Organizational Culture in Healthcare

Introduction:

The ethics of assignation and responsibility plays an important role in a healthcare system which helps the organization to succeed in order to ensure health management as well as responsible care within a population. The effective and ethical organizational cultures permit and encourages a healthcare organization with the novel behaviours, activities and funds which in important to direct the several numbers of changes distressing the healthcare organization. This particularly includes the changeover of the value-based and ethical care for the population. Changing and initiating beneficial interventions and strategies in an organizational culture requires immense amount of effort and time (Rider et al., 2018).

In order to initiate changes and development in the healthcare organization’s culture, the background, tradition as well as approaches that has been carried out since the beginning of the organization. These factors need to be analysed, assessed, examined and incorporated in every step of developing the organizational culture. It is important to assess the organizational culture framework in order to understand the cultural and ethical background based on which the organization is running. Australian Psychological Society (APS) is one of the well-known healthcare organization in Australia, which has its dimension focusing around the mental health or the nation (FAPS & McHugh, 2018). The assignment will focus on development of an organizational culture assessment framework which will help in understanding the needs and requirements of the organizational culture of the healthcare organization to ensure development and success. Action plan against the assessment outcome will be initiated to overcome the flaws which may have been taking place in the culture of the organization.

Australian Psychological Society (APS):

The Australian Psychological Society (APS) is known to be one of the specialised healthcare organization working for the psychological health of Australia. It has their best psychologist working all together to ensure better mental health throughout the regions. The healthcare organization has adapted the Society’s Code of Ethics has become a part of the Psychology Board of Australia.  The members of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) are known to work according to the code of ethics of the health care professionals to ensure beneficial and effective outcomes (Carey et al., 2017).

Organizational culture of healthcare organization:

Organizational culture of a healthcare organization is well explained by the honesty, trust, and equality of the working environment for the members of the organization and the service delivery towards the people seeking help. The patter of working in an organization is composed of several factors such as the values, ethics, beliefs, understanding as well as expectation within the group associates or the employees. These factors hold them in common grounds in order to create a safe and encouraging workplace environment. It is important to assess the chief factors which hold the base of the culture of the workplace and ensures better healthcare service and employee satisfaction (Mandal, 2017). It is important to have trust and effective culture within an organization to achieve positive as well as productive workplace for the professionals working in a healthcare organization. In organizations, such as Australian Psychological Society (APS), the need of effective culture, values, trust, and code of ethics become a necessary aspect, in order to ensure beneficial outcomes from the professional.

Determinants of positive and negative Organization culture:

A positive organizational culture consists of several enhanced aspects which helps in the development of the healthcare organization. These factors include, advanced job fulfilment and morale, effective teamwork and leadership, increased maintenance as well as recruitments and constructive and trustworthy image within the people of the nation. It is important that the employees or the healthcare professional have enhanced qualities of teamwork and leadership qualities among themselves, as it will help them conduct their work and service with decreases chances of error or conflict. There should be active process of recruitments to involve more and more professionals to deliver advanced care to every individual in need and fulfil health care organization’s requirements. The work and responsibility of the organization should be distributed equally among the professionals as well as they should be provided with equal treatment. These factors re found to be a chief aspect of effective organizational culture (Azzolini, Ricciardi & Gray, 2018).

Lacking the positive factors of organization culture creates a matter of negative organization culture in a health care organization. There are specific factors which creates negative environment and culture for the healthcare organization leading to deprived outcome of the organization. Lack of teamwork and leadership qualities with the employees or the professionals often create a matter of conflict among each other which hampers the culture of the organization as well as its productivity. It keeps the team member deprived of the effective outcomes which can be achieved if working with each other (Lee, 2020). Lack of requirements often creates a situation of decrease staff numbers which creates burden for work the available staffs. Also, quality service come ensures that people and the community develop trust and surety towards the health care service, lacking organization culture will create descried patients and professional for the healthcare organization.

Organizational culture assessment framework for Australian Psychological Society (APS):

Organizational culture assessment framework is a process of analysing and assessing the specific cultural and workplace values among the professionals in order to ensure effective healthcare outcomes and organization development. The following framework focuses on the organizational culture assessment in the Australian Psychological Society (APS), in order to understand the effective cultural values which needs to be addressed in healthcare organizations focusing on psychological departments.

The framework will analyse the organizational culture in few steps:

