systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems
For this week’s systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems Discussion, you identify an issue or process that could be improved and apply knowledge and strategies related to systems theory.
To prepare:
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Review the information presented in this week’s Learning Resources on systems theory and the difference between open and closed systems.
Reflect on the practices and processes with which you are familiar in your organization. Identify one problematic issue or process that could be improved.
Consider the problem from a closed-system perspective. Then think about how the issue or process you selected could be addressed by viewing it from an open-system perspective. How would the transition from a closed- to an open-system view help you and others to address the problem and improve outcomes? systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems.
Post a description of the problem that you identified in your selected organization. Explain the problem from a closed-system perspective. Then, describe how the problem could be addressed by viewing it from an open-system perspective, and explain how this modification would help you and others improve health care outcomes.
Please include introduction, summary and references should be within the last five years. in text citation should have the page numbers or paragraph. Thank you. systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems.
Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems
Introduction
In systems theory, a system is defined as a whole entity comprised of various individual components but which are interdependent. According to Peters (2014), p. 2), “the healthcare system harbors complexity” cultivated by the multifaceted nature of its stakeholders and roles to the society. systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems. As an organization strives to adapt amid the complexity, the system perspective –open or closed – guiding the adaptation acts as the success determinant either facilitating or hindering the optimal performance of the system as it interacts with the environment. This paper provides an example of healthcare problem rooted in the closed system perspective and discuss its alternative, the open system perspective, as an adequate solution.
Problem highlight
I interned in a healthcare organization with clear-cut hierarchy amongst the different professionals with an eminent dominance of the physicians over the rest. As such, the nurses and the physicians seemingly worked as different independent teams with little interaction between the two. As a result, the management-received complaints from the patients that when they aired their concerns to nurses in most cases the physicians did not seem to take into count. In this case, it was evident that the department was marred by misunderstandings instigated by miscommunication.
Problem from a closed-system perspective
The eminent misunderstandings and inadequate information flow is fueled by adopted closed system operation. In a closed system, the components of the system restrict the flow of information internally without adequate external information flow, which “inhibits the system’s ability to respond to external environment effectively” (Cordon, 2013, p. 4). In the case of the healthcare organization, the professional hierarchies act as individual components with adequate communication only happening within each circle. The professional hierarchies often hinder free interaction amongst the team members working in different departments prompting each to work independently. However, as Dobrzykowski, and Tarafdar (2015) observes, “information exchange relationship among the physician and a hospital’s healthcare providers is an essential element of coordination and key to delivering experiences which patients find valuable.” In this regard, when communication breakdown occurs between the healthcare providers the result is the organization’s inability to respond to the dynamics in both their internal and external environments, in this case, the patient’s concerns. systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems.
Addressing problem from an open-system perspective
Healthcare institutions constitute of different professionals each with a distinct role but all serving as a single entity. In this regard, the institution should nurture adequate communication between the professionals by crippling the professional superiority complex. Adoption of an open system would sufficiently counter the challenges resulting from the culture of “us versus them” in terms of professions. According to May, Johnson, and Finch (2016, p. 9), entities in an open system although distinct in their roles recognize “the dynamic features of context that shape self-organization in complex adaptive social systems.” As such, components in open systems uphold the interrelation and symbiotic relation required for the benefit of the whole system, which in turn heightens the system’s ability to react with their environments by adapting to external and internal factors. As such, adoption of the open system perspective would facilitate interaction of healthcare administrators and practitioners in different departments systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems.
Summary
In conclusion, there is a need for adoption of open systems in healthcare organizations to enhance efficiency in healthcare provision. Open system operations in healthcare services would go a long way in fostering communication and ensure that healthcare institutions meet the dynamic needs emanating from the external environment thus facilitating efficiency in healthcare provision systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems
References
Cordon, C. P. (2013). System theories: An overview of various system theories and its application in healthcare. American Journal of Systems Science, 2(1), 13-22.
Dobrzykowski, D. D., & Tarafdar, M. (2015). Understanding information exchange in healthcare operations: Evidence from hospitals and patients. Journal of Operations Management, 36, 201-214.
