Differences between the nursing process and strategic planning

Discussion: Introduction to the Planning Process

The nursing process provides a cornerstone for care. Engaging in assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation helps to move the patient from his or her current state toward a desired outcome.

How does this correlate with the strategic planning process?

In this Discussion, you examine similarities and differences between the nursing process and strategic planning. You also consider why it is important for a nurse leader-manager to be familiar with the planning hierarchy and to apply business principles to promote strategic change at the organizational or systems level.

To prepare:

Review the information related to the nursing process and the strategic planning process addressed in Chapter 4 of the Sare and Ogilvie text and the other Learning Resources. Think about how the nursing process is similar to and different from the strategic planning process.

Reflect on the value of nurse leader-managers’ contributions to strategic planning, as discussed by Dr. Huston in this week’s media.

Using the Walden library, identify an example from the literature that demonstrates why it is beneficial for nurse leader-managers to be familiar with the planning hierarchy and why they should be engaged in strategic planning in addition to and in contrast with operational planning.

Post an explanation of how you view the similarities and differences between the nursing process and the strategic planning process. Share an example from the literature that demonstrates why it is beneficial for nurse leader-managers to be aware of the planning hierarchy and why they should be engaged in strategic planning in addition to and in contrast with operational planning.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days using one or more of the following approaches:

Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information or research.

Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.

Validate an idea with your own experience and additional resources.

Required Readings

Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2015). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.

Chapter 7, “Strategic and Operational Planning” (pp. 138–161)

(Note: You may have read this in a previous course.)

This chapter describes the planning hierarchy and provides foundational information on strategic planning. As you read, think about distinctions between strategic and operational planning, as well as why a nurse leader-manager needs to be aware of and engaged in both.

Sare, M. V., & Ogilvie, L. (2010). Strategic planning for nurses: Change management in health care. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

“Introduction” (pp. xiii–xiv)

Chapter 1, “Why Nursing Needs Strategic Planning: Professional Empowerment in the New Millennium” (pp. 3–16)

Chapter 2, “The Healthcare Habitat: The Evolving Professional Home of Nursing” (pp. 17–40)

Chapter 3, “The Business That We Find Ourselves In” (pp. 41–53)

Chapter 4, “Just What Is Strategic Planning?” (pp. 57–82)

Chapter 1 sets the context for why strategic planning is important for nurses and introduces key terms, while Chapter 2 addresses the evolving landscape of healthcare. Chapter 3 explores the merging of nursing care and business, as well as developments leading up to the current business model of care. Chapter 4 examines the nursing process and strategic planning.