1. Assessment of the workplace environment: It will be important to assess the environment of the workplace or the employees working the department of psychology in order to ensure that they are provided to appropriate facilities and comfort which is essential for individual to adjust in the workplace. Also, the workplace should not have any cases of discrimination or harassment for the employees which may create a matter of distress and discomfort for the professionals. Often, it has been observed that employees witness discrimination and inequality based on their gender, caste, religion, ethical background and even position in the workplace (Grueso-Hinestroza et al., 2018).
2. Assessment of the teamwork qualities: Teamwork is one of the key factors of the organizational culture in order to ensure effective outcomes and development of the healthcare organization. Every employee must cooperate which each other and their fellow team members to ensure decreased rate of error and mistakes within the workplace. Teamwork develops a workplace full or effective work, successful productivity as well as improved service by the organization. Thus, it is important that an organization must have effective teamwork in their workplace to ensure positive organizational culture development.
3. Assessment of leadership skills: Leadership quality assessment in the key priority of the assessment framework, as a healthcare organization will have a successful workplace and culture only if it has greater leadership qualities in its employees. Leadership qualities is one of the essential skills a healthcare professional must possess in order to conduct critical treatment and care services with the involvement of other fellow healthcare facilities and nursing staffs (Scott, 2020).
4. Assessment of the code of ethics: The code of ethics in the healthcare organizations guides and supports and organization to provide ethical, trustworthy, equal as well as effective healthcare service with the involvement of the fellow employees. It not only guides the professionals to apply the ethic for the patients, but also states that these ethics should be used among each other while working in a workplace. Positive organizational culture will only be attained when the healthcare employees respect, trust, support and treat equally and fairly their fellow employees in the workplace. It helps in creating a better healthcare organization with effectivity and greater outcomes for the organization as well as the population.
5. Assessment of the process of recruitment: It is important to assess whether a healthcare organization has fair and frequent process if recruitment and retirement in their organization in order to ensure that they do not lack or witness deprived availability of staff. Effective number and availability of staff will ensure better workplace for the employees as well as effective outcome for the patients as well as the organization. It is often been witnessed that lack of staff availability creates a matter or burden for the healthcare professionals as a single staff needs to conduct several tasks which creates a situation of conflict and error in the workplace. Thus, it become necessary that healthcare organization must have recruitments frequently to have staffs to distribute work equally.
6. Assessment of the distribution of responsibilities: Every work and task in an organization should be distributed equally to every employee in order to decrease the matter or workload and discrimination within the employees. Distribution of responsibility in also one of the key factors of maintaining a safe and sound workplace environment in an organization. Discomfort and workload in employees may create a matter of conflict and objection within the employees which may affect the healthcare organization as well as the outcomes (Smits, Bowden, & Wells, 2016).
7. Assessment on the process of conduction: The process of conduction of work and responsibilities play a major role in creating a positive culture within an organization. It is important to assess whether an organization has effective manner of conducting their responsibilities and works or not. Ability of an organization to effectively conduct their responsibility and work helps them maintain effective employee workplace and greater healthcare outcomes.

Action plan:

It is important to develop effective action plan against the assessments found on the deprived organizational culture. The following interventions needs to be taken in order to develop organizational culture within the healthcare organization:

1. Development of leadership qualities: in order to overcome the condition of deprived leadership qualities within the organizational culture of a healthcare setting, it will be necessary to provide propose sessions and training to the professionals to enhance their skills to become an effective and confident leader in their field of work. It will help them maintain an effective teams and control as well as coordinate work and workplace activities to ensure better healthcare outcomes and teamwork. Leadership qualities develops individual with better abilities to manage a work and their fellow employees which reduces the chances of error in the healthcare settings.
2. Enhancing teamwork skills: It will be necessary to develop the employee’s abilities and sills to work as a team and deliver effective service. In order to enhance teamwork, it will be important to develop effective communication and develop interprofessional relationship among each other. It will create a matter of trust and respect within each member which will enhance their ability to work as a team. Teamwork will reduce the chances of error and mistake and, also will increase the availability of the service for the individual acquiring healthcare service.
3. Practice of code of ethics: every individual of the healthcare organization needs to follow the code of ethic provided in organization to maintain the decorum of workplace and respect of every individual. It will help reduce the chances of discrimination among the employees with in an organizational as well as provide a safe and comfortable environment for working. It also guides o respect as well as support the ethical values of other employees and maintain confidentiality of the personal information of each other during working. Code of ethics also will guide the employees and the organization to avoid any chances of discrimination, assault, harassment as well as misbehave with any of the employee based on their caste, regions, ethical values, cultural background or gender. it will provide a comfortable and well treated workplace for every employee working in the organization (Al Rahbi, Khalid & Khan, 2017).
4. Effective Recruitment: the healthcare organisation needs to have frequent recruitment and selection process of professionals in their organization to fulfil the needful demand of employees in the organization. It will help in maintaining the demand of employees for appropriate work and, also decrease the burden of more than one responsibility from the staffs. The lesser the staff the greater will be the burden of work. There are situations where the organization lacks effective employee outcome due to lack of effective number of staff and increasing responsibility and workload. This often focuses the employees to leave the job and look for a new organization. It will be necessary to always carry out recruitment process in order to provide sufficient amount of staff to the healthcare setting (Chesley, 2020).
5. Equal distribution of responsibilities: the healthcare organization needs to have a process of distribution of responsibilities and work within the staffs. It should not create a matter of discrimination or biasness for employees. Every employee should be treated equally in order to maintain effective as well as positive workplace environment. It also helps in maintaining teamwork and reduce conflict. The work should eb distribute to every employee with equal amount of responsibility. Equal distribution also reduces the chances of misplace or misconduct of work as an individual with more than two or three jobs at a time can often create error or mistake. thus, it will help the healthcare organization to develop its organizational culture and provide assured beneficial service to the patient and the population (Sfantou et al., 2017)

Conclusion:

In order to conclude, it can be stated that, organizational culture is one of the chief aspect s of effective and develop healthcare organization. It plays a major role in ensuring positive and productive development of the healthcare services provided to the people of the nations. Australian Psychological Society (APS), has been well known for the effective services its professionals have been providing base of the cultural and ethical values. Assessment of the organizational culture helps in understanding the aspects of the organization’s process of working and the employees working ethics which may have been creating error or difficulty in developing their productivity and patient’s health. Leadership has been playing an effective part in creating and developing positive organizational culture in the healthcare settings. It helps in carrying out an effective teamwork with in professional from different medical backgrounds. The organization culture assessment framework is developed in order to analyse the factors which altogether create the organisation culture of Australian Psychological Society (APS) and has been carried out by the professionals in the healthcare organization. It has provided a vast knower regarding the effective organizational culture as well as its outcomes in the healthcare organization.