May, C. R., Johnson, M., & Finch, T. (2016). Implementation, context and complexity. Implementation Science, 11(1), 141 systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems.
Peters, D. H. (2014). The application of systems thinking in health: why use systems thinking?. Health Research Policy and Systems, 12(1), 51.
For this systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems Assignment, you apply systems theory to the examination of a problem in a department or a unit within a health care organization. (Note: You may use the same problem you identified for the Discussion as long as it meets the criteria for this assignment.)
To prepare:
Review the Meyer article, “Nursing Services Delivery Theory: An Open System Approach,” in this week’s Learning Resources. Focus especially on the information presented in Table 1 (p. 2831) and Figure 2 (p. 2833).
Reflect on your organization or one with which you are familiar. Within a particular department or unit in this organization, identify a problem the staff is encountering.
Using Table 1 in the Meyer article as a guide, analyze the department or unit, identifying inputs, throughput, output, cycles of events, and negative feedback. Consider whether the problem you have selected relates to input, throughput, output, cycles of events, and/or negative feedback.
Think about how you could address the problem: Consider what a desired outcome would be, then formulate related goals and objectives, and translate those goals into policies and procedures.
Research professional standards that are pertinent to your identified problem.
Reflect on the organization’s mission statement and values. In addition, consider how addressing this problem would uphold the mission and values, while improving the organizational culture and climate. (Depending on the organization you have selected, you may have explored these in the Week 1 Discussion.) systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems.
Write a 4 page paper (page count does not include title and reference page) that addresses the following:
Describe a department or unit within a health care organization using systems theory terminology. Include a description of inputs, throughput, output, cycles of events, and negative feedback.
Describe the problem you identified within the department or unit using an open- systems approach, and state where the problem exists using the systems theory model (input, throughput, output, cycles of events, or negative feedback).
Based on this information, explain how you would address the problem as follows:
Formulate a desired outcome systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems.
Identify goals and objectives that would facilitate that outcome.
Translate those goals and objectives into policies and procedures for the department or unit.
Describe relevant professional standards.
Explain how your proposed resolution to the problem would uphold the organization’s mission and values and improve the culture and climate.
Please paper should have introduction, summary and in text citation should have paragraph number or page number. References should be within the last five years. Thank you
Applying Systems Theory systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems.
Question 1. Describing the department using systems theory terminology
As a nursing professional, I am employed in the emergency department of Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital. I am engaged in offering nursing services. The facility is located in New York City and is under the management of Presbyterian Hospital within the same city (New York – Presbyterian Hospital, 2018). The emergency department serves three critical functions. Firstly, it is concerned with accurately assessing the patients who arrive at the facility. Secondly, it is concerned with diagnosis. systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems. Finally, it offers the appropriate emergency medical care. In order to carry out the three core functions, the department has employed a multidisciplinary team of medical professionals that includes nurses and physicians. The team integrates the efforts of each individual and profession, focusing on concerted exertions to ensure that all patients who access the department receive the best possible emergency care that includes a safe environment, alleviating and stabilizing their condition, and facilitating speedy recovery. To facilitate the realization of these objectives, the facility has dedicated resources towards acquiring medical equipment and employing adequate staff levels. As a result, the medical equipment, staff and resources employed in the department can be considered as the facility’s input in the emergency department. Additionally, the management services in the emergency department is that throughput that systemizes the inputs, and orders and organizes medical services with a view to achieve the department’s primary goals. Reasonably, the patients who pass through the emergency department having received care are the output. Also, the turnover volumes reported for the patients is the measure of effectiveness for the emergency department. Given that the facility, including the emergency department, is profit oriented as a sustainability measure interpreted through offering the best possible care, then revenue and profit figures would be considered as the cycle of events. In addition, the performance indicators for the medical department, particularly the reviews offered by the public on staff and services performance, acts as the feedback for the department (Huber, 2013; Meyer & O’Brien-Pallas, 2010).
