| Course | NU753 Transforming the Health Care Organization |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 4 |
| Paper type | Culture appraisal |
| Length | About 1,150 words, 7 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for NU753 Unit 4
A Banner Counting 212 Days: A Culture Appraisal of 5 West Using the Organizational Culture Inventory, With the Ideal Profile, the Current Profile and What the Schedule, Budget and Awards Actually Reward
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NU753: Transforming the Health Care Organization
Unit 4 Culture Appraisal
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The unit, survey results and reward practices are composite; percentiles and counts are bracketed.
The Instrument
The Organizational Culture Inventory asks respondents to describe the behaviors expected of members of their organization, and sorts the answers into twelve styles grouped in three clusters (Cooke & Szumal, 1993). Constructive styles, including achievement, self-actualizing, humanistic-encouraging and affiliative, describe norms that encourage people to work toward goals and support one another. Passive/defensive styles, including approval, conventional, dependent and avoidance, describe norms that encourage people to protect themselves by going along. Aggressive/defensive styles, including oppositional, power, competitive and perfectionistic, describe norms that encourage people to protect their status. Scores are reported as percentiles against a large comparison sample, so a score at the 80th percentile means the style is stronger than in most organizations measured.
The unit's four leaders, the nurse manager, two assistant managers and the clinical nurse specialist, completed the ideal version, describing the behaviors that should be expected. Staff completed the current version, describing the behaviors actually expected; [61] of [79] eligible staff responded, a rate of [77] percent.
The Ideal Profile
The leaders' ideal profile is heavily constructive. Achievement and humanistic-encouraging sit above the [80th] percentile, self-actualizing and affiliative near the [75th], and all passive and aggressive styles below the [30th]. In their own words from the survey comments, leaders want staff who "take initiative for patient recovery" and "coach each other."
The Current Profile
The staff's current profile is different. The strongest styles are conventional, at the [78th] percentile, and avoidance, at the [71st]. Dependent and approval sit in the [60s]. Constructive styles fall near the middle, between the [40th] and [55th] percentiles, and the aggressive styles are low, except perfectionistic at the [58th]. Staff comments describe a unit where "you follow the routine," "you don't take chances with falls," and "you check with the charge nurse before doing anything new."
The gap between the two profiles is typical of units where leaders' intentions and daily experience diverge. It does not mean that leaders are insincere. It means that the behaviors staff believe are expected are being shaped by something other than what leaders say.
What the Unit Rewards
Schein argued that culture is best understood by looking beyond what an organization says it values to what its leaders pay attention to, measure, control and reward (Schein & Schein, 2017). To find what 5 West rewards, I examined eight of its practices.
The fall-free banner is updated daily at huddle, and each milestone of [100] days is celebrated with food. Its message is that preventing falls is the unit's most visible achievement. The recognition program's quarterly award has gone to nurses cited for "safety vigilance" in [five] of the last [six] quarters, and the nominations mention bed alarms and sitters. Self-scheduling rewards seniority, and newer nurses carry the heaviest assignments on weekends, when mobility support is thinnest. The budget pays for sitters for patients at fall risk but not for anyone whose job is walking patients. Incident review is thorough after a fall and rare after a delayed discharge. The morning huddle agenda covers falls, pressure injuries and staffing, but not how many patients walked. The clinical ladder awards points for committee work and certifications, not for improvement projects. And physical therapy referrals are entered by surgeons, so nurses are not credited when patients walk early.
Every reward on 5 West points toward keeping patients safely in bed, and none points toward getting them up.
How Staff Explained the Gap
To test the reward reading, I shared the two profiles with two groups of staff at their huddles and asked why they thought the current norms differed from the ideal. Their answers matched the reward analysis closely. A nurse with twenty years on the unit said that "nobody ever got in trouble for keeping a patient in bed, but I've seen people written up for a fall." A newer nurse said she had been told in orientation that the banner "is how the unit is judged." An assistant nurse said she would walk patients more often if someone else could watch her other patients while she did. Several staff said they were proud of the fall record and did not want the pathway to be seen as criticism of it. That pride matters: the fall record reflects real work, and a change that treats it as the problem will meet resistance from the people who built it.
What the Banner Means
The banner is not simply a poster. It is a daily ritual, updated at huddle, and a public statement of what the unit values. Artifacts like it are the most visible level of culture, and they carry meaning that staff learn without being told. Removing it abruptly would signal that the unit's achievement no longer counts. Changing it so that it counts both falls and early walking would signal that the unit now values two things, and that the second does not cancel the first.
Why the Profiles Diverge
The reward pattern explains the current profile. A unit that celebrates fall-free days, pays for sitters and reviews every fall, but not delays, teaches staff that the safest behavior is to follow the routine and avoid risk, which is exactly what conventional and avoidance norms describe. Leaders who want initiative in patient recovery will not get it while the unit's rewards point the other way.
Implications for an Enhanced Recovery Pathway
An enhanced recovery pathway asks nurses to have patients up and moving within hours of surgery. On 5 West, that request collides with the unit's most visible reward. Nurses who walk more patients may worry that falls will rise and the banner will reset, and the current culture would treat that as a failure regardless of what happened to stays or recovery.
