Organizations that make a decision to embark on cultural transformation journeys stand on the threshold and choose a path into the unknown.  

The process used or created to move forward on the path has a number of steps:

Assessing current reality, defining a desired state, guiding change, engaging the workforce, leadership commitment and support, involvement and ownership at all levels.

Assessing Current Reality:  Organizations employ some type of activity to identify their current reality i.e.; leadership rounds, staff focus groups, family focus groups.  Done well identifying the current reality is the organizational version of looking in the mirror.

Defining a Desired State:  In response to information gathered about current reality, the next step is the development of a clear definition of the desired state:  shared values, a collective vision, goals, a strategic plan, new service or quality standard.  Approaches can range from top-down to interactive i.e.; leadership planning retreats, staff meetings and employee forums.  Whatever process is used the desired stat must be collectively owned.

(to be continued next week)

(Kimball, 2005)

Continuous measurements: 

• Temperature, weight, time to complete a task

Counts of observations: 

• Number of people in a waiting room,
• Number of scratches on tile,
• Number of complaints received

What people think; how they feel about something:

• Responses to questions

Ratings: 

• A user rating the ease of use of a product
• Customer satisfaction with care

Rankings:

• People being ask to place a one beside the item in a list they think is most important, a two by the next most important and so on.

You can decide what data to collect from the questions you are trying to answer. Developing, testing, implementing, and spreading changes all lead to a natural set of questions. Some of those questions might be:

* Developing a change: What are the sources of problems in a work activity? At what time of day do problems occur? What do customers want?

* Testing a change: Has a change affected performance?

* Implementing a change: Is performance being sustained after a change?

* Spreading improvements: How many other sites have adopted the change? 

The data you collect will help you answer these and other questions that arise in your improvement efforts. 

 Langley, Gerald J.; Moen, Ronald D.; Nolan, Kevin M.; Nolan, Thomas W.; Norman, Clifford L.; Provost, Lloyd P. (2009-06-03). The Improvement Guide: A Practical Approach to Enhancing Organizational Performance (JOSSEY-BASS BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT SERIES) (Kindle Locations 840-847). Wiley Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Clinician Perspectives on Barriers to and Opportunities for Skin-to-Skin Contact for Premature Infants 
in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

Henry Chong Lee,1 Sarah Martin-Anderson,2 and R. Adams Dudley3,4

BREASTFEEDING MEDICINE Volume 7, Number 2, 2012

Objective: Our objective was to investigate key factors in promoting skin-to-skin contact (STSC) in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

The next webinar will be Tuesday, November 12th, 2:00 - 3:00 PM.  Please plan to have at least one person from your team on the call so we can hear your 'voice'.    

Click here for webinar information.

Contact

Tammy.Haithcox@pqcnc.org