Empowering PHC Teams by Developing Organizational Culture

From May to July this year, we conducted two workshops on organizational culture for management teams of healthcare facilities participating in the pilot project “Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Primary Care.” Each workshop brought together three representatives from 15 healthcare facilities—directors, their deputies or medical directors, and chief nurses.

As part of the “Advanced Practice Nurse” project, we focus not only on enhancing nurses’ clinical and communication skills, but also on improving team collaboration within PHC. This collaboration is built on mutual respect, open communication, and equal partnership in decision-making, rather than hierarchical structures. Therefore, the project activities involve not only nurses from pilot facilities but also doctors and managers.

During the workshops, we explored key topics such as organizational culture, internal values, leadership, motivation, internal communications, and feedback. The workshops were led by Tetiana Somova, head of the School of service and communication at the Dobrobut medical network, and Matvii Khrenov, co-founder of the Ukrainian Healthcare Center (UHC) and former Advisor to the Minister of Health (2018–2020).

Workshop participants had the opportunity to:

• Learn about different levels and types of organizational culture.
• Reflect on the type of organizational culture they want to foster in their facilities.
• Work on real-life cases, understand the importance of effective values, mission, and vision, and gain the necessary tools to define them in their institutions.
• Discuss the role of leadership in shaping organizational culture, explore various leadership styles, and understand decision-making dynamics depending on the team’s leadership composition.
• Examine the principles of teamwork and strategies for effective collaboration with stakeholders.

“Values are fundamental to every organization. The question is whether the leader is aware of them and how actively they manage them. Values can be either effective or ineffective. A leader can either control them or be at their mercy. Our goal is to empower managers to take an active role in shaping values within their teams,” notes Tetiana Somova.

Following the workshops, we facilitated strategic sessions for selected pilot facilities. Throughout August and September, we worked with the teams from Primary Health Care Center No. 1 of Dniprovskyi District of Kyiv, Primary Health Care Center ‘Yuvileinyi’ of Rivne City Council, and Kolomyia’s Primary Health Care Center.

The goal of these sessions was to help healthcare teams articulate their vision, mission, and values while also introducing tools for integrating these values into KPIs and competencies. Tetiana Somova worked closely with these teams to guide the process.

Step by step, we are transforming the approach to primary healthcare. Training, competency development, and team support all contribute to strengthening the role of nurses and enabling them to work with greater confidence and efficiency. We extend our gratitude to our partners, trainers, and pilot facilities for making these changes possible!