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External and Internal Analysis for Nurse Leaders

Increased self-regulation in the medical field has created market competition for

healthcare organizations in the private sector. Facilities encounter many challenges given the

uncertainty of the future, and this has necessitated strategic management. Therefore, there is

an ever-increasing demand for decision-makers in healthcare facilities from whichever

discipline (Demirkol et al., 2020). Apt medical and economic decisions need to be made if

facilities are to survive in dynamic competitive environments.

Nursing managers are often part of organizational leadership tasked with facilitating an

organization’s competitive advantage from an internal and external analysis. Such a strategy is

achieved through SWOT analysis. Nurse leaders can understand the strengths and weaknesses

that a healthcare facility has within itself and the opportunities and threats faced from the eternal

environment (GÜREL, 2017). Nurse Managers can then use the analysis in making decisions

regarding the execution of critical projects.

Leadership can develop a competitive advantage through internal organizational analysis

to identify strengths that improve a facility’s competitiveness. The sources of such strengths

could come from a department or a division in the facility that leaders identify as providing the

best service compared to other organizations. For example, a facility could have a reputation for

the best orthopedic program, a stable workforce, or even high-quality care. Similarly, nurse

leaders can also look internally for weaknesses with all honesty to improve a facility’s

competitive position (Phadermrod et al., 2019). For instance, a weakness could be the loss of

quality medical staff, a high number of uninsured patients, or perhaps limited private rooms

compared to the competition.

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An internal analysis of strengths and weaknesses can also lead to identifying

opportunities for a health facility. Nurse leaders can help an organization by deciding on how

opportunities can be used in optimizing strengths while at the same time diminishing existing

weaknesses. Leadership should also identify threats, both external and internal, including the

strategies for decreasing their chances of occurrence.

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References

Demirkol, M. E., Yorgun, S., Esen, H., İmka Şafak, F., Öztürk, B., Baysal, Z., & Orman, H.

(2020). An evaluation of hospital practices using swot analysis during COVID-

19. Journal of Academic Research in Nursing. https://doi.org/10.5222/jaren.2020.90958

GÜREL, E. (2017). Swot analysis: A theoretical review. Journal of International Social

Research, 10(51), 994-1006. https://doi.org/10.17719/jisr.2017.1832

Phadermrod, B., Crowder, R. M., & Wills, G. B. (2019). Importance-performance analysis

based SWOT analysis. International Journal of Information Management, 44, 194-

203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2016.03.009