Question 2. Describing the problem using an open- systems approach, and stating where the problem exists using the systems theory model
In spite of the emergency department reporting a devotion and commitment to offering the best possible care to its patients, the patients have reported a general inability by the nursing personnel to correctly evaluate and manage their pain levels. In fact, the department scores poorly in pain management since the patients indicate that their pain is either inadequately addressed or ignored. The patient reviews show that pain management measures applied in the facility are largely ineffective with the nursing personnel receiving some negative reviews in that regard. To put it more succinctly, some of the patients who pass through the emergency department have indicated that nursing efforts are inadequate systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems. The implication is that the performance indicators for the department presents subpar figures as nurses are unable to accurately perceive the patients’ pain levels (Meyer & O’Brien-Pallas, 2010). Pope and Deer (2017) explores the issue of ineffective pain management within a medical facility by reporting that it is a common problem. In fact, pain evaluation is only reported to capture 20% of the required information while losing 80% information. Should this statistics turn true for the emergency department, then there is a need to develop and apply better pain evaluation methods that would capture the remaining 80% of the information that had previously been lost. At the very least, inefficient pain evaluation holds true for the nursing personnel in the emergency department since one of their key responsibility is to apply assertive strategies in collecting and disseminating pain assessment information. When the patients complain that their pain has not been well managed, then it implies that nurses have failed to collect and disseminate the right information. To address this issue, there is a need for the nursing personnel to assume a leadership position in the multidisciplinary teams, focusing on developing appropriate solutions to the existing problem, executing the solution, and interpreting the feedback to identify areas that should be improved systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems.
Question 3. Explaining the desired outcome
The problem existing in the emergency department has been identified the patients’ complaints about ineffective pain management strategies. The nursing personnel do not collect all the required information and end up applying the wrong pain management strategies. As such, the desired outcome is to ensure that pain is well managed in the department by collecting all the information on pain and development a management strategy based on the collected information.
Question 4. The goal and objective that will facilitate the desired outcome
The goal is to improve pain management results in the department. This would be assessed through patients’ reviews that report whether or not the applied pain management strategy was effective. The objective is to improve revenues and profits by receiving positive reviews from patients that increases their possibility for patronage or recommending the facility to others systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems.
Question 5. Goal and objective translation into policies and procedures
Translating the identified goal and objective into policies and procedures for the department takes the form of improving pain assessment to allow for more pain information to be collected thus allowing for an effective pain management strategy to be selected and applied. Decoding this would entail actively engaging the patients through communication so that the nurses have an accurate awareness of the patients’ pain levels. This means that the new policies and procedures would focus on improving the interactions between the nurses in the emergency department and their patients. Also, the new procedures would be reviewed to prioritize costs so that the department does not report unfavorable revenues and profits. systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems. Besides that, drug interactions, adverse reactions, tolerance and addiction must also be accounted for within the new policies.
Question 6. The relevant professional standards
All through the pain management process as applied within the emergency department, the nursing staff will ensure that their focus does not move away from addressing the patients’ pain. Any duties that are acknowledged as exceeding the nurses’ capabilities and scope will be transferred to the appropriate individuals or offices (Tintinalli et al., 2016). For example, if the pain medication being used within the department turns harmful, then the hospital administrators will be informed to assess the medication and approve the acquisition of safe medication. Besides that, the nursing staff will receive pain assessment and management training that improves their interactions with the patients to collect the right information (Cherry & Jacob, 2013). In this respect, the nursing staff will establish a pain baseline, scrutinize the currently applied strategies, formulate an appropriate response for the patients’ complaints, and develop an action plan to ensure that patients present a positive review about their pain management. systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems.
Question 7. How the proposed resolution will uphold the organization’s mission and values and improve the culture and climate
The proposed solution will uphold the facility’s mission and values while improving culture and climate by ensuring that pain management in the department is effective. This would allow the department to offer appropriate care that is accompanied by high satisfaction levels by the patients to improve profit and revenue figures.
References
Cherry, B. & Jacob, S. (2013). Contemporary Nursing, Issues, Trends, & Management (6th ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Huber, D. (2013). Leadership and Nursing Care Management (5th ed.). St, Louis, MO: Elsevier/Saunders. systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems.
