The purpose of this article is to discuss various types of organizational cultures
and climates in relationship to best practice implementation. Although not specific
to speech-language pathology, positive organizational cultures and climates are associated
with better clinician and patient outcomes in health care services than dysfunctional
and/or hierarchical organizational cultures and climates. A goal of this article is
to help the practicing speech-language pathologist (SLP) promote positive culture
change in the skilled nursing facility (SNF) setting. Recommendations to improve the
organizational culture and climate of SNFs will be presented through practical examples
of collaborative practice. Further suggestions will be surmised from the organizational
psychology and interprofessional education literature. The connection between organizational
culture and climate, interprofessional education, collaborative practice, and SLPs'
best practice implementation in the SNF setting will be discussed. Avenues for future
work are suggested.
Keywords
Implementation science - skilled nursing facilities - speech-language pathologists
- organizational culture and climate - collaborative practice - interprofessional
education - long-term care
