or workplace. Moreover, in this paper culture is further
categorized in two ways. The first category relates to a culture which is more localized in
dimensions, that is, those recognizable subcultures which manifest in departments, wards, as well
as within staff groups like allied nurses or health professionals and doctors. The second category
concerns the overarching organization’s culture, entailing consistent attitudes, beliefs and

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practices, for instance, within a whole healthcare center. This paper will critically discuss and
explore organizational culture in the framework of nursing development. It will discuss the
effects of effective organizational culture on healthcare areas such as patient outcomes, person-
centred care as well as staff satisfaction.
The Impacts of Effective Workplace Culture on Clinical Care Areas including quality care,
person-centred and evidence-based care, patient and job satisfaction
Since the start of 2000s there has been a observable transformation in approaches of long-
term healthcare for patients There has been a quest for change from conventional and clinically
oriented model to one whereby focus is put on choice, independence, as well as self-
determination of patients and empowering of employees aiming at improving the quality of life
of staffs and healthcare providers (Barken & Lowndes, 2018). In Australia and the U.S. this is
described as culture transformation, a notion whereby there appears to be no agreed working
description in literature, even though there is an agreement that it is a long-term as well as
systematic transformation process towards an integrative therapeutic stakeholders anchored on
evidence-based and person-centred care as well as healthy, dignified workplace practices (Givan,
2016; Phillips, 2016). Workplace culture in various settings including healthcare environment
impacts on the experience of users as well as patients, the commitment, effectiveness and
motivation of the staff. It should be noted that the results of toxic, ineffectual and unsupportive
cultures have led to grave consequences for patient outcomes, wellbeing of the staff, and also
wastes worthwhile economic resources. Organizational or institutional culture is the significant
element in realizing healthcare objectives as culture, more than anything else, enhances
performance.

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The clinical workplace setting has a deep effect on employee experience, entailing
institutional loyalty, productivity, and satisfaction. Institutional culture is as significant aspect of
the workplace setting, even though it is less clear than the physical attributes like air quality,
ergonomics, layout, safety concerns, and cleanliness (Manley, Sanders, Cardiff & Webster,
2011). Employees’ reaction to their organizational setting hinges on culture (Stringer, 2016).
That is, shrewd, forward thinking healthcare and nursing leaders comprehend that establishing a
positive, supportive culture is key, however, it can also be a huge battles to get buy-in from the
clinical leaders and executives focused majorly on profit margins. The satisfaction of patients is
indeed a great driver and influencer of twenty first century healthcare. The satisfaction of
employees should admittedly get equal attention, yet it unfortunately gets short shrift n numerous
quarters. The relationship between institutional culture as well as its potential impacts pinpoints
the need to identify, develop, comprehend effective cultures in nursing, particularly at the level
of delivery of care in which services users, staff and patients interface.
Culture is not entirely concerned with people but about the social context which influence
and determine the manner in which individuals behave as well as the sociocultural customs
which are expected and accepted. To change how things are conducted at the practice level needs
basic changes in the patterns of behavior and mindset as it is these attributes which manifest
culture mirroring the assumptions, beliefs and values accepted or held by employees in the
workplace. An effective culture is an organization is one which is evidence-based, person-
centred as well as continues to adapt to the dynamic healthcare needs (Manley, Sanders, Cardiff
& Webster, 2011). Person-centred is the process of treating every patient as an individual person.
Person-centredness entails appreciating the employees and the clinets as persons with their
variety as well as includes the interpersonal skills that are vital to realize and to inculcate

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discipline and faith. The culture of practicing person-centred relationship creates a mutual
understanding, trust as well as sharing of collective skills, experience and knowledge (Manley,
Sanders, Cardiff & Webster, 2011). Person-centred approach of healthcare is enabled by
empowerment cultures which promote continuous approaches to practice development. Lifelong
learning is usually promoted in environments which promote and enhance the culture of active
learning, where feedback is considered as pervasive and where individuals are allowed to learn
from their mistakes instead of being blamed. An organization should have a culture that help
healthcare professionals to both establish and create their own efficacy and also the effectiveness
of other staff members.
Moreover, it is very imperative to have a culture of promotes high challenge as well as
high support since these are the key factors for allowing the realization of potential, learning as
well as enhanced productivity (Tuisku, Pulkki-Råback & Virtanen, 2016). It is vital to have a
workplace or organizational culture that is supportive of employees before they can support other
people. People need to be motivated and encouraged to challenge and question and this is
portrayed in the receiving and giving of feedback. The culture of developing leadership qualities
in a workplace environment is also crucial for staff cognitive and emotional development.
Development of leadership qualities is described as the development of leadership skills which
entails the ability to allow other people to be effective and find innovative and creative solutions.
Developing a leader in the clinical setting is vital as it enables the organization to effectively and
efficiently grow. A culture that promotes participation of staff members in the process of
decision making is key to ensure that each individual in the clinical setting feels appreciated.
When staff members are trusted as well as valued for their contribution and there is voice
diversity, then the organization will grow to greater heights. Nurses will work with unmatched

