Abstract

Organizational Resilience is defined as the ability of an organization to anticipate sudden disruptions, effectively respond, and adapt in a changing environment to deliver its objectives, as well as successfully recover. In order to increase resilience at an organizational level, it is important to understand how individuals collectively contribute to resilience capability of an organization. Emergency Departments (EDs) are considered to be particularly well suited to investigating resilience capability due to their highly unpredictable and complex operating environment. Further, the resilience capability of EDs and their staff is suggested to be essential to successful delivery of safe, high-quality, and timely medical care to all patients in cases of mass disruptive events. The purpose of this research is to develop a model of staff resilience to support the improvement of organizational resilience in EDs in the United States. The study was organized into two phases: Initial Model Development based on a Thematic Analysis of existing conceptual models and Preliminary Model Validation via deductive evaluation of published Empirical Case Studies on ED response to mass casualty events. As a result of the first phase, Initial Model was proposed that consists of five dimensions of resilience: Triggers, Factors Affecting Resilience, Resilience Capability, Characteristics of ED Complexity and Outcomes. The results of the second phase determined that the Initial Model was comprehensive and only minor additions were made. Further, recommendations for improving case studies on ED responses were developed. The results of the study provide a model that demonstrates how ED staff supports the organizational resilience capability of the EDs. This research contributes to the general knowledge base of resilience as a critical organizational capability in EDs when dealing with unexpected disruptions as well as provides guidance for EDs in the United States when seeking to become more resilient.

Thesis Completion

2021

Semester

Spring

Thesis Chair/Advisor

Keathley, Heather

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering (B.S.I.E.)

College

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Department

Industrial Engineering and Management Systems

Degree Program

Industrial Engineering

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Release Date

5-1-2021

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