Week 5: Strategic Planning

“For tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” –African proverb

As this course has emphasized, healthcare leaders and managers typically have oversight of a vast array of responsibilities and outcomes. Like a general of an army or a physician helping a patient through a long-term disease, they must demonstrate that they can make critical day-to-day decisions, but they must also have a vision for a better future for those they serve. In healthcare management, that vision can best be achieved through planning involving a strategic process and group of stakeholders.

Healthcare leaders need to know how to ensure that their organizations succeed for the long term, and to anticipate market forces and policy and funding changes, among other challenges. In strategic planning, the process is as important as the plan itself.

This week, you will explore various aspects of strategic planning. You will examine challenges related to strategic planning in healthcare settings, the roles of stakeholders and healthcare leaders in the process, and components and goals of successful strategic plans.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Analyze stakeholder roles in meeting strategic planning challenges
• Analyze the role of healthcare leaders and managers in meeting the needs of stakeholders and the goals of the organization through strategic planning
• Identify the components and goals of a successful strategic plan
• Compare goals and strategies of strategic plans
• Analyze barriers to successful strategic planning implementation

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Course Text: Buchbinder, S. B., & Shanks, N. H. (2017). Introduction to health care management (3rd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett.
Chapter 5, “Strategic Planning” (pp. 107–123)
In this chapter, you will be introduced to the strategic planning process within healthcare settings. The author provides insight into the process of identifying a desired future state for a healthcare organization and planning as a means to achieve it.
Last Chance Hospital—Case or Chapters 5 and 6 (pp. 536–537)

Article: Javanparast, S., Freeman, T., Baum, F., Ziersch, A., Mackean, T., Labonte, R., & Sanders, D. (n.d). How institutional forces, ideas and actors shaped population health planning in Australian regional primary health care organisations. BMC Public Health, 18. doi:10.1186/s12889-018-5273-4

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

This article features a look at collaborative healthcare planning for population health programs in Australia.

Required Media

Laureate Education (Producer) (2014c). Strategic planning [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
The approximate length of this media piece is 4 minutes.
This media features public health leaders discussing various roles, informal and formal, in strategic planning.
Note: You may view this Course Video in the streaming Media Player below or attached and/or linked above with each resource listed. As a reminder, additional Learning Resources for the week are listed below the Media Player. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page to view the complete list of Required and/or Optional Resources.
If you experience technical difficulties viewing the Course Media through the Media Player, please contact your Student Support Team at 1-800-WALDENU or support@waldenu.edu

Discussion: Prior Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance

The six Ps in the title of this Discussion, “Prior Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance,” indicate the value of planning. When healthcare leaders and managers carefully plan their goals and strategies for the long-term as well as the short-term and involve the right stakeholders and fully understand their perspectives, this helps the organization be more strategic in attaining its current and future goals.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Consider the role of the healthcare manager or leader in strategic planning in healthcare settings.
• Review the case study provided in your course text: Last Chance Hospital.

By Day 4

Post a comprehensive response to the following:

• Using specific examples and support from the case study provided in your Learning Resources, describe the main challenges related to strategic planning in Last Chance Hospital and explain why they are challenges.
• Identify the key stakeholders in the case study. Then, explain the role, if any, each might take in strategic planning and why.
• Explain the role of a healthcare leader or manager in meeting the needs of the various stakeholders, as well as meeting the goals of the strategic plan and organization.

PART II: Data Assessment and Reflection: Once you have completed the interview, review and analyze your subject’s information using course resources (documentaries, ATI Nutrition for Nursing book, class discussions, articles, websites, online resources you have located) and the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans on the health.gov website: https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/. (The “executive summary” and “recommendations at a glance” documents are good places to start: https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/executive-summary/)

Compare your subject’s food intake and eating habits to what you are learning regarding guidelines for healthy eating. How is his/her intake of whole grains, fruits, vegetables? Do they consume adequate protein sources? What about fat, sugar, and salt? Review their intake of major vitamins, minerals, electrolytes (consult chapter 1 of ATI Nutrition for Nursing). Summarize your findings from the interview. Include the strengths and areas for improvement for your subject’s food/drink consumption. What potential barriers to healthy eating do you think your subject might face?

Lastly, reflect on the process of the interview. Use the following questions/prompts as your guide:

o What interpersonal communication/interviewing techniques did you use for the interview? Explain how and why you used each technique, and at what point in the interview process.

o What were your strengths as an interviewer? In what ways could you improve your techniques?

o How did you feel about collecting this data in the form of an interview?Discuss any challenges you faced in gathering accurate and complete data (or just in general) while interviewing this particular person. If you didn’t face any challenges, what challenges do you think a nurse might encounter when interviewing a person regarding their food intake and eating habits? 

This entire section (data assessment and reflection) should be approximately 2-3 pages, double-spaced. Follow APA guidelines (7th edition) for the title page, writing style, and reference page. Your reference page will include all the resources you have used to complete your work for this section. A minimum of two sources is required for part II.

PART III: Intervention

Using the knowledge you acquired from Part II, create an originalteaching intervention specifically for your interview subject. This could take the form of a poster, information sheet, video, PowerPoint, brochure, etc. The content should focus on the areas needed for nutrition improvement, based on your assessment. This teaching intervention could be used to educate and support the individual to correct deficiencies or, if they have an excellent diet,improve on positive practices. The education should clearly communicate the intended outcome. Your work can be formatted however you wish, but it must be specific to the person you interviewed and their particular needs. Make it informative, easy to follow, and interesting to look at (graphics, pictures, etc. are suggested). 

