Contemporary Organizational Evaluation Assignment Essay

Contemporary Organizational Evaluation Assignment Essay

Contemporary Organizational Evaluation Assignment Essay

In today’s world, change is part of everyday life. As a result, organizations must put robust measures to effectively cope with change and adapt to new situations. Although change is inevitable, its consequences vary depending on its nature. Incremental change is manageable, while disruptive change profoundly affects human resource management, workplace relationships, and roles. Such disruptions include technological shifts, new government regulations, and environmental factors. Assessing how organizations respond to change can help demonstrate what change implies and the responses required for successful change. The purpose of this paper is to explore a contemporary organization responding to change and its strategies to deal with change dynamics.

Organization and Change Description

Current literature is awash with studies of health care organizations experiencing disruptive change. Most changes are around current technologies, inclusion policies, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Located in Fairfield County, Stamford Hospital experienced a significant distraction after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Connecticut. The 305 bed Level II Trauma center did everything possible to control the pandemic, and most interventions have been fruitful to date. According to Pazniokas (2022), Fairfield is the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Connecticut. Accordingly, Stamford Hospital has been coping with a severe threat to human life and organizational growth.

Degree of Disruption and Response

COVID-19 has affected many organizational functions, including health care professionals’ strategies for patient care, strategic planning, and working formulas. Zulman and Verghese (2021) found that telehealth and reliance on virtual care have intensified in the health practice as health care organizations try minimizing physical contact as much as possible. Stamford Hospital experienced similar disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the most immediate effect, the number of patients requiring critical care increased as the workload increased (Pazniokas, 2022; Rose et al., 2021). The need for less physical contact intensified, prompting health care providers to work while minimizing contact and an increased fear about their health.

With working formulas changing and workload increasing, Stamford Hospital responded innovatively as the situations necessitated. It is also right to deduce that forward-thinking and creative responses enabled the organization to cope with the pandemic. The first response was establishing a command center to organize teamwork. Since nurses had to be assigned new roles, the command center served as a reserve unit to organize work, resource allocation, and provide crucial updates about the pandemic (Rose et al., 2021). The hospital also embraced technology in health care delivery. Rose et al. (2021) noted that health care professionals resorted to virtual meetings to keep distance and avoid infections. Virtual care has been common since the outbreak of the pandemic.

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Strategies Used in the Change Plan

Adaptation is inevitable when health care organizations deal with disruptive and unexpected change. Pazniokas (2022) deduced that COVID-19 was a major disruption since health care organizations have never dealt with such a pandemic. As a new experience, Stamford Hospital devised mechanisms to deal with the increasing number of patients, streamline workflow, and get extra support. According to Rose et al. (2021), the most visible change in its plan is adding three intensive care units, an immediate care unit, and two floors. The addition increased the hospital’s capacity from 36 to 72 beds. The other highly effective strategy was working with partners. Such partners included Reserve Corps and the United States Army (Rose et al., 2021). The partnership provided the hospital with more expert knowledge to deal with the pandemic, human resources, and technological support. From an operation viewpoint, adding its capacity and working with partners was a successful approach since the hospital could accommodate more patients and deal with the pandemic more professionally.

Effects of Change on Stakeholders and Resistance to Change

Stakeholders are always at the center of change in health care organizations. They are the people that organizational change affects directly (Jasinska, 2020). One of the major stakeholders that the pandemic affected significantly was the patients. The number of patients seeking critical and intensive care increased besides forcing them to seek health care services virtually. Nurses were the most affected stakeholders at Stamford Hospital. The transition to new work models due to the COVID-19 pandemic increased nurses’ workload due to a shortage of staff. Increased workload and emotional burden are leading causes of burnout among nurses (Diehl et al., 2021). Nurses at Stamford Hospital were not immune to emotional stress and burnout. They were emotionally stressed as they worried about the potential of the virus transmission to families and friends (Rose et al., 2021). Also, not knowing when the pandemic will end was emotionally and mentally draining. The other stakeholders involved were the hospital’s partners. Unlike before, the Army and Reserve Corps were involved in disease management.

Conventionally, change is associated with resistance depending on how it affects stakeholders. Attitude towards change is a major cause of resistance to change. Since the pandemic was new to them, nurses were hesitant to assume new roles. Rose et al. (2021) reported that some lied about being sick to avoid the experience. Cognizant of the situation’s impact, the hospital’s leadership supported the nurses through therapy and other opportunities to reduce stress. Leaders also assured them support as a motivation to be more involved in pandemic management.

Implications of Interdepartmental Collaboration

Disruptive change usually reorganizes how departments work and relate with each other. For a successful change, organizational departments must collaborate and respond to the change as a team (Borkowski & Meese, 2021). Stamford Hospital responded to change effectively due to interprofessional collaboration between nurses and other departments. A fitting example is collaboration between nurses, family physicians, and therapists to reduce nurses’ stress and provide assurance. As physical burden and emotional stress increased, family physicians and therapists helped nurses cope and provided self-care tips (Rose et al., 2021). Such collaboration improves professional bonding as the health care staff works to achieve a shared vision.

