Assignment Task
Learning Outcomes Assessed
Analyse the professional, legal and ethical governance and their application to the leadership role of the registered nurse.
Critique conflict and change management strategies within organisational cultures and the impact this may have on nursing and members of the multidisciplinary teamAim
The aim of this assessment is to assess your understand of conflict management in the health care organisation as it relates to medication safety standards and organisational culture.
Instructions
All tasks relate to the following scenario. The scenario is to be used as the stimulus for your short answer responses.
ScenarioYou are a graduate registered nurse and are asked to cover the patient load for Registered Nurse Bobby whilst she is on a meal break. You observe the patient, Matthew Higgs, has medications sitting on his tray table. He asks you if these are meant for him. You recognise immediately that the medication should have been given to Matthew and not left on the table. You go to check this with Bobby and advise that an incident report is required – but she states, ‘that isn’t necessary, I know exactly what I gave.’ Bobby then proceeds to chastise Matthew in front of you and other patients, stating he should have taken the meds when given to him. She later says to you that they have been administering medications this way for the last 20 years and there is hardly ever a problem with it. You feel uncomfortable and believe this behaviour should be addressed, however Bobby is very intimidating and much more senior than you.
Please follow the steps below to complete your assessment task:
Task 1
Explain how relevant medication safety standards apply to this scenario.
Your responses should be based upon the Australian Commission on NSQHS Standards and the Quality Use of Medicines (QUM).
Task 2
Consider Bobby’s comment that the ward has been administering medication this way for 20 years. Discuss the organisational culture within this organisation and explore factors that would contribute to a positive organisational culture.
Task 3
Discuss relevant conflict management processes and techniques and explain how you, as the graduate nurse, would appropriately manage this situation.
Your responses should be based upon guidelines and legislative requirements as well as current journals for Australian health care practitioners.
Literature and references
In this assessment use at least 10 contemporary references (<5 years) to support your discussion. You may also use seminal scholarly literature where relevant. Suitable references include peer-reviewed journal articles as well as textbooks and credible websites. When sourcing information, consider the five elements of a quality reference: currency, authority, relevance, objectivity, and coverage. Grey literature sourced from the internet must be from reputable websites such as from government, university, or peak national bodies: for example, the Australian College of Nursing or the Australian Association of Social Workers.
