Strategic Planning - Strategic Management and Nurses - Essay Example

"Strategic Planning - Strategic Management and Nurses" is a great example of a paper on the health system. Strategic planning is a crucial process that is used in answering broad and open questions in the healthcare environment. On most occasions, this process assumes a new look at any issue so as to come up with an outcome that will last for a longer period than the funding cycle. However, it is evident that the strategic planning cycle is revised occasionally because of many concepts. For instance, it is evident that challenges to sustainability may lead to the invention of new ideas that may lead to a change in the strategic planning cycle. It is also apparent that identification of new opportunities in the field of health may lead to a quest for expansion, and as a result change to the formulated strategic planning cycle. Additionally, it is apparent that the current world is prone to changes because of the extensive changes in the health sectors as a result of technological advancement. Advancement in technology has also the potential of introducing new practices into the health sector. Thus, it is through identification and incorporation of best practices into the strategic plan that the strategic planning cycle of a health organization changes. The success of any organization is determined by its vision, which needs to be renewed every three years. Directions emanating from that vision also need to be re-evaluated yearly. Thus, strategic planning exercise depends almost entirely on the strategic goals and directions which are prone to occasional renewal and re-evaluation. It is the occasional renewal and re-evaluation of health organization goals and directions that lead to changes in the strategic planning cycle.

            In their journal, Ardal, Butler, Edward, and Lawrie (2006) postulates that “in many strategic planning practices the following activities occur: a visioning exercise, creating mission and goals, establishing objectives, establishing strategic directions, developing a framework to establish and monitor success-a balanced scorecard approach, and creating an implementation plan.” It is through these factors that the role of the nurse manager becomes apparent in any strategic planning cycle. In tandem to this, Brunero, Jastrzab, and Kerr (2009) argue that it is the role of the nurse manager to ensure that the proposed ideas correlate with the objectives of nursing by identifying key positions as well as committing resources. According to them, the nurse manager has the role of ensuring the proposed ideas are ideal by expounding on their essence to other members. They also claim that it is the responsibility of the nurse manager to come up with achievable goals and missions that will govern the functionality of other personnel. According to them, the setting of goals and missions enhances employees of any organization to work industriously towards achieving them within the postulated time, and as a result, leads to the success of the organization.

            According to Ardal, Butler, Edward, and Lawrie, 2006), the nurse manager is also responsible for coming up with objectives that will govern the strategic planning cycle. In justifying this, they claimed that it is through the formulation of good objectives by the nurse manager that the strategic planning process not only becomes successful but also lasts for long. Additionally, they assert that the nurse manager has the role of establishing strategic directions. According to it, it is through the formulation of strategic directions that the strategic planning process meets its objectives. In his journal “Strategic management and nurses: building foundations,” Crossan also claims that nurse manager has the responsibility of coming up with a framework that will aid in establishing and monitoring the strategic planning process. According to him, many nurse managers use a balanced scorecard approach in carrying out their leadership roles.

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