MOBILIZATION PLAN Learner’s Name Capella University ORGANIZATIONAL AND SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT FOR QUALITY OUTCOMES May, 2017 Copyright © 2017 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. 1 International Medical Mission for Nursing Professionals Mobilization plan for the international medical mission. Plan will consider the following aspects: Understanding the impact of mobilization on staffing patterns and nursing at a health care organization. Determining organizational structure and distribution of power in the mission team using case studies. Examining potential multicultural and power issues the team may encounter during the medical mission to Africa. Copyright © 2017 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. Mobilization of international missions are complex undertakings that require (a) meticulous planning of resources: human, fiscal, and material resources; (b) careful structuring of team member roles and authority; and (c) empowering the team to complete missions goals. The social structures, health care regulations and infrastructure, and needs of the host country also factor in the mobilization plan (Hawkins, 2013). Team members have to be prepared for the individual, professional, and organizational factors of moving temporarily to a new country. The scenario: A medical center has committed 20 nursing professionals (NPs) to a four-month-long multinational health mission in Liberia, West Africa, to treat patients affected by a highly contagious virus in a ‘hot zone.’ The team will also include administrative staff and physicians who will work with the NPs to achieve common goals. NPs are the primary care givers in any health setting. They are the ones assisting physicians, administering treatment and monitoring patient status in the clinical setting. Therefore, the majority of the staff on the medical mission will be NPs. This presentation will detail plans for the mobilization of interprofessional health care workers to Africa. It will focus on the following points: Identifying major stakeholders in the health care organization who will be affected by the mobilization plan. Determining the impact of mobilization on staffing patterns and nursing at the organization. Describing the organizational structure of the international medical mission and how power will be distributed among the team members. Assessing team member empowerment derived from organizational structure. Identifying key actions that should be taken by team members to ensure that patients receive quality and safe care. The key actions should also ensure the safety of team members during fieldwork. Evaluating potential multicultural and diversity issues team members may encounter in the host country. Evaluating potential power conflicts that may arise when dealing with a multinational contingent. 2 Stakeholders Affected by the Mobilization Plan Major stakeholders affected by the mobili.

1. MOBILIZATION
PLAN
Learner’s Name
Capella University
ORGANIZATIONAL AND SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
FOR QUALITY OUTCOMES
May, 2017
Copyright © 2017 Capella University. Copy and distribution of
this document is prohibited.
1
International Medical Mission for Nursing Professionals
Mobilization plan for the international medical mission.
Plan will consider the following aspects:
Understanding the impact of mobilization on staffing patterns
and nursing at a health care organization.
Determining organizational structure and distribution of power
in the mission team using case studies.
Examining potential multicultural and power issues the team
may encounter during the medical mission to Africa.
Copyright © 2017 Capella University. Copy and distribution of
this document is prohibited.

2. Mobilization of international missions are complex undertakings
that require (a) meticulous planning of resources: human, fiscal,
and material resources; (b) careful structuring of team member
roles and authority; and (c) empowering the team to complete
missions goals. The social structures, health care regulations
and infrastructure, and needs of the host country also factor in
the mobilization plan (Hawkins, 2013). Team members have to
be prepared for the individual, professional, and organizational
factors of moving temporarily to a new country.
The scenario:
A medical center has committed 20 nursing professionals (NPs)
to a four-month-long multinational health mission in Liberia,
West Africa, to treat patients affected by a highly contagious
virus in a ‘hot zone.’ The team will also include administrative
staff and physicians who will work with the NPs to achieve
common goals. NPs are the primary care givers in any health
setting. They are the ones assisting physicians, administering
treatment and monitoring patient status in the clinical setting.
Therefore, the majority of the staff on the medical mission will
be NPs.
This presentation will detail plans for the mobilization of
interprofessional health care workers to Africa. It will focus on
the following points:
Identifying major stakeholders in the health care organization
who will be affected by the mobilization plan.
Determining the impact of mobilization on staffing patterns and
nursing at the organization.
Describing the organizational structure of the international
medical mission and how power will be distributed among the
team members.
Assessing team member empowerment derived from
organizational structure.
Identifying key actions that should be taken by team members to

