1950s: Lewin's Change Management Model

Policy analysis is an assessment of specific healthcare policy to determine its effectiveness in improving patient care outcomes. As an organization continues to grow in complexity; health status indicators provided gauges for process to be assessed and evaluated for restructuring. This provides new opportunities for evaluating policies, guidelines and procedures that enhances patient care to benefit all stakeholders. Transformational leaders are healthcare professionals whose knowledge and experience are required when policies analysis is needed that may require examination, designing, implementation, and evaluation for a practice change. In healthcare systems globally, transformational leaders are task with

Training is used to build knowledge and skills after employees have made the personal decision to support the change.

The roles of the leadership in the clinics are essential to the success or unsuccessful implementation of change. The attitude of the leadership carries weight on how well the rest of the staff receives the change. Leaders on the clinic level have to accept changes whether good or bad and expect staff to challenge them. Leaders have to be strong and accept the change themselves and to support upper management. There are problems dealing with changes when issues arise between created civilian and military personnel. These issues are not easily dealt with and when changes are ensuing within a facility this causes undue stress within the organization. This is one reason that leadership needs to bring forth and implement changes within an organization as all one team because staff is well suited at picking up any rift

Implementing change among all organizations is necessary to achieve success; within the health care industry change is constant and it is the role of management teams to assess, plan, implement and evaluate change to ensure satisfaction. Considering this among the other aspects of running a successful organization it is essential to ensure that there is minimal resistance and familiarity to change. Demands of the consumers and staff as well as regulations are continuously changing. The responsibility of managers is to successfully lead these inevitable changes.

Change is a hard concept for most, but change in the hospital setting can be beneficial for both staff and patients. According to Mclean (2011), “Every change begins with an ending” (p.79). How people respond to change can make the process easy or hard depending on how the change is presented.

Implementing a change in practice within these environments can produce anxiety or fear of failure in nurses, leading to a resistance to change. Several studies (Bozak, 2003; Lehman, 2008; Spetz, Burgess & Phibbs, 2012) expounded the need for a concise plan and