Intervention: There are multiple valid and reliable assessment tools available to measure the concept of organizational culture and organizational effectiveness. The process for selecting the tool used in this project is outside of the scope of this presentation; however, the results of its implementation will be shared. An academic-practice partnership made up of a state-level department that owns and operates inpatient psychiatric hospitals, a School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry, and a University’s College of Nursing set out to select a valid and reliable tool to measure this organization’s culture. The goals of the partnership were to improve quality outcomes for the mental health population served by this partnership; advance and showcase healthcare models that serve individuals with severe persistent mental illness and individuals with intellectual and development disabilities; and, expand clinical educational opportunities for interprofessional team members. A five-member team was organized from leaders/employees of the academic-practice partnership. This team was to select and administer an organizational assessment tool. A valid and reliable well researched tool was selected and the project team successfully completed training to become certified administrators of the tool. This project was divided into two phases. The inpatient psychiatric hospital of interest has two campuses. One campus is dedicated to caring for the severely persistent mentally ill patient with approximately half having a forensic component to their case. The second campus is dedicated to caring for those individuals with intellectual and development disabilities. The first phase of this project was initiated on the campus that serves the severely persistent mentally ill individual. The purpose of administering the tool was to measure the current operating organizational culture, as well as the ideal culture, of this state-owned inpatient psychiatric hospital.
Results: The purpose of this presentation is to share the journey encountered by a five-member team whose goal was to measure the organizational culture of an inpatient psychiatric facility and to discuss the process for developing improvement initiatives to positively impact culture and organizational effectiveness leading to enhanced patient outcomes. The OCI tool was used to measure the current culture as well as the ideal culture. Sixty eight (68) leaders and selected employees completed the OCI-Ideal survey revealing a desired culture known as the “Constructive” culture. Three hundred and sixteen (316) leaders and employees completed the OCI-Current/OEI survey revealing the actual current culture known as “Passive/Defensive”. The goal in the case of this hospital is to move the current culture, Passive/Defensive, closer to the ideal culture, Constructive. Causal factors for the results obtained will be explored. Causal factors shape and reinforce the current operating culture and impact an organization’s effectiveness. When causal factors are aligned with the organization’s values, the ideal culture is more attainable. The least favorable scores on the sub-items as identified in the data were organizational-level and departmental-level quality. When causal factors and the operating culture are not aligned with the ideal, the resultant outcomes are generally not favorable. Because of the link between culture, effectiveness, and outcomes, this team is developing improvement strategies to enhance this hospital’s organizational culture in order to positively impact overall organizational effectiveness and specifically patient outcomes. The importance of organizational leaders’ engagement to the success of this work will also be discussed. The OCI/OEI survey tools have been utilized internationally and have the ability to be administered in all types of organizational settings and environments. Replication of this work is possible globally.