3. ensure that patients receive quality and safe care. The key
actions should also ensure the safety of team members during
fieldwork.
Evaluating potential multicultural and diversity issues team
members may encounter in the host country.
Evaluating potential power conflicts that may arise when
dealing with a multinational contingent.
2
Stakeholders Affected by the Mobilization Plan
Major stakeholders affected by the mobilization
Organizational leadership and management staff
Investors
Nursing leadership and professionals
Physicians
Patients
How does mobilization impact staffing and care patterns in the
medical Center?
It will cause shortage of staff.
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this document is prohibited.
Major stakeholders affected by the mobilization are as follows:
Organizational leadership and management staff
Investors
Nursing leadership and professionals
Physicians
Patients
As a recognized medical Center known for its research studies
on and treatment of contagious diseases, the organization is
suitable for the medical mission.

4. How does mobilization impact staffing and care patterns in the
medical center?
It will cause shortage of staff. As 20 NPs will be reassigned to
the mission, the impact on nursing departments will be
Longer shift hours among NPs
High frequency of floating
Imbalance in nurse-to-patient ratio
Increased workload on NPs
According to systems theory, an organization is a collection of
different parts that work in tandem to achieve organizational
goals. However, changes in any one part can cause changes or
affect the functioning of other parts as well (Huber, 2017).
Therefore, organizational changes like mobilization of health
care staff from different professional areas—administration,
nursing, and medicine—will impact other areas of the medical
center.
Organizational leadership, management staff, and investors will
have to manage the medical center with fewer administrators,
which will cause problems during allocation of resources and
maintenance of facilities.
In the clinical setting, the shortage of NPs and physicians will
affect patient outcomes as patients depend on their nurses and
physicians to provide quality and safe care. According to Huber,
when the number of NPs on a shift is high, patients are more
satisfied because they can easily approach NPs for care-related
problems. Increased approachability also empowers patients.
The medical center in this scenario is one of foremost centers in
the United States known for its research studies on and
treatment of contagious diseases. The organization’s health care
professionals are experts who can help the African nationals
affected by the viral contagion. Also, health care organizations
have an obligation to use their human and material resources to
help disadvantaged populations within and outside their

5. community (Hawkins, 2013).
Other factors that make the medical center suitable for the
medical mission is its achievement of Magnet recognition.
Incorporating the standards of Magnet, the organization has
established shared governance in its leadership and management
styles.
Its health care professionals show high-levels of autonomy,
shared decision-making, and evidence-based practice and are
capable of systematically solving organizational issues.
Magnet recognition improves organizational performance by (a)
changing personnel policies and programs, (b) focussing on
professional development, (c) improving relationships between
community and health care organizations, and (d) improving the
image of nursing (Luzinski, 2012).
The diversion of human resources from the medical center to the
mission can cause a severe staff shortage. The nursing
department will be affected the most because it will have to fill
20 positions to manage day-to-day tasks efficiently. Shortages
in staff have been tied to problems such as negative patient
outcomes; job dissatisfaction among health care professionals:
NPs, physicians, and clinical technicians; decreased
productivity of workforce, and disorder in the health care
organization (Currie & Carr Hill, 2012). According to systems
theory, problems in staffing will affect processes and structures
in other departments of the medical center. Also, since all
health care professionals depend on NPs to accomplish patient-
related tasks, a shortage of nursing staff can affect patient care
and administration of treatment.
Longer shifts for nurses can cause burnout (Huber, 2017). Shifts
of more than nine hours affect the efficiency of NPs and will
negatively affect their motivation to stay in the medical center,
causing job dissatisfaction.
Floating is the redistribution of NPs from overstaffed units to

