Transforming the workplace culture towards person centredness in a nursing education institution in South Africa

Abstract

Background: A person-centred workplace culture is essential for any organization including nursing education institutions. Transforming the workplace culture to person- centredness requires collaboration, inclusion and participation. Person centred values and beliefs translate into fundamental workplace culture changes for all individuals to benefit and flourish. Research evidence showed that a person-centred workplace culture is attained through purposefully planned and facilitated practice-oriented learning activities. Person-centredness is directly dependent upon the development of effective teamwork and leadership skills to achieve maximum personal and organisational goals. Aim of the study: The aim of the study was to transform the workplace culture of a selected public nursing education institution in South Africa towards person-centredness. The objectives were divided into three phases: Phase 1: Assess the workplace culture of a selected PNEI in South Africa. Phase 2: Implement a Transformative Practice Development program to transform the workplace culture to person-centredness Phase 3: Evaluate the outcomes of the Transformative Practice Development programme. Methodology: The study followed a sequential mixed method approach with quantitative and qualitative methods. Purposive and total population sampling methods were used to select participants who volunteered for the study. The study was conducted at a selected public nursing education institution, one of six PNEIs in the Gauteng Province in South Africa. The population of 92 potential participants included nurse educators and managers. In the quantitative phase 1, 63 respondents completed the questionnaires to assess the workplace culture for person centredness. in the qualitative phase 2, 46 participants volunteered and participated in consensus meetings, workshops and feedback sessions during implementation of the Transformative Practice Development program. In the quantitative phase 3, 69 respondents completed the questionnaires to evaluate the program outcomes. Triangulation of data collection methods included consensus meetings, workshops and feedback sessions, field notes and questionnaires to ensure credibility of the study findings. Quantitative data analysis in phase 1 and 2 utilized descriptive and comparative statistical analysis. In Phase 2, thematic analysis and ranking of themes were done during consensus meetings. Results: The themes that emerged from the consensus meetings for qualitative data collection were used to identify the topics to be utilised for facilitation of the workshops towards transforming the workplace culture to person-centredness, namely, healthy workplace relations, teamwork, communication and leadership. The qualitative findings from the feedback sessions revealed the changes participants experienced in terms of person-centredness, collaboration, inclusion and participation and the workplace culture. They experienced group cohesion, teamwork, reflective communication, sensitivity towards diversity, sharing of information and feedback, inspirational leadership, and leadership to facilitate change. The final quantitative results showed an enhancement towards a workplace culture of person-centredness. Conclusion: This research contributes to the body of knowledge on transformative research practices, workplace culture, and person-centredness to benefit nurse educators. The research showed practical steps for transforming the workplace culture to person-centredness through capacitation, development of person-centred values, communication and work relationships; and facilitation of leadership skills. When applied in nursing education institutions, the program may contribute to achieve job satisfaction and decrease employee attrition to curb nurse educator shortages.