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determination while providing quality care which in turn will result in positive patient results
(Manley, Sanders, Cardiff & Webster, 2011).
The culture of evidence-development and use valued by clinical staff and is associated to
facilitation leadership and expertise (Martin & Manley, 2018). The importance of such practice
within the culture relies on whether there is active utilization of information to enhance
effectiveness, an emphasis on examination, the personal mastery and skills of staff with
opportunities to thoroughly research an individual’s own practice (Stallard, Stallard & Pankau,
2015). It should be noted that executing evidence into practice especially clinical setting is a vital
global movement which emphasizes on applying the best practical proof to enhance nursing
effectiveness that is influenced in turn by circumstantial attributes as well as facilitation expertise
(Manley, Sanders, Cardiff & Webster, 2011). Having a productive culture in clinical setting is
vital as the needs of the stakeholders are met in such workplace environments. Service users,
patients, as well as communities’ wants are always realized in the person-centred way, entailing
the receipt of both medically person-centred and effective care. Through an effective workplace
culture clinical employees are able to show empowerment and commitment mirrored in
enhanced retention, recruitment, as well as job satisfaction (Manley, Sanders, Cardiff & Webster,
2011). It is vital to note that the wellbeing of the staff, that is, being and feeling valued as an
employee in addition to psychosocial and physical wellbeing, is greatly linked to positive
outcome and experience of the patient. With good effective workplace culture, team and
individuals can realize pre-stated objectives, corporate goals, as well as national and local
healthcare standards, for instance, in the areas of safety of patients, minimized waiting times,
enhanced access, and enhanced results.

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Moreover, in such workplace cultures, evidence-based practices occur with explicit
development of knowledge from practice, sharing or knowledge and use of knowledge. This
impact identifies that evidence-based national and local guidelines and standards are executed
consistently across patient services and pathways (Manley, Sanders, Cardiff & Webster, 2011).
Even though some headlines in the conventional media outlets do not attribute stress to negative
workplace culture, stress alone is considered as bad news. However, for numerous organizations
and industries, it is an ever-occurring, unavoidable thing. Some empirical research studies have
highlighted that healthcare workers like nurses and physicians usually experience the most stress
in their workplace relative to other industries especially the salespeople, bank managers, police
officers, etc., (Hägg-Martinell, Hult, Henriksson & Kiessling, 2016).
For effective and smooth delivery of healthcare services, it is imperative for healthcare
organizations to formulate and execute effective and appropriate workplace culture that respects
healthcare practice (Booth, 2016). In the healthcare industry, this can be achieved through
building a culture of support, community and appreciation, particularly when it comes to nurses
and physicians (Martin & Manley, 2018). From the time when nurses are in medical learning
institutions and schools, they are always interacting with a daunting culture in which they are
expected to make numerous impactful decisions throughout the day as well as deal with
numerous clerical rigmarole (Croskerry, 2018). Add that with the ever-dynamic and present
tension of buzzing and beeping alarms and nurses have got various recipe for stress. It should be
noted that such stress is poisonous not only for nurses but also other healthcare practitioners like
physicians leading to poor quality of care as well as negative effects on their personal lives
(André, Sjøvold, Rannestad & Ringdal, 2014). Therefore, for benefit of healthcare providers and

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patients alike, it is imperative that clinical leaders lead a paradigm shift away from the
competitive, stressing and breakneck culture.
Patient care as well as self-care should not be conflicting interest while building a culture
which adopts this fact can be a saving grace in the workplace. It is suggested that staff
motivation and empowerment can be a manifestation of human development. Current research
and discourse have suggested that human development and flourishing is a powerful outcome
and indicator of effective workplace cultures in the clinical areas; one which realizes and adopts
patient safety, effectiveness and person-centredness to allow all stakeholders in the healthcare
industry to flourish (Manley, Sanders, Cardiff & Webster, 2011). An effective workplace and
institutional culture positively determines other workplace as well as organizational cultures.
This, thus, effects on how effective workplace can be realized across firms as once an effective
culture in the workplace is created, it is via the metaphorical flow of fruits/seeds to barren fields
which other effective cultures will be grown (Sollenberger, 2018).
Organizations can support and promote the growth and establishment of operative
workplace culture by investing in the growth of both facilitation skills as well as transformational
leadership via the development of skills as well as the provision of ongoing support, supervision,
and peer review for the key stakeholders in an organization (Bush & Great Place to Work, Great
Place to Work, 2018).
Conclusion
An ever-rising body of empirical evidence has shown that successful organizations in
healthcare, that is, those having sustained profitability, job satisfaction and quality of care are
attributed to certain well-described conditions as well as a highly motivated staff with shared

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assumptions and values. The paper has highlighted and stated that successful firms possess
particular workplace cultures that enable their workers and patients to feel motivated and valued.
Effective workplace cultures are vital for the success of an organization and it is the prerogative
duty of every organization to formulate and execute health cultures in the healthcare sector.
Person-centred and evidence-based care are usually productive in terms of quality of care and
delivery of services to the patients and they should be practiced in an effective workplace
culture.

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