Meyer, R. & O’Brien-Pallas, L. (2010). Nursing Services Delivery Theory: An open system approach. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 66(12), 2828-2838.
New York – Presbyterian Hospital (2018). Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital. Retrieved from http://www.nyp.org/morganstanley
Pope, J. & Deer, T. (2017). Treatment of Chronic Pain Conditions: A comprehensive handbook. New York, NY: Springer.
Tintinalli, J., Stapczynski, S., Ma, J., Cline, D. & Meckler, G. (2016). Tintinalli’s Emergency Medicine: A comprehensive study guide (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill Professional systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems.
Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems
Introduction
In systems theory, a system is defined as a whole entity comprised of various individual components but which are interdependent. According to Peters (2014), p. 2), “the healthcare system harbors complexity” cultivated by the multifaceted nature of its stakeholders and roles to the society. systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems. As an organization strives to adapt amid the complexity, the system perspective –open or closed – guiding the adaptation acts as the success determinant either facilitating or hindering the optimal performance of the system as it interacts with the environment. This paper provides an example of healthcare problem rooted in the closed system perspective and discuss its alternative, the open system perspective, as an adequate solution.
Problem highlight
I interned in a healthcare organization with clear-cut hierarchy amongst the different professionals with an eminent dominance of the physicians over the rest. As such, the nurses and the physicians seemingly worked as different independent teams with little interaction between the two. As a result, the management-received complaints from the patients that when they aired their concerns to nurses in most cases the physicians did not seem to take into count. In this case, it was evident that the department was marred by misunderstandings instigated by miscommunication.
Problem from a closed-system perspective
The eminent misunderstandings and inadequate information flow is fueled by adopted closed system operation. In a closed system, the components of the system restrict the flow of information internally without adequate external information flow, which “inhibits the system’s ability to respond to external environment effectively” (Cordon, 2013, p. 4). In the case of the healthcare organization, the professional hierarchies act as individual components with adequate communication only happening within each circle. The professional hierarchies often hinder free interaction amongst the team members working in different departments prompting each to work independently. However, as Dobrzykowski, and Tarafdar (2015) observes, “information exchange relationship among the physician and a hospital’s healthcare providers is an essential element of coordination and key to delivering experiences which patients find valuable.” In this regard, when communication breakdown occurs between the healthcare providers the result is the organization’s inability to respond to the dynamics in both their internal and external environments, in this case, the patient’s concerns. systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems.
Addressing problem from an open-system perspective
Healthcare institutions constitute of different professionals each with a distinct role but all serving as a single entity. In this regard, the institution should nurture adequate communication between the professionals by crippling the professional superiority complex. Adoption of an open system would sufficiently counter the challenges resulting from the culture of “us versus them” in terms of professions. According to May, Johnson, and Finch (2016, p. 9), entities in an open system although distinct in their roles recognize “the dynamic features of context that shape self-organization in complex adaptive social systems.” As such, components in open systems uphold the interrelation and symbiotic relation required for the benefit of the whole system, which in turn heightens the system’s ability to react with their environments by adapting to external and internal factors. As such, adoption of the open system perspective would facilitate interaction of healthcare administrators and practitioners in different departments.
Summary
In conclusion, there is a need for adoption of open systems in healthcare organizations to enhance efficiency in healthcare provision. Open system operations in healthcare services would go a long way in fostering communication and ensure that healthcare institutions meet the dynamic needs emanating from the external environment thus facilitating efficiency in healthcare provision systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems.
References
Cordon, C. P. (2013). System theories: An overview of various system theories and its application in healthcare. American Journal of Systems Science, 2(1), 13-22.
Dobrzykowski, D. D., & Tarafdar, M. (2015). Understanding information exchange in healthcare operations: Evidence from hospitals and patients. Journal of Operations Management, 36, 201-214.
May, C. R., Johnson, M., & Finch, T. (2016). Implementation, context and complexity. Implementation Science, 11(1), 141.
Peters, D. H. (2014). The application of systems thinking in health: why use systems thinking?. Health Research Policy and Systems, 12(1), 51. systems theory essay – Transitioning From Closed to Open Systems.