Developmental stages associated with organizational learning in hospitals: An instrument development study

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Organizational Psychology
• Nursing Research

Background:

• Organizational learning is crucial for improving healthcare quality and patient outcomes.
• Assessing hospital units' readiness for organizational learning is essential for targeted interventions.
• Existing instruments may not adequately capture the multifaceted nature of organizational learning in clinical settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Organizational Learning Instrument: Development Stages (OLIDS).
• To assess the readiness of hospital units to engage in organizational learning.
• To provide a psychometrically sound tool for researchers and nurse administrators.

Main Methods:

• Instrument development involved cognitive interviewing and expert review.
• A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was administered to 1212 nurses across 11 Magnet® hospitals.
• Multilevel confirmatory factor analysis and coefficient omega were used to establish reliability and construct validity.

Main Results:

• The OLIDS is a 35-item, four-scale instrument (Identity & Ownership, Team & Respect, Accountability & Support, Reliability & Sustainability).
• Content validity scores were high (0.90-1.0 for scales, 0.86-1.0 for items).
• Reliability (omega=0.981-0.993) and construct validity (CFI=0.980, TLI=0.979, RMSEA=0.060) were confirmed.

Conclusions:

• The OLIDS demonstrates strong content validity, reliability, and construct validity.
• The instrument is suitable for further use in assessing organizational learning readiness in hospital units.
• This tool will aid in fostering and studying organizational learning to enhance patient, staff, and organizational outcomes.