Leaders’ Response to Change and Preparation

The pandemic was a new experience, and no organization was adequately prepared for it. However, many health care organizations adopted effective mechanisms to reduce transmission and support the workforce. Stamford Hospital’s leaders responded excellently to mitigate the damage. For instance, transparent and frequent communication helped nurses overcome stress as leaders provided daily COVID-19 updates noting positive progress (Rose et al., 2021). Leaders also provided material support, primarily personal protective equipment (PPE). Psychiatry help and therapy increased nurses’ willingness to participate in pandemic management.

Modifications to Better Address the Change Dynamics

Despite the hospital’s efforts to manage the change that the pandemic triggered, several gaps emerged and should be fixed for better outcomes when dealing with such a change. Rose et al. (2021) noted that opportunities for self-care were minimal, and few nurses took part in relaxation exercises. As a result, self-care should be a priority area when a change with a huge toll on emotional and mental health emerges. The second issue is the high workload despite the emotionally draining situation. The organization should consider working with temporary staff to reduce workload and the length of shifts. Rahman and Plummer (2020) found that suicide cases among health care professionals have increased due to the pandemic. As a result, the hospital’s command center should include psychiatric preparedness and stress monitoring teams to help nurses cope with stress and isolate those at a high risk of depression.

Conclusion

Change is part of organizational growth that leaders and health care professionals should embrace. When it occurs, leaders should help the staff manage change by providing material and human resource support, among other essentials. As discussed in this paper, the COVID-19 pandemic highly disruptive work routines, relationships, and patient care delivery methods at Stamford Hospital. However, virtual care, command centers, and stress management strategies helped the hospital manage change effectively. The key takeaway is that successful change requires a positive mindset, adaptation, and supporting staff in the transition process.

References

Borkowski, N., & Meese, K. A. (2021). Organizational behavior, theory, and design in health care. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Diehl, E., Rieger, S., Letzel, S., Schablon, A., Nienhaus, A., Escobar Pinzon, L. C., & Dietz, P. (2021). The relationship between workload and burnout among nurses: The buffering role of personal, social and organisational resources. PloS one, 16(1), e0245798.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245798

Jasinska, J. (2020). Stakeholders identification affecting the scope and the changes in the health care system. Frontiers, 1(03), 1-15. doi: 10.2020/fmcr/000013120

Pazniokas, M. (2022).COVID rampant in Stamford, a harbinger of things to come.The ctmirror. https://ctmirror.org/2022/01/03/covid-rampant-in-stamford-a-harbinger-of-things-to-come/

Rose, S., Hartnett, J., & Pillai, S. (2021). Healthcare worker’s emotions, perceived stressors and coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Plos One, 16(7), e0254252. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254252

Rahman, A., & Plummer, V. (2020).COVID-19 related suicide among hospital nurses; case study evidence from worldwide media reports. Psychiatry Research, 291, 113272.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113272

Zulman, D. M., &Verghese, A. (2021). Virtual care, telemedicine visits, and real connection in the era of COVID-19: Unforeseen opportunity in the face of adversity. Jama, 325(5), 437-438. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.27304

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Assessment Description
In today’s fast-paced and global community, most organizations are faced with constant change. Research contemporary organizations that are currently responding to a significant change within the industry, such as disruptive technology; state, government, or industry regulations; environmental constraints; judicial or legislative rulings; etc.

Choose one organization from your research that has recently responded to major change, or is currently responding to change. Write a paper (1,250-1,500 words) discussing how well the organization is responding to the change dynamics. Include the following:

1. Describe the organization and the change to which it is responding.

2. Discuss the degree to which the change has been disruptive and how the organization has responded to the dynamics created by this change.

3. Evaluate the strategies the organization used in its change plan and determine the level of success the organization experienced with the strategies.

4. Determine the effect the change had on stakeholders, and to what degree stakeholders have resisted. Assess how well stakeholder resistance was addressed.

5. Evaluate the overall implications the change had on interdepartmental collaboration.

6. In your opinion, how well did the leaders of the organization respond and prepare for the change? What worked and what did not work with the strategies they implemented?

7. What modifications would you suggest the leaders of the organization make in order to better address the change dynamics? What additional strategies would you recommend to assist the organization through this change?

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

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.

Contemporary Organization Evaluation – Rubric
Contemporary Organization (Description of Organization and Responding to Change)
20 points
Effects of Change (Discusses Effects of Change, Organizational Response and Strategies Utilized)
20 points
Stakeholders (Determine Effects of Change and Response to Change)
20 points
Effects of Change on Interdepartmental Collaboration
20 points
Evaluation of the Response of the Leaders to Change and the Strategies Presented by Leaders
30 points
Recommendations (Suggestions to Better Address Change Dynamics, Additional Strategies)
30 points
Thesis Development and Purpose
14 points
Argument Logic and Construction
16 points
Mechanics of Writing (includes spelling, punctuation, grammar, and language use)
10 points
Paper Format (use of appropriate style for the major and assignment)
10 points
Documentation of Sources
10 points
Total 200 points