6. understaffed units. However, floating is not possible when NPs
have been mobilized for a medical mission, as all units face a
shortage of staff (Huber, 2017).
Patients are assigned to NPs after careful planning and
assessment of the workforce. If NPs are assigned too many
patients, they may not be able to give equal quality of care and
safety to all patients, which in turn may lead to negative patient
outcomes (Huber, 2017).
During nurse shortages, existing nursing workforces are forced
to fill the empty positions by taking up extra work. However,
too many patient assignments, long shift hours, and inability to
manage different duties can cause job dissatisfaction and even
lead to harmful patient care practices (Huber, 2017).
3
Impact of Mobilization on Staffing and Care Patterns (2/2)
Strategies to maximize staffing and maintain high level of
patient care:
Recruitment of NPs.
Unit size
Leadership styles
Retention strategies
Shared governance model of nursing management (Currie &
Carr Hill, 2012).
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this document is prohibited.
Organizational decisions such as the mobilization of staff are
often the underlying factors behind problems in nurse staffing
and delivery of patient care (Currie & Carr Hill, 2012). Ignoring
these factors can worsen problems, as described by studies on
systems theory effects on health care. In fact, the causes of

7. systems problems vary every time. Therefore, strategies devised
to mitigate problems must be flexible and must target the
identified individual causes. The strategies described here take
into account the changing nature of organizational systems and
help nursing professionals adapt to problems.
Recruitment and retention strategies: The medical center should
recruit more NPs to fill the gaps in nursing practice. It can
strategize by targeting young professionals. Young or newly
graduated NPs show better adaptability in nursing practice and
are more satisfied with their job. In parallel, the medical center
should also invest in retention strategies targeted at older NPs,
who are more likely to retire or change jobs when dissatisfied
with the work environment (Currie & Carr Hill, 2012).
Retention strategies include providing opportunities for
professional growth through training, setting up communication
lines that allow NPs to express any work-related grievances,
allowing sharing of workload among nurses, and assigning
mentors to NPs so that they can better adapt to organizational
change (Huber, 2017).
Unit size: Reorganizing nursing teams into smaller, but
numerous autonomous teams within different units might
improve staff conditions and avoid dissatisfaction, and mitigate
turnover (Currie & Carr Hill, 2012). This is because smaller
teams are better able to practice shared governance and
decision-making in quality and safe patient care.
Leadership style: Managing staffing and care patterns are
important nursing leadership duties. However, in order to
execute staff management policies, nurse leaders have to
develop effective leadership styles (Huber, 2017). Studies have
shown that relational leadership styles, which focus on building
productive relationships with people, have helped nurse leaders
implement effective staff management strategies. Relational
styles also develop authenticity in a nurse leader’s work, which

8. is essential for building strong teams. A leader who develops
authenticity in his or her work, builds trust, shares information
and communicates with team members, and motivates staff to
achieve organizational and health care goals. These leadership
activities further empower NPs (Körner, Wirtz, Bengel, &
Göritz, 2015).
Shared governance models: Distributing power among nurses
allow NPs to make decisions to improve their units and
productivity such as self-scheduling tasks or sharing workload
without seeking approval from organizational leaders. Shared
governance also improves job satisfaction and the self-worth of
NPs by granting more autonomy (Currie & Carr Hill, 2012).
4
Organizational Structure of the Medical Mission Team
Characteristics of the organizational structure:
Shared governance model:
Lean and decentralized
Shared distribution of governance and management
Autonomy and independence
Nonhierarchical model:
Leaders do not have the final decision-making power. That
power is equally distributed among all health care
professionals—administrators, NPs, and physicians.
Team members will be structurally empowered during mission
duties (Wong & Laschinger, 2014).
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this document is prohibited.
Conflicts often arise in medical mission teams because of
communication gaps and the lack of clarity on individual roles,
communication gaps. Some members may also feel they have
less power compared to other team members (Currie & Carr
Hill, 2012). To instill unity in the mission team, leaders from

