Why Organizational Culture in Healthcare Is Important

Healthcare is often the first thing people think of when they think about an industry with purpose. The job of any healthcare worker is to provide care and treatment for people dealing with sickness, injury, or other health issues to hopefully improve their overall wellness and quality of life. There is undeniable value in this mission, but it is still up to the healthcare workers and the organizations they work for to actually carry it out.

This is where organizational culture can come in. In human society, culture describes the collective social behavior of a given group of people, including language, manners, customs, and even art. Organizational culture is this idea applied to any organization, including businesses, non-profit groups, educational institutions, and private clubs.

The benefit of having a strong and identifiable organizational culture is that it enables large groups of people, often with diverse backgrounds and attitudes, to work together. An organization with a positive and functional culture is more likely to retain members and accomplish the goals it sets out to do.

There are many reasons why organizational culture is important to health care, which we’ll cover below, but ultimately it’s about enabling healthcare organizations to better accomplish their mission of helping people get better.

The Major Benefits of a Strong Organizational Healthcare Culture

First of all, it’s important to lay out what a positive culture in a healthcare organization should look like. The main focus of any organizational culture, particularly health care, should be people. This means having clear expectations of mutual respect, kindness, empathy, honesty, and trust for every person and interaction, including coworkers and patients.

Organizational culture can also dictate the work ethic of the group. By having clarity and consistency in the roles, duties, and scope of job descriptions, coworkers can better coordinate and be more efficient as they seek to help people.

Accomplishing this requires organizational leadership to sit down and develop a set of core principles that they believe their organizational culture should be built on. Creating a functioning and positive culture in a healthcare organization takes time, and it needs to start from the top to encourage buy-in from each member.

By developing an ethical, people-focused, duty-centric culture, healthcare organizations stand to benefit in the following ways:  

• Better patient satisfaction and outcomes: A healthcare group with a patient-centered culture, that focuses on caring for the people that come to them for help, will be better able to deliver treatment that meets the wellness goals of their patients.

• Employee growth and retention: Employee turnover is a major challenge for so many healthcare institutions and companies, particularly in recent years. A major contributor to this is a lack of a positive and nurturing workplace culture. If team members feel valued, understood, and have autonomy in their role and responsibilities thanks to good training and development, they will be more likely to stay with an organization.

• Increased operational efficiency: Whether a healthcare organization is a nonprofit institution or a for-profit company, it is still likely operating on a tight budget. An organizational culture that puts people first can lead to operational efficiency in many ways. Retaining employees, having satisfied and loyal patients, and having clear organizational workflows are just a few ways that positive company culture can promote efficient and stable long-term operations.

Learn More About Our People-Focused Culture

For more than 20 years, Sonas Home Health Care has been delivering love, light, and laughter into homes and communities. We do this built on an organizational culture that puts people, including our patients and team members, at the center of everything we do.

This mission is to make a difference in every life we touch by providing home care that inspires people to live life to the fullest. From the clients and patients we serve to our in-house team and caregivers, we’re dedicated to being your trusted partner in your journey with us.

At Sonas, here’s what our organizational culture is built on:

• Working as a team.
• Deeply caring for all people.
• Doing what we say we’ll do.
• The power of relationships.
• Celebrating life daily.

To learn about working for a company that values your growth, development, and commitment to helping others, visit our careers page.

Jillian Miller BSN, RN

Director of Nursing at Sonas Home Health Care

This blog was reviewed by Jillian Miller BSN, RN — Director of Nursing for Sonas Home Health Care’s Tampa Bay market — for clinical accuracy. Jillian Miller has been a nurse for 16 years — working primarily in pediatrics. She believes the best part of working with the pediatric population is when you see smiles from clients when you first enter the room. She loves seeing the difference you can make in families’ lives while providing the best care possible for them.