Evaluating the Impact of Organizational Policies on Nurse Empowerment and Decision-Making Autonomy

Posted: Jun 19, 2022

• Luna Matthews
• Holden Graham
• Selena Ford

Abstract

This research investigates the complex relationship between organizational policies and nurse empowerment through a novel computational framework that combines natural language processing, network analysis, and multi-agent simulation. Traditional studies in healthcare management have primarily relied on survey-based approaches and qualitative analysis, limiting the scalability and predictive capacity of findings. Our methodology introduces three innovative components: first, we develop a policy text analysis system that quantifies empowerment-oriented language in organizational documents; second, we construct dynamic network models of decision-making authority flows within healthcare institutions; third, we implement a computational simulation environment that models policy interventions and their cascading effects on nurse autonomy. The study analyzes 1,247 organizational policy documents from 42 healthcare institutions alongside longitudinal staffing and outcome data. Our results demonstrate that specific policy language patterns correlate strongly with measurable increases in nurse decision-making autonomy, particularly policies emphasizing collaborative governance structures and decentralized authority. The simulation component reveals non-linear relationships between policy changes and empowerment outcomes, suggesting threshold effects in organizational transformation. This research contributes both methodological innovations for healthcare policy analysis and substantive findings regarding the mechanisms through which organizational structures influence professional autonomy. The computational approach enables predictive modeling of policy impacts that traditional methods cannot achieve, offering healthcare administrators evidence-based tools for designing empowerment-enhancing organizational environments.