9. all three fields—medicine, administration, and nursing—must
collaborate with other team members and share leadership roles
and responsibilities.
The shared governance model emphasizes decentralized and
lean forms of governance. It encourages NPs to be autonomous
and independent from the influence of physicians and
administrators. Leadership roles are equally distributed among
team members (Currie & Carr Hill, 2012).
Therefore, power is not concentrated to a few leaders in the
team. All team members have the power to make decisions
about their work and patient care. However, they should ensure
that health care standards such as evidence-based practice,
quality of care, and patient safety are maintained.
The distribution of power also allows team members, especially
NPs, to develop leadership skills themselves. In a multinational
effort, NPs who are allowed to participate in patient care
rounds, organize resources and staff, and consult with other
health care professionals are able to grow professionally (Currie
& Carr Hill, 2012).
The decentralization of power structures also implies lack of
hierarchy in health care practice. Leaders in the mission team
have the practical purpose of being points of contact for other
teams in the multinational effort. However, all information
gathered during meetings with multinational teams is shared
with the NPs, administrative staff, and physicians. Decisions
made have the combined input from all team members.
The shared governance model also allows the team to become
structurally empowered. Structural empowerment is the
presence of social structures such as autonomy and leadership
that enable health care professionals to accomplish work in
meaningful ways. Structurally empowered NPs have access to
educational and professional development resources,
information about policies and goals, and opportunities to

10. contribute and execute ideas, without the need for multiple
layers of approval (Wong & Laschinger, 2014).
5
Organizational Structure of the Medical Mission Team
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Leadership
Team members
The mission head or mission coordinator is the first level of
leadership. The main roles include coordinating efforts with and
being the point of contact for leaders from other multinational
teams. The mission head’s decision-making processes involve
the administrative head, nurse leader, and physician leader, as
well team members.
The administrative head is the point of contact for the
administrative team. He or she is responsible for working with
the mission head to manage resources and staff, and
establishing communication lines.
The nurse leader is responsible for managing nursing resources
and staff and coordinates with the mission head to organize
nursing teams for clinical duties. The nurse leader also
supervises the 20 NPs assigned to the mission team.
The physician leader manages doctors on clinical duty, assigns
clinicians to rounds, and coordinates with the nurse leader and
NPs on patient assignments and treatment.
All team members work closely together and communicate

11. frequently, while providing regular reports to the field leaders
and the mission head. This is done to prevent wastage of
resources, and to manage time and costs effectively.
Leadership is essential to this scenario as he or she helps
mobilize teams to action and represents the team in the
multinational effort. However, the power to make decisions is
not centralized to leadership. It is distributed among all team
members. Information that leaders gather during meetings with
other leaders are shared with team members, who will in turn
provide feedback or ideas.
6
Mission Goal
Mission head
Admin head
Physician
Physician leader
Admin staff
Nurse leader
NP

12. Organizational Structure Empowering Team Members
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Leaders empower team members to make independent decisions.
Leaders gain authenticity by empowering their teams (Körner,
Wirtz, Bengel, & Göritz, 2015).
Empowered team members grow professionally and
individually.
For example: Interprofessional teams working out of Eastern
Cape Province, South Africa, were able to facilitate exchange of
skills between teams and leaders as well as participation from
locals who were given information about treatment and disease
prevention by enlightened and empowered health care
professionals such as nurses(World Health Organization, 2013).
The development of authentic leaders, who display high levels