Include at least two web or print resources that your subject could consult for more information. This can be added right on your actual work. 

Be sure and cite the sources of your information for the project. A minimum of two sources is required APA 7th edition citation

Write an 800-1,000 word essay on your personal worldview. Briefly discuss the various possible meanings of the term “spirituality,” and your understanding of the concepts of pluralism, scientism, and postmodernism. Primarily, address the following seven basic worldview questions:

1. What is prime reality?
2. What is the nature of the world around you?
3. What is a human being?
4. What happens to a person at death?
5. Why is it possible to know anything at all?
6. How do people know what is right or wrong?
7. What is the meaning of human history?

An abstract is not required.

Purpose

Community health nurses practice in a variety of settings. The purpose of this paper is to describe the community setting and analyze the role of a nurse in the assigned setting. Health promotion nursing interventions and a professional nursing organization related to this role will also be examined.

The topic for this paper is the role of a nurse in a correctional setting. 

Course Outcomes

This assignment enables the student to meet the following Course Outcomes.

• CO5: Analyze the nursing roles in providing comprehensive care in a variety of community health settings. (PO 1)
• CO6: Utilize a systems-based and collaborative approach to address factors that influence the health of a community and population health problems. (PO 2)

This APA paper is expected to be no more than four pages in length (not including the title page and reference list). Below are the requirements for successful completion of this paper. Please use the recommended APA Template linked below, which incorporates the following categories as the first level headings on your paper. APA formatting helps you to organize your paper in a professional manner and provides consistent methods for citing your sources and completing your reference page. See the documents in the APA category in Resources for assistance with APA formatting. The Student Success Strategies resource has great sections on writing scholarly papers and APA formatting.

1. The community health setting for this paper must be a correctional setting such as a jail or prison (state, federal, men’s, women’s, juvenile, psychiatric, military, etc.).
2. Click to view and download the NR443 Community Settings APA Template (Links to an external site.) to complete your paper. The template is formatted with the appropriate running head, title page, page numbers, paragraph formatting, and most of the headings. Please edit the headers and title page with your specific information. You are also encouraged to view the Week 4 assignment tutorial found at the end of the Academic Integrity Reminder.
3. Read the chapter of your textbook on the  assigned community health setting and take notes based on the outline below.
4. Locate and read at least one scholarly peer-reviewed journal article that is not assigned in the course related to a nurse’s role in health promotion in this setting. Go to the Chamberlain library at http:/library.chamberlain.edu (Links to an external site.). Search peer reviewed journals to find a scholarly article on this topic. The article must be less than 10 years old (less than 5 years is best).
5. Thoroughly address the following categories using the APA Template that is provided.

• Introduction (one paragraph):
  • The introduction should be interesting and capture the reader’s attention.
  • Introduce the assigned community setting 
  • Briefly identify CHN role(s) in this setting
  • Identify vulnerable population(s) served in this setting
  • Include a purpose statement
• Community Setting (two to three paragraphs)
  • Describe the assigned community setting, including vulnerable population(s) served.
  • Discuss three health services provided by the a CHN in the assigned setting.
  • Use your textbook or an outside scholarly source to address these sub-points.
• Health Promotion Nursing Intervention (two to three paragraphs) 
  • Describe in detail health promotion intervention(s) that a CHN could implement in the assigned community setting.
  • Identify people/organizations/community members this CHN role may collaborate with in health promotion interventions.
  • Utilize at least one peer-reviewed scholarly article related to a health promotion intervention.
• Professional Nursing Organization (two paragraphs)
  • Provide a detailed description of a professional nursing organization related to the assigned community setting. Search the text, your article, or the Internet for one professional organization that supports nurses in this role. If you can’t find an organization specific to this group, search the American Nurses Association (ANA) website for information on this role. Cite the organization in the body of the text with (organization name, year), and include a complete reference on the reference page.
  • Discuss one professional issue that this organization is addressing related to the assigned community setting.
• Summary (one paragraph)

The summary reiterates key points about:

• The community setting and the CHN role(s)
• Health promotion intervention
• Professional organization
• Includes a concluding statement.
• Reference Page: The reference page should start on a new page (insert a page break). All references should be cited within the body of the paper as (author or organization, year), and the full reference should be included in APA format on the reference page. A URL link alone is not an adequate reference. See the Chamberlain Guidelines for Professional Writing in the APA Folder in Resources for examples of properly formatted references.

The RN to BSN program at Grand Canyon University meets the requirements for clinical competencies as defined by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), using nontraditional experiences for practicing nurses. These experiences come in the form of direct and indirect care experiences in which licensed nursing students engage in learning within the context of their hospital organization, specific care discipline, and local communities.

Note: This is an individual assignment. In 1,500-2,000 words, describe the teaching experience and discuss your observations. The written portion of this assignment should include:

1. Summary of teaching plan
2. Epidemiological rationale for topic
3. Evaluation of teaching experience
4. Community response to teaching
5. Areas of strengths and areas of improvement

Prepare this assignment according to the APA 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. Refer to the LopesWrite Technical Support articles for assistance.