Care Setting Environmental Analysis

Care Setting
Environmental Analysis

Write a 4-7 page analysis of your care setting that supports
development of a strategic plan and includes both the discovery and dream
phases of an appreciative inquiry (AI) project and a strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis of the care setting.

Introduction
Identifying analysis techniques for assessing competitive
advantage is important for building health care strategy. Sustaining health
care competitive advantage requires that leaders understand environmental
demands to assist with minimizing weakness and threats from the external
environment. This assessment provides you with an opportunity to examine your
health care environment to determine whether what is being accomplished in your
organization, department, team, community project, or other care setting is
making a positive difference.

Note: You will use the results of this analysis to develop a
strategic plan in Assessment 2.

Preparation
You have been asked to conduct an analysis of your care
setting that will result in two potential pathways toward a strategic plan to
improve health care quality and safety in your organization, department, team,
community project, or other care setting. To accomplish this, you will take two
approaches to the analysis:

Complete the discovery and dream phases of an appreciative
inquiry (AI) project.
Conduct a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
(SWOT) analysis.
To help ensure that your analysis is well-received, the
requester has suggested that you:

Present your analysis results in four parts:
Part 1: Appreciative Inquiry Discovery and Dream.
Part 2: SWOT Analysis.
Part 3: Comparison of Approaches.
Part 4: Analysis of Relevant Leadership Characteristics and
Skills.
Your analysis should be 4–7 pages in length.
Note: Remember, you can submit all, or a portion, of your
draft plan to Smarthinking for feedback before you submit the final version for
this assessment. However, be mindful of the turnaround time for receiving
feedback, if you plan on using this free service.

As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to
think about other related issues to deepen your understanding or broaden your
viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them
with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of
your professional community. Note that these questions are for your own
development and exploration and do not need to be completed or submitted as
part of your assessment.

One key aspect to being an effective leader, manager, or
administrator is an awareness of your leadership strengths, weaknesses, and style.

How would you assess your general leadership, communication,
and relationship-building skills?
How would describe your leadership style?
Imagine the future for a care setting that is your place of
practice or one in which you would like to work.

What aspirational goals can you envision that would lead to
improvements in health care quality and safety?
How well do these goals align with the mission, vision, and
values of your care setting?
Analysis Requirements
Note: The requirements outlined below correspond to the
grading criteria in the scoring guide, so at a minimum, be sure to address each
point. In addition, you are encouraged to review the performance level
descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed.

Writing, Supporting Evidence, and APA Style
Communicate professionally when conducting interviews and
collecting data.
Write clearly, with professionalism and respect for
stakeholders and colleagues.
Integrate relevant sources of evidence to support your
assertions.
Cite at least 3–5 sources of scholarly or professional
evidence.
Include relevant interview information.
Format your document using APA style. Use the APA Style
Paper Tutorial [DOCX]. Be sure to include:
A title page and reference page. An abstract is not required.
A running head on all pages.
Appropriate section headings.
Properly formatted citations and references.
Proofread your writing to minimize errors that could
distract readers and make it more difficult to focus on the substance of your
analysis.
Part 1: Appreciative Inquiry Discovery and Dream
Synthesize stories and evidence about times when a care
setting performed at its best with regard to quality and safety goals.
Collect stories from your care setting. You may collect
stories through interviews or conversations with colleagues or provide your
own.
Explain how your stories are related to quality and safety
goals.
Describe the evidence you have that substantiates your
stories.
Identify the positive themes reflected in your stories.
Describe other evidence (for example: data, awards,
accreditations) that validates your care setting’s positive core.
Propose positive, yet attainable, quality and safety
improvement goals for your care setting.
Explain how accomplishing these goals will lead to ethical
and culturally-sensitive improvements in quality and safety.
Explain how your proposed goals align with your care
setting’s mission, vision, and values.
Part 2: SWOT Analysis
Conduct a SWOT analysis of your care setting, with respect
to quality and safety goals.
Provide a narrative description of your analysis.
Identify the assessment tool you used as the basis of your
analysis.
Describe your key findings and their relationships to
quality and safety goals.
Describe one area of concern that you identified in your
SWOT analysis—relevant to your care setting’s mission, vision, and values—for
which you would propose pursuing improvements.
Explain how this area of concern relates to your care
setting’s mission, vision, and values.
Explain why you believe it will be necessary and valuable to
pursue improvements related to this area of concern.
Part 3: Comparison of Approaches
Compare the AI and SWOT approaches to analysis and reflect
on the results.

Describe your mindset when examining your care setting from
an AI perspective and from a SWOT perspective.
Describe the types of data and evidence you searched for
when taking an AI approach and a SWOT approach.
Describe the similarities and differences between the two
approaches when communicating and interacting with colleagues.
Part 4: Analysis of Relevant Leadership Characteristics and
Skills
Analyze the leadership characteristics and skills most
desired in the person leading potential performance improvement projects,
taking both an AI and SWOT approach.

Explain how these characteristics and skills would help a
leader facilitate a successful AI-based project and a successful SWOT-based
project.
Comment on any shared characteristics or skills you
identified as helpful for both AI and SWOT approaches.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will
demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following
assessment scoring guide criteria:

Competency 1: Evaluate qualities and skills that promote
effective leadership within health care organizations.
Analyze the leadership characteristics and skills most
desired in the person leading potential performance improvement projects,
taking both an appreciative inquiry (AI) and a strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats (SWOT) approach.
Competency 2: Apply strategies to lead high-performing
health care teams to meet organizational quality and safety goals.
Synthesize stories and evidence about times when a care setting
performed at its best with regard to quality and safety goals.
Conduct a SWOT analysis of a care setting, with respect to
quality and safety goals.
Describe an area of concern identified in a SWOT
analysis—relevant to a care setting’s mission, vision, and values—that should
be improved.
Compare the AI and SWOT approaches to analysis with regard
to data gathering and interactions with others.
Competency 3: Apply cultural, ethical, and regulatory
considerations to leadership decision making.
Propose positive, attainable quality and safety improvement
goals for a care setting.
Competency 5: Communicate with stakeholders and
constituencies to build collaborative partnerships and create inclusive work
environments.
Communicate analyses clearly and in a way that demonstrates
professionalism and respect for stakeholders and colleagues.
Integrate relevant and credible sources of evidence to
support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using APA
style.

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