Three changes would align rewards with the pathway. First, the huddle should report the share of surgical patients who walked within 24 hours alongside falls, and celebrate both. Second, the recognition program should reward nurses who lead mobility and recovery, not only vigilance. Third, the banner should be replaced with one that shows both measures, so that walking is visible as an achievement. Kotter warned that transformation efforts fail when obstacles in structures and systems are not removed, even when leaders communicate a clear vision (Kotter, 1995).
Limits
The survey was completed during a period of short staffing, which may have strengthened defensive norms. Leaders' ideal profiles may reflect what they believe they should say. And the reward analysis is the author's reading of eight practices; staff may weight them differently.
References
Cooke, R. A., & Szumal, J. L. (1993). Measuring normative beliefs and shared behavioral expectations in organizations: The reliability and validity of the Organizational Culture Inventory. Psychological Reports, 72(3, Suppl.), 1299-1330. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1993.72.3c.1299
Kotter, J. P. (1995). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review, 73(2), 59-67.
Schein, E. H., & Schein, P. (2017). Organizational culture and leadership (5th ed.). Wiley.
Reading the NU 753 Unit 4 instructions
For Unit 4 you appraise the culture of a unit or organization and explain what it means for a planned change. Most versions ask for a named instrument or framework, a description of the culture leaders intend and the culture staff experience, an explanation of any gap, and implications for change. Around 1,900 words with figures is typical. Faculty reward appraisals that treat artifacts and rewards as evidence, link survey results to something observable, check interpretations with staff, and propose changes to rewards rather than only to messages. If you cannot administer a survey, published results, an engagement survey or a structured observation can stand in, provided you say so and explain the limits.
How this NU753 Unit 4 example is built
The appraisal opens by describing the instrument, its twelve styles in three clusters and what percentiles mean. The ideal profile from four leaders and the current profile from 61 staff follow, with comments that illustrate each. A section examines eight practices the unit rewards, from the banner and recognition awards to scheduling, the budget, incident review, huddles, the clinical ladder and physical therapy referrals, and the highlighted sentence states their common direction. Staff explanations of the gap are reported, and a section considers what the banner means. The paper explains why the profiles diverge, proposes three changes to rewards, citing Kotter on removing obstacles, and ends with limits.
Reading the NU753 Unit 4 grading rubric
Culture appraisals are frequently assessed on use of the instrument, analysis of the gap, evidence from artifacts and rewards, implications and limits. Instrument use earns credit when the tool is described accurately and results are reported with context. Gap analysis rewards an explanation grounded in something observable rather than speculation about attitudes. Evidence from artifacts and rewards is credited when specific practices are examined. Implications score well when proposed changes address what the organization rewards, not only what it says. Limits are credited when the timing of the survey, response rate and interpretive choices are acknowledged. Figures showing both profiles side by side help graders see the gap at a glance.
Common NU753 Unit 4 mistakes, and how to avoid them
A common weakness is reporting survey scores without explaining them. Another is attributing the gap to staff attitudes or leaders' insincerity, rather than to the rewards that shape behavior. Some appraisals list values from a mission statement as if they described the culture. Others propose communication campaigns while leaving rewards unchanged. Many ignore the meaning of rituals and artifacts, such as a banner updated daily. And interpretations are rarely checked with staff. Report both profiles, look at what the unit actually rewards, test your reading with the people who work there, and propose changes to what gets celebrated, measured and funded. Finally, share the draft appraisal with a few staff before submitting it; their reactions are themselves evidence about the culture you describe.
Get an NU753 Unit 4 example written to your instructions
Whichever instrument your section uses, a proprietary inventory, a public survey or none, say so with the prompt, the rubric and a few facts about your setting. A first custom sample comes back within 24-48h at no cost, with scores read against something the organization visibly rewards rather than left to speak alone. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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NU753 Unit 4 questions, answered
What if I cannot administer a culture survey?
Many students cannot, and the appraisal still works. Published results from an earlier administration, an employee engagement survey or a public instrument such as a safety culture survey can stand in, provided the paper says what each measures. Observed rewards, schedules and rituals then carry more of the argument, which often strengthens it.
Why does the sample focus on rewards rather than on beliefs?
Because rewards can be seen and counted, and beliefs are reported. Linking a survey result to something observable, a bonus formula or a banner, turns a perception into an explanation a manager could act on. Beliefs still appear, through the stated values, but the appraisal tests them against what the unit actually celebrates and pays for.
Is the Organizational Culture Inventory the only acceptable instrument?
No. Sections accept several, and some specify one. The sample uses it because its ideal and current profiles make the gap between stated and practiced values easy to show. If your prompt names another instrument, the sample uses that one and keeps the same move: reading the scores against what the organization rewards.
Where can I find a free NU753 Unit 4 sample paper?
This page presents the full NU753 Unit 4 culture appraisal, covering the instrument, ideal and current profiles, eight rewarded practices, staff explanations, the meaning of the banner, why the profiles diverge, three changes and limits, plus three references. An appraisal of your own unit can be requested.
Why not simply remove the banner in NU753 Unit 4?
The fall record reflects real work that staff are proud of, and removing it abruptly would signal that their achievement no longer counts. Replacing it with one that shows both falls and early walking says the unit now values two things.