Occupational health is a major public health concern. Maintaining a healthy workplace culture, climate, and practice plays an integral role in the creation of an environment that is beneficial to workers’ health, well-being, and safety, and organizational effectiveness. Through the interdisciplinary approach of organizational behavior and understanding how organizational dynamics and characteristics can influence the behaviors of workers (and vice versa), we have a better ability to improve the overall work environment for people working in the public health and healthcare sector, and potentially outcomes for the people they serve. The study of organizational behavior within healthcare settings has much to contribute to the effectiveness of hospitals and other types of healthcare facilities.
Reducing errors and improving patient safety are important goals for providing quality healthcare in organizations worldwide. However, healthcare organizations are highly varied in terms of their social composition, with different specialties, many professional groupings, and various service lines and departments; this complexity within hospitals and healthcare facilities may manifest in more or less integrated, differentiated, or fragmentary types of organizational culture. There are also pressing concerns with employee burnout, engagement, stress, and well-being in healthcare settings. Organizational commitment and culture may act as a buffer when employees are faced with challenging working conditions. With evidence mounting in the study of organizational behavior and healthcare that demonstrate associations between transforming organizational culture and improved quality and safety, further work is needed for a more refined understanding of organizational and cultural dynamics. A clearer picture of this topic area will lead to improved insights as well as guidance for interventions and policies, that will support and promote the safety, health, and well-being of healthcare workers.
The topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:
- Organizational culture in healthcare settings
- The interplay between organizational culture and work life characteristics eg. burnout, work-life balance
- Change management within healthcare settings
- Factors that play a role in the occupational health, safety and well-being
- Human factors in occupational health
- Promoting and maintaining physical, mental, and social well-being of healthcare workers
Occupational health is a major public health concern. Maintaining a healthy workplace culture, climate, and practice plays an integral role in the creation of an environment that is beneficial to workers’ health, well-being, and safety, and organizational effectiveness. Through the interdisciplinary approach of organizational behavior and understanding how organizational dynamics and characteristics can influence the behaviors of workers (and vice versa), we have a better ability to improve the overall work environment for people working in the public health and healthcare sector, and potentially outcomes for the people they serve. The study of organizational behavior within healthcare settings has much to contribute to the effectiveness of hospitals and other types of healthcare facilities.
Reducing errors and improving patient safety are important goals for providing quality healthcare in organizations worldwide. However, healthcare organizations are highly varied in terms of their social composition, with different specialties, many professional groupings, and various service lines and departments; this complexity within hospitals and healthcare facilities may manifest in more or less integrated, differentiated, or fragmentary types of organizational culture. There are also pressing concerns with employee burnout, engagement, stress, and well-being in healthcare settings. Organizational commitment and culture may act as a buffer when employees are faced with challenging working conditions. With evidence mounting in the study of organizational behavior and healthcare that demonstrate associations between transforming organizational culture and improved quality and safety, further work is needed for a more refined understanding of organizational and cultural dynamics. A clearer picture of this topic area will lead to improved insights as well as guidance for interventions and policies, that will support and promote the safety, health, and well-being of healthcare workers.
The topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:
- Organizational culture in healthcare settings
- The interplay between organizational culture and work life characteristics eg. burnout, work-life balance
- Change management within healthcare settings
- Factors that play a role in the occupational health, safety and well-being
- Human factors in occupational health
- Promoting and maintaining physical, mental, and social well-being of healthcare workers
