Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.)

School

Psychology

Advisor

Derek Rohde

Abstract

At the selected behavioral health organization (BHO), leaders desire to improve patient safety and staff communication to provide quality mental health services. They need strategies to achieve these goals. The Baldrige Excellence Framework was used to identify the workforce challenges and practices that facility leaders can potentially use to improve performance to help achieve success, sustainability, and the mission of the BHO. The data sources consisted of (a) semistructured interviews with the CEO, the leader of the intake department, an intake therapist, an intake coordinator, and an RN and (b) reviews of the BHO’s website, and pertinent academic literature. Data analysis yielded four themes: communication, safety factors, staffing shortages, and barriers to staffing shortages. Findings indicated that improving the staffing shortage would enhance mental health services and address the BHO practice problem. Recommendations based on findings include less focus on the staffing shortage and more on the development of better services by reducing the number of daily admissions, decreasing staff workload, and streamlining staff communication processes. This study may contribute to positive social change by identifying actions that leaders can take to improve the quality of mental health services in short-staffed BHOs which may lead to a reduction in unmet mental health needs in the community.

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