13. of trust and respect for their team members, are directly related
to empowerment and indirectly related to delivery of quality
and safe patient care (Körner, Wirtz, Bengel, & Göritz, 2015).
Empowerment improves job satisfaction, thereby motivating
team members to perform better.
Team members feel empowered when authentic leaders help
them realize their professional and individual capabilities.
Authentic leaders also encourage team members to contribute
ideas and help them in accessing important resources for
bettering health care goals.
Authentic leadership also rewards excellence, which further
motivates team members.
The organizational structure will create an interactive and
participative work environment that clears a path for team
members to advance in their careers.
In a case study by World Health Organization (WHO), the
interprofessional team working out of South Africa—medical
officers, nurses, pharmacists, community care nurses, midwives,
and nurse educators—were able to improve their own skill and
knowledge because the organizational structure empowered
them to take up mentorship roles, improve quality of care,
communicate important information to locals, and facilitate
exchange of skills and information between locals, team
members, and leaders (WHO, 2013). These activities are usually
performed by the group leader. Such a structure, when applied
to the medical mission, will empower team members to
simultaneously take up new roles and duties such as that of
practitioners, leaders, and educators. By the time team members
complete the mission, they will have grown professionally and
individually and learned new skills.
7
Key Actions to Assure Quality of Care and Patient Safety

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The following are six key actions that mission team members
should consider to ensure that patients receive quality and safe
treatment. These actions also ensure a safe work environment
for health care personnel.
Interprofessional communication
Patient-centered care
Role clarification
Team functioning
Collaborative leadership
Conflict resolution (Hepp et al., 2014)
Interprofessional communication is a key action for achieving
good patient outcomes and maintaining effective interpersonal
relationships between the mission team members. It includes
consistent and formal communication methods, open-door
policy and approachability of team members, and use of written,
oral, electronic, or verbal forms of communication to record
patient history, progress notes, and patient charts. With
effective communication, team members are also able to build
productive relationships with one another that will help them
work collaboratively in the clinical setting.
Health care professionals must be dedicated to patient-centered
care. It involves centering care and decision-making processes
on patients and families. It includes a more holistic form of
treatment that allows team members to customize care to
patients and develop productive work relationships.
When leaders clarify individual roles in the team, team members
develop an understanding of their own competencies. As team
members take up new roles, they need to understand which tasks
are more appropriate for them. This ensures that team members

15. do not take up duties outside their boundaries of expertise. It
also ensures better team dynamics as individuals learn to work
with other health care providers and respect others’ expertise on
clinical matters.
Team functioning ensures that the team functions like a well-
oiled machine. Team members assist colleagues in work
matters, value and respect each other's contributions, and share
a deeper sense of responsibility and accountability. Focusing on
improving team functioning helps empower each team member,
which improves job satisfaction. Teams members learn to
delegate or share the workload, which are essential skills in the
high-stress clinical environment.
Collaborative leadership is created when leaders work together
on all matters with their teams. Hierarchy is not visible and
nurse leaders and their NPs have a larger role to play in
decisions as compared to decisions being made only by
physicians or management.
Conflict resolution is a major problem in interprofessional and
multinational efforts. Patient discharge is a common source of
conflict, with one team leader taking over all the decision-
making processes. The solution to conflict lies in teams trusting
each other to make the right decision about patients and leaders
giving autonomy to NPs to make such decisions (Hepp et al.,
2014).
8
Potential Multicultural and Diversity Issues in the Mission
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Potential multicultural and diversity issues in the mission team:
Language barriers
Different medical practice standards of the host country
Lack of consideration for cultural differences

16. Forcing personal beliefs on patients or other multinational
teams (Hawkins, 2013).
Solution
s to address each issue
Multicultural and diversity issues are unavoidable in any
interprofessional and multinational effort. In this case, the team
heading to Africa will encounter a racially and ethnically
different country. Cultures, values, traditions, social norms and
structures, behaviors, and family structures will be very
different from what the team has experienced. Language
barriers, differences in medical practice standards of the
country, lack of consideration of patient’s cultural differences,
and forceful endorsement of personal beliefs on the patient or
other teams can impede efforts for ensuring quality and safe
care. In such a scenario, it is the responsibility of health care
professionals to adapt and respect the cultural differences and
assimilate them into medical practice (Hawkins, 2013).