NHS8002 Case Analysis for Doctoral Learners

Unit 4 Assignment

Demonstrating Effective Leadership

Assignment Overview

According to General Colin Powell, “Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand” (as cited by Harari, 2002).

For this assignment, you will examine case studies you selected from your Cases in Health Care Management textbook and determine if the health care leaders in these situations were able to offer sound solutions.

Note: It is recommended, but not required, that you begin the Unit 4 discussion, “The Process of Effective Writing,” before beginning this assignment so you can review and discuss the academic writing process before applying these concepts.

Assignment Preparation

Imagine that you are the manager of a health care organization confronting numerous issues potentially affecting the provision of safe, high-quality health care practices. You have decided to focus first on the issue that has particular relevance to your area of specialization or professional goals, or that presents a situation you might expect to encounter in your leadership role. As you consider an appropriate course of action to address this issue, you have decided to begin by searching the case study literature to gain insight into the actions of other health care leaders who have faced similar issues and may have provided a sound solution to the problem or issues. A colleague recommended the Buchbinder, Shanks, and Buchbinder text, Cases in Health Care Management as an excellent case study reference.

In the Buchbinder, Shanks, and Buchbinder text, locate two case studies other than Cases 9, 65, or 67 that are most closely aligned with the issues you have decided to address. In addition, be sure that your selected case studies will enable you to:

Evaluate the effectiveness of different leadership approaches in facilitating collaborative professional relationships across disciplines.

Evaluate health care leaders’ abilities to communicate effectively.

Analyze the role of communication in both creating and resolving a problem in health care leadership.

Evaluate how effectively leaders address any issues involving ethical practice, diversity, or inclusion.

Evaluate health care leaders’ abilities to manage and prioritize leadership responsibilities to resolve issues.

Be aware that the case studies in the text may not supply all of the needed information. In such cases, you should consider various possibilities and infer plausible conclusions.

Note: For your convenience, Appendix B in Cases in Health Care Management lists all cases by topic (Leadership, Quality/Patient Safety, Finance, Healthcare Professionals/Human Resources, Health Disparities/Cultural Competence, Ethics/Law/Conflict of Interest, Crossing the Line/Fraud) and by primary and secondary settings.

NHS8002 Case Analysis for Doctoral Learners

Assignment Instructions

Include a title page, abstract, and reference page.

An APA Style Paper Tutorial and the associated APA Style Paper Template are linked in Resources to help you in writing and formatting your paper. Format your work per these documents.

Include on your cover page the titles of the case studies you have chosen. For example, your title could read: “Demonstrating Effective Leadership: Case 82 – When Yes Means No and Case 83 – Emergency Divert Status.”

Include the case study in your references and use in-text citations when appropriate.

In the body of the paper, begin by briefly summarizing the facts surrounding the case studies. After you identify the leaders and the issues they are facing, analyze the factors that you believe contributed to each issue.

Note: In graduate-level writing, you should minimize the use of direct quotes. Lengthy quotes do not count toward assignment minimums. It is your interpretation of the material and its application to practice that is assessed.

Remember, the case studies may not supply all of the necessary information. In such cases, you should consider a variety of possibilities and infer plausible conclusions. However, please be sure to identify any speculations that you make as such.

An excellent tool for analyzing factors that contribute to a problem is the Fishbone Diagram, linked in Resources. Use of this optional tool is highly recommended but you will not submit your diagram with this assignment.

Compare and contrast the leadership approaches or styles these leaders use. Analyze how the approaches or styles make these leaders more or less effective in building interprofessional relationships across disciplines within the organization. Based on your analysis, determine how likely it will be that these leaders will be able to build and maintain such relationships with other communities and leaders outside their organization. Support your analysis with citations and appropriate APA references to peer-reviewed journals or scholarly sources.

Analyze how well these leaders communicate, verbally or in writing. Analyze the role of communication and communication strategies in both creating and resolving the issues presented in the case study.

Summarize and analyze how well the leaders managed professional responsibilities and priorities to resolve the issue in the case. What lessons could you take away from this case that could be applied by other leaders?

Summarize and evaluate how effectively the leaders addressed any issues involving ethical practice, diversity or inclusion in the case. What key lessons do these cases provide for leaders? Use examples to clarify and support your ideas.

Your instructor may require you to submit this paper to Smarthinking and attach the report to the assignment in the courseroom. Be aware that the turnaround time for Smarthinking can be 24-48 hours from submission to receiving the feedback report. Plan accordingly.

Submit a draft of your assignment to the SafeAssign source matching tool so you can make revisions before submitting it to your instructor for grading. Note: Submitting the work to SafeAssign does not submit it to the course room for evaluation.

Submit the paper to the courseroom for evaluation by clicking on the assignment title in the unit and uploading the paper as a Word document. Attach any required reports in the same way. The assignment is due no later than 11:59 p.m. CST on Sunday.

If you would like assistance in organizing your assignment, or if you simply have a question about your assignment, please do not hesitate to ask your courseroom instructor or the teaching assistants in the NHS Learner Success Lab for guidance and suggestions. If you want more assistance with writing, you can ask your instructor for a referral to a writing coach.

Example assignment: You may use the Demonstrating Effective Leadership Example, linked in Resources, to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like.

Submission Requirements

Your paper should meet the following requirements:

Written communication: Write coherently to support central ideas, in appropriate format, and with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.

Length of paper: 5–6 typed, double-spaced pages, not including the title page, abstract, and reference page.

References: At least four different resources (peer-reviewed journals or other scholarly resource, assigned unit readings, and the like).

APA formatting:

Include a properly formatted title page, abstract, and reference page.