A Description of the Learning Organisation Within the a&E Department
The concept of a learning organization knows its roots back to Garratt in 1987, which later on in the late 90’s was revived by Peter Senge. Senge (1990) focuses on the organization acting as a unit where innovative ideas are generated and common goals are reached. Collective commitment of the team is fundamental. Furthermore, according to Senge (1990), the organization must go through 5 domains in order to reach the productivity of a learning organization: systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, building shared vision and team learning.
Therefore it is clear that organizational learning goes beyond knowledge. This notion involves the process of action and reflection (Carroll & Edmondson, 2002) or action learning (Revans, 1979). Having members of an organization engage in this process depend on various factors such as change. Furthermore medical knowledge and routine practices are continuously evolving over time, making organizational learning more popular with healthcare (Tucker, Nebharmb & Edmondson, 2006).
A typical organizational culture such as the accident and emergency department (A&E) of Mater Dei hospital represents a chaotic setting where professionals are able to handle a variety of problems simultaneously, some being unpredictable (Smith & Feied, 1999). Being an emergency nurse involves being an all-rounder, such as being a triage nurse, a pre-hospital nurse, in-hospital emergency nurse and resuscitation nurse. Furthermore, an emergency department is the frontier of a hospital that provides immediate care to the patient. Therefore in such a complex culture expertise is a must. As suggested by several authors experience is a valuable resource, which promotes organizational learning (Garvin, 1993; Dunphy, Turner & Crawford, 1996; Carroll & Edmondson, 2002).
In fact senior staff in the A&E department (those with more than three years experience as an emergency nurse) are involved in training junior nurses,
Therefore it is clear that organizational learning goes beyond knowledge. This notion involves the process of action and reflection (Carroll & Edmondson, 2002) or action learning (Revans, 1979). Having members of an organization engage in this process depend on various factors such as change. Furthermore medical knowledge and routine practices are continuously evolving over time, making organizational learning more popular with healthcare (Tucker, Nebharmb & Edmondson, 2006).
A typical organizational culture such as the accident and emergency department (A&E) of Mater Dei hospital represents a chaotic setting where professionals are able to handle a variety of problems simultaneously, some being unpredictable (Smith & Feied, 1999). Being an emergency nurse involves being an all-rounder, such as being a triage nurse, a pre-hospital nurse, in-hospital emergency nurse and resuscitation nurse. Furthermore, an emergency department is the frontier of a hospital that provides immediate care to the patient. Therefore in such a complex culture expertise is a must. As suggested by several authors experience is a valuable resource, which promotes organizational learning (Garvin, 1993; Dunphy, Turner & Crawford, 1996; Carroll & Edmondson, 2002).
In fact senior staff in the A&E department (those with more than three years experience as an emergency nurse) are involved in training junior nurses,