Missaye Mengstie

Fellowship Site: University Of Gondar, Ethiopia

US Institution: Yale University

Project Title: Improving clinical cardiac care at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Referral Hospital by assessing the influence of organizational culture

Globally, cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of death (WHO, 2017), and have overtaken the disease burden due to HIV/AIDS, TB and respiratory infections, malaria and diaharria (WHO, 2018). There has been a transition from communicable to non-communicable disease, and cardiovascular disease is the leading communicable disease that causes mortality in Ethiopia. Improving organizational culture helps to improve clinical outcomes in different healthcare settings (Curry et al., 2018). Despite increased global awareness on the influence of organizational culture in hindering and supporting the success of healthcare centers, there is a scarcity of studies in a low-income countries including Ethiopia. The purpose of this study is to improve clinical cardiac care by assessing the influence of organizational culture at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Referral Hospital. The study aims to (1) characterize the organizational culture of the University of Gondar Specialized Referral Hospital (2) explore healthcare organizational culture change needs and identify barriers to culture change at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Referral Hospital and (3) improve clinical cardiac care services by assessing the influence of healthcare organizational at the Cardiac Unit of the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Referral Hospital. The study is designed to follow a mixed research method to collect both qualitative and quantitative data from hospital employees. It is planned to use the organizational culture for the cardiovascular care scale to measure the organizational culture of the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Referral Hospital. The instrument consists of 31 items to measure the five domains of hospital organizational culture including the learning environment, psychological safety, and commitment to the organization, senior management support, and time for improvement efforts. Interview and focus group discussion with selected cardiac unit heads, workers and patients are preferred data collection tools to explore healthcare organizational culture change needs and identify barriers to culture change. The findings of this research will be used to improve clinical cardiac care at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Referral Hospital.