Virtuous organizations are those displaying behaviors and works consistent with social norms, organizational core values, and mission. Through relationships and behaviors, organizations formulate character for which they are known. This dissertation has proposed three secular components essential to the character of a virtuous organization: agency, social responsibility and ethical environment. When Catholic mission is the impetus to organizational purpose, the secular components of the virtuous organization are deepened from that faith perspective's mission related religious teachings. A discussion of the secular and religious discourse pairs agency with sanctity of human person, social responsibility with common good, and ethical environment with discipleship to exemplify how Catholic mission inspires that tradition's faith-based virtuous organizations. Catholic mission inspired health care, education or any of the social ministries is ethically significant because it offers an unparalleled context within which moral issues can be considered. The dissertation proposes that the ethical significance of the virtuous organization inspired by Catholic mission is threefold. First is its enduring witness to the sanctity of human life as a gift from God. Second, is Catholic mission's challenge to the broader community to attend to the common good and to a preferential concern for the poor and disenfranchised. Third, Catholic mission is a witnesses to something greater than the organization itself, its witnesses to the call to and response of Christian discipleship. Catholic health care organizations where organizational character reflects these three dimensions are virtuous, are ethically significant and are needed in today's society. <br>From a practical position the dissertation considers three dimensions of health care in order to explore the ethical significance of the Catholic mission and its themes. From a clinical perspective, medically assisted nutrition and hydration at the end of life is considered in light of agency and sanctity. From a governance perspective, health care access is considered in light of social responsibility and common good. From a leadership perspective, governance is considered in light of ethical environment and discipleship. The application of the paired secular components and religious themes emphasizes the ethical significance of Catholic mission and encourages its continued presence in the health care / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts / Health Care Ethics / PhD / Dissertation

Research intentionally addressing how leadership attributes and behaviors collectively contributed to the socioecological perspective of organizational resilience were not found. This is a problem for organizations who must hire without benefit of how a collective leadership effect might influence their psychological capital. The purpose of this study was to explore whether or not self-efficacy, psychological empowerment, personal resilience, and leadership style were associated with or predicted organizational resilience among clinical managers in an academic medical center setting. Metatheory of resilience and resiliency was used to frame the study. A quantitative correlational design was used. Self-reported data was collected via the Leader Efficacy Questionnaire, Psychological Empowerment Instrument, Connor and Davidson's Resilience Scale, Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, and Workplace Resilience Instrument. Intellectual stimulation (rs .480, Ï? .432, p = .00), personal resilience (rs .483, Ï? .465, p = .00), and self-efficacy (rs .522, Ï? .462, p = .00) had the highest statistical correlations to organizational resilience. Negative predictor effects were found for personal resilience and idealized attributes ascribed to self-oriented versus other-oriented resilience qualities, x2(2) = 50.70, p < .01, and p < .05 respectively. Resilience is important for organizational survival and adaptation to the external and internal forces of change. Resilient organizations with available reserves can collaborate with community leaders to optimize the social, environmental, and economic determinants of health foundational for community resilience and positive social change.

Thesis (M.N.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Nursing, Nursing. Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on April 28, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to describe senior nurses’ expectations concerning how a digital information and communication technology systems (ICT) can contribute to the improvement of care leadership and how it can strengthen ties between the school's theoretical world and the practical clinical work-based training (WP) in nursing. The study has a descriptive design with a qualitative approach. The study involved seven leading care nurses. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Subject matter was analyzed based on qualitative content analysis.  The analysis yielded in a first category practical examples of how using ICT as a tool could strengthen the ties between theory and practice in order to understand the usefulness of theory in practice.  The informants also gave specific examples of ICT content that could be given to students and also to supervisors both in terms of information and education. The second category described the supervisors’ views on receiving students in clinical placements. The senior care nurses felt that at present the reception of students was unsatisfactory due to a muddled organization. It was often unclear what responsibilities they had as mentors and what the responsibility of the student was for his or her practice placement. Conclusions of the study are that the supervisors could see ICT as a tool to clarify these ambiguities. In the future it is necessary to respond to the needs of supervisors with respect to their views on what an ICT system should provide them with in order to improve their care supervision. By providing an ICT learning tool the two worlds could meet and the ties between theory and practice in the nursing program could be strengthened.

This study analyzes the leadership practice of two experienced female leaders from the health care sector to understand their decision-making processes as it relates to their personal theorizing. Ineffective and unethical leadership in American business is a reality in today’s society. Organizations are in need of leaders who approach leadership from a paradigm which supports effective leadership practice. It is my assertion regarding this study that effective leadership may be connected to a leader’s values which impact their leadership practice and decision-making. This study relies on a conceptual and theoretical framework based in Cornett’s (1990) Naturalistic Decision Making Model. It is imperative to the development of healthy learning organizations that the relationships influencing a leader’s naturalistic decision-making be explored. At the time of this writing, no naturalistic collective case study research in the health care industry has been completed to relate a leader’s naturalistic decision-making or personal practical theories (PPTs) as defined by Cornett (1990). Furthermore, research has not been explored in a field outside of education regarding the formation of a leader’s PPTs and the relationship between a leader’s experiences and leadership practice. Study findings demonstrated that Cornett’s (1990) naturalistic decision-making model (NDM) is a useful heuristic for a health care leader’s reflective leadership practice. Health care leaders’ perceptions of leadership are systematically achieved through the process of reflective thought which the NDM assists in emerging. The NDM is an efficacious tool for personal and professional development. The constructs of this model were effective in allowing the health care leaders studied to reflect on their leadership practice and decision making. This research found that the collective theme amongst the participants was a value-based leadership paradigm. The data collected in this research project suggests that the PPTs of health care leaders are developed through their life experiences. They are described in the context of their core values and leadership personal and formal theorizing. They are understood through their life experiences, interactions with other leaders, and interactions with those around them. Discovering the relationships involved with a leader’s naturalistic decision-making is of great importance to the educational and health care communities. It has the potential to impact human resources policies and training leading to stronger and more effective organizations. Understanding this phenomenon may lead to more reflective and thoughtful decision-making among health care leaders. It has the potential to impact organizational policies, structure, training, commitment, and profits. This may lead to healthier and intrinsically motivated employees and more effective learning organizations.