course material

1. Care Setting Environmental Analysis
Write a 4–7-page analysis of your care setting that supports development of a strategic plan
and includes both the discovery and dream phases of an appreciative inquiry (AI) project
and a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis of the care
setting.Note: Each assessment in this course builds on the work you completed in the
previous assessment. Therefore, you must complete the assessments in this course in the
order in which they are presented.SHOW LESSIdentifying analysis techniques for assessing
competitive advantage is important for building health care strategy. Sustaining health care
competitive advantage requires that leaders understand environmental demands to assist
with minimizing weakness and threats from the external environment. This assessment
provides you with an opportunity to examine your health care environment to determine
whether what is being accomplished in your organization, department, team, community
project, or other care setting is making a positive difference.By successfully completing this
assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies
and assessment criteria:Competency 1: Evaluate qualities and skills that promote effective
leadership within health care organizations.Analyze the leadership characteristics and skills
most desired in the person leading potential performance improvement projects, taking
both an appreciative inquiry (AI) and a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
(SWOT) approach.Competency 2: Apply strategies to lead high-performing health care
teams to meet organizational quality and safety goals.Synthesize stories and evidence about
times when a care setting performed at its best with regard to quality and safety
goals.Conduct a SWOT analysis of a care setting, with respect to quality and safety
goals.Describe an area of concern identified in a SWOT analysis—relevant to a care setting’s
mission, vision, and values—that should be improved.Compare the AI and SWOT
approaches to analysis with regard to data gathering and interactions with
others.Competency 3: Apply cultural, ethical, and regulatory considerations to leadership
decision making.Propose positive, attainable quality and safety improvement goals for a
care setting.Competency 5: Communicate with stakeholders and constituencies to build
collaborative partnerships and create inclusive work environments.Communicate analyses
clearly and in a way that demonstrates professionalism and respect for stakeholders and
colleagues.Integrate relevant and credible sources of evidence to support assertions,
correctly formatting citations and references using APA style. Suggested ResourcesThe
resources provided here are optional. You may use other resources of your choice to
prepare for this assessment; however, you will need to ensure that they are appropriate,

2. credible, and valid. The MSN-FP6210: Leadership and Management for Nurse Executives
Library Guide can help direct your research, and the Supplemental Resources and Research
Resources, both linked from the left navigation menu in your courseroom, provide
additional resources to help support you.Appreciative Inquiry and SWOTMacCoy, D. J.
(2014). Appreciative inquiry and evaluation – Getting to what works. The Canadian Journal
of Program Evaluation, 29(2), 104–127.Nursing Leadership: Present and Future
Needs | Transcript.Appreciative Inquiry: Core Concepts | Transcript.Review the section on
the dream stage of appreciative inquiry.Vila Health: Comparing AI and
SWOT | Transcript.This media simulation walks you through a scenario within the Vila
Health system that will enable you to analyze a situation in a care setting through both AI
and SWOT lenses.Vila Health: Appreciative Inquiry or SWOT? | Transcript.This media piece
presents various brief scenarios in which either appreciative inquiry or SWOT is the more
appropriate approach.TOWS Analysis in Action: Going Beyond the SWOT
Analysis | Transcript.This media piece will help you to gain a better understanding of the
considerations, categorizations, and applications of SWOT analyses.SHOW LESSStrategic
PlanningDeisher, M. (2013). A systems change: Leading the way to meeting health needs.
Journal of Hand Therapy, 26(3), 282–285, 286.This article illustrates how strategic planning
has been used to implement a new program in a clinic.Leadership Characteristics and
SkillsAny of the following resources are useful in analyzing leadership characteristics and
skills:Grossman, S. C., & Valiga, T. M. (2012). The new leadership challenge: Creating the
future of nursing. Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis Company.Chapter 2, “The World and New
Leadership: Changing our Thinking About Leadership.”This chapter may help you with an
analysis of the leadership characteristics and skills most desired in a person leading
potential performance improvement projects.American College of Healthcare Executives.
(2016). ACHE healthcare executive 2016 competencies assessment tool [PDF]. Retrieved
from http://www.ache.org/pdf/nonsecure/careers/competencies_booklet.pdfCompetency
areas A–C (including all sub-points as laid out in the ACHE self-assessment) in the
Communication and Relationship Management theme.Competency areas A–D (all sub-
points as laid out in the ACHE self-assessment) in the Leadership theme.American
Organization of Nurse Executives. (2015). Nurse executive competencies [PDF]. Retrieved
from http://www.aone.org/resources/nec.pdfCompetency areas A–G in section 1, the
Communication and Relationship Building theme.Competency areas A–E in section 3, the
Leadership theme. Assessment InstructionsNote: You will use the results of this analysis to
develop a strategic plan in Assessment 2.PreparationYou have been asked to conduct an
analysis of your care setting that will result in two potential pathways toward a strategic
plan to improve health care quality and safety in your organization, department, team,
community project, or other care setting. To accomplish this, you will take two approaches
to the analysis:Complete the discovery and dream phases of an appreciative inquiry (AI)
project.Conduct a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis.To
help ensure that your analysis is well-received, the requester has suggested that
you:Present your analysis results in four parts:Part 1: Appreciative Inquiry Discovery and
Dream.Part 2: SWOT Analysis.Part 3: Comparison of Approaches.Part 4: Analysis of
Relevant Leadership Characteristics and Skills.Your analysis should be 4–7 pages in

