NURS FPX 6080 Assessment 4 Workplace Environment Presentation and Reflection Paper

Student name

Capella University

FPX 6080

Professor Name

Submission Date

Workplace Environment Presentation and Reflection Paper

Slide 2

         Hello, Professor and colleagues. I am _________. I wish to provide my opinion regarding the working conditions of the Medical-Surgical Unit of the inner-city hospital. There are 32 beds available to care for different adult patient populations. There are registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, and a charge nurse for each shift within the unit. This presentation aims to provide the perspective of the staff health and wellness of this unit, and most importantly, me. Almalki et.al (2025) state that nurse leaders are responsible for developing this. I will provide the current state of the employee work environment in our unit and recommend some options for changes, and most importantly, I will describe how I have led and supported others in making the changes I have recommended.

Evaluating Workplace Health & Well-Being

Slide 3

A Med-Surg unit has some of the most difficult features of any unit in a hospital. Staff contend with high patient loads, short-staffing, and extreme emotional exhaustion. Various methods were used to evaluate the overall health and well-being of this unit. These methods included the internal staff satisfaction survey, an HR assessment of turnover and absenteeism, and personal observations of staff while they were on duty. These methods indicated a mixed assessment of the unit. Staff burnout was clear. Staff demonstrated high levels of collegial support and the charge nurse maintained an adequate level of respect. Falatah and Alfi (2025) found limited autonomy and high workload to be two of the most significant predictors of burnout in nursing. The emotional withdrawal and burnout observed in the staff during my practicum semester were in complete agreement with their findings, suggesting the well-being of this nursing unit is moderate. There are factors that are functioning well, but there are significant problems that require resolution.

Strategies for Self-Care, Personal Health & Well-Being

Slide 4

Numerous techniques can produce positive changes and assist in the enhancement of staff health and well-being within this unit. To begin, there needs to be formalized peer support de-briefings following the exposure of staff to difficult or traumatic patient situations. These are lightly managed forums that allow staff to work through and process their experiences prior to exiting the unit. Carbone et al. (2022) found a nearly 30% decrease in burnout symptoms in nurses as a result of peer support programs. This result is significant and should be investigated further. The second technique involves the creation of a wellness room for staff to utilize as a calmer space away from the chaos of the unit while taking a break. Sant’Ana e Medeiros. (2025) found that short periods of relaxation (≤ 15 min) in a calming environment resulted in a significant decrease in stress. The third technique is a move toward self-scheduling to provide nurses with more control with regard to their own work schedules. Research indicates that flexible scheduling has resulted in decreased staff turnover. Lastly, consideration should be given to the implementation of a mindfulness-based stress reduction program. Nurses who have been trained in MBSR have recorded a decrease in anxiety and an increase in resilience. These are all research-informed strategies that can realistically be implemented within the bounds of the hospital.

Cognitive Flexibility in Leading Change

Slide 5

Cognitive flexibility is the ability to pivot thinking and also adjust behavior to new conditions and changes. Mueller-Burke et al. (2024) note that for the nature of the job that they do, nurses in leadership roles operate in high-cognitive flexibility environments. This is especially true during the various practicum placements that I had throughout the program. One of the more dramatic examples of cognitive flexibility that I witnessed firsthand was during one shift when two patients had a sudden decline in the status of their health. The shift plan no longer applied, and I had to rapidly re-order my tasks. I explained to the certified nursing assistant how to follow my directions to delegate tasks. I ensured the attending physician was kept informed about the two patients. I also had to flex my cognitive abilities when the charge nurse was absent for two weeks without notice. This left a leadership gap for the nursing unit, and the charge nurse’s work assignments had to be completely restructured. The daily team work huddles also had to be reorganized on the spot. Neither of these examples was easy, but both required performing the working tasks without any prior structure. Esenyel (2024) explains that flexible thinking helps nursing team leaders a lot during uncertain team situations.

Personal Experience Leading Others Through Change

Slide 6

My practicum provided an opportunity to lead a team through one of the more challenging changes, the implementation of a new electronic health record (EHR) system. While externally an EHR upgrade may appear to be a standard operational change, many long-term employees were annoyed and resistant to the change because they believed the new system was being thrust onto them with no time, no support, and no preparation for the change (Cogan et al., 2023). Instead of telling employees to get over the change, the team was brought to the change in a more supportive way. Informal “lunch and learn” sessions were held, walking employees through the new system in a relaxed setting, and a brief, one-page tip sheet was created for the nursing staff. After hours, two additional informal sessions were held to assist with troubleshooting. This supportive nature resulted in a significant increase in confidence of the junior nursing staff and a measurable decrease in documentation errors. During a previous clinical rotation, it was noted that staff members are much more open to change if they are involved in the change process from the beginning and not just informed of the change after it has occurred.

Critiquing Personal Approaches to Leading Change

Slide 7

Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model and the second thought-leader, EHR Transition, were the fundamental components of both EHR Transition leadership and EHR Transition organizational adaptations. Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model was developed to allow healthcare organizations to describe a clear and structured pathway to achieve readiness for change, EHR transition, for instance (Kang et al., 2020). One of the model’s strengths is the clarity and sense of achievement provided at the completion of each of the eight steps of the model. One of the model’s limitations is that it is well known that rapid change within healthcare organizations is reflected in the fact that they do not follow a linear path, and therefore, when faced with significant change, a structured and sequential approach will inhibit the achievement of the change goal.

Based on Kucharska and Rebelo (2022), creating a vision and a bond with followers is the essence of transformational leadership. It is the opposite of driving followers through obedience or rewarding them. It is transformational leadership style builds trust of followers and flexibility in teams. It is an emotionally demanding style of leadership on the part of the staff and may have varying effects based on the staff. Nursing unit leadership in this style involves influencing change in staff, including float pool staff. The transformational leadership style demands building relationships, and the application of Kotter’s approach in setting up change in the nursing environment is likely to help lead and accommodate the change process effectively.

Conclusion

Slide 8

Nurses are justified in prioritizing their own health and welfare as they do in the case of their patients. Positive elements of team-based culture in the Medical Surgical Unit include teamwork and communication, but there are issues with managing workload and limited mental health resources, as well as issues with contingent scheduling. The evidence-based strategies introduced in this presentation are feasible and can be adopted by nursing unit leaders. Cognitive flexibility and authentic self-reflection are important traits of a nursing leader. Given that the majority of nurses demonstrate strong nursing capability, there tends to be a gap between being a good nurse versus being an efficient nurse leader.