IMPLEMENTATION OF CLINICAL POLICY IN A PRIVATE, NOT-FOR-PROFIT HOSPITAL (NURSING ADMINISTRATION).
Contributors: University of Vermont.
Published: 1991
Number of pages: 210
Subjects: Health Sciences, Health Care Management.; Health Sciences, Nursing.; Education, Administration.
Description: The purpose of this study was to examine how implementation factors influenced policy implementation in a private, not-for-profit setting. The focus of this qualitative study was the implementation of two policies on three nursing units of a northern New England medical center hospital. The primary data source was in-depth interviews with ten staff nurses from each of the three nursing units. A follow-up questionnaire, administered to each respondent, provided supplemental data. Additional data sources included descriptive data about the hospital and the nursing units and the policies themselves. Analysis included description of the overall organization, the three nursing units, and the policies, and examination of the interaction of the policies and the nursing units. The goal of the analysis was to identify patterns of interaction between policy context, relevant implementation factors, and/or other factors which might have accounted for variation in implementation. The study findings demonstrated that a policy which has a design which is consistent with a significant aspect of the design of the implementing organization/s is likely to be implemented. In addition, the study findings demonstrated that the assumption of local variability in implementing environments is not always appropriate. The study findings also validated the positive influence of the following implementation factors: content relevant to implementors, a comprehensive implementation plan and process, immediate availability of resources, supportive leadership response, good communication, consistent monitoring, adequate time, and match of the amount of change involved in a policy and the implementing environment. Lastly, the study findings supported the conclusion that, in a tightly coupled implementing environment in which there was little variation among organizational units, policy content and design drove the patterns of use and interaction of all other implementation factors.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-05, Section: B, page: 2485.

Thesis (ED.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT AND STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, 1991.

School code: 0243.