3. length.Note: Remember, you can submit all, or a portion, of your draft plan to Smarthinking
for feedback before you submit the final version for this assessment. However, be mindful of
the turnaround time for receiving feedback, if you plan on using this free service.Analysis
RequirementsNote: The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in
the scoring guide, so at a minimum, be sure to address each point. In addition, you are
encouraged to review the performance level descriptions for each criterion to see how your
work will be assessed.Writing, Supporting Evidence, and APA StyleCommunicate
professionally when conducting interviews and collecting data.Write clearly, with
professionalism and respect for stakeholders and colleagues.Integrate relevant sources of
evidence to support your assertions.Cite at least 3–5 sources of scholarly or professional
evidence.Include relevant interview information.Format your document using APA style.
The APA Style Paper Template and associated tutorial, linked in the Resources, are provided
for your use. Be sure to include:A title page and reference page. An abstract is not
required.A running head on all pages.Appropriate section headings.Properly formatted
citations and references.Proofread your writing to minimize errors that could distract
readers and make it more difficult to focus on the substance of your analysis.Part 1:
Appreciative Inquiry Discovery and DreamSynthesize stories and evidence about times
when a care setting performed at its best with regard to quality and safety goals.Collect
stories from your care setting. You may collect stories through interviews or conversations
with colleagues or provide your own.Explain how your stories are related to quality and
safety goals.Describe the evidence you have that substantiates your stories.Identify the
positive themes reflected in your stories.Describe other evidence (for example: data,
awards, accreditations) that validates your care setting’s positive core.Propose positive, yet
attainable, quality and safety improvement goals for your care setting.Explain how
accomplishing these goals will lead to ethical and culturally-sensitive improvements in
quality and safety.Explain how your proposed goals align with your care setting’s mission,
vision, and values.Part 2: SWOT AnalysisConduct a SWOT analysis of your care setting, with
respect to quality and safety goals.Provide a narrative description of your analysis.Identify
the assessment tool you used as the basis of your analysis.Describe your key findings and
their relationships to quality and safety goals.Describe one area of concern that you
identified in your SWOT analysis—relevant to your care setting’s mission, vision, and
values—for which you would propose pursuing improvements.Explain how this area of
concern relates to your care setting’s mission, vision, and values.Explain why you believe it
will be necessary and valuable to pursue improvements related to this area of concern.Part
3: Comparison of ApproachesCompare the AI and SWOT approaches to analysis and reflect
on the results.Describe your mindset when examining your care setting from an AI
perspective and from a SWOT perspective.Describe the types of data and evidence you
searched for when taking an AI approach and a SWOT approach.Describe the similarities
and differences between the two approaches when communicating and interacting with
colleagues.Part 4: Analysis of Relevant Leadership Characteristics and SkillsAnalyze the
leadership characteristics and skills most desired in the person leading potential
performance improvement projects, taking both an AI and SWOT approach.Explain how
these characteristics and skills would help a leader facilitate a successful AI-based project

4. and a successful SWOT-based project.Comment on any shared characteristics or skills you
identified as helpful for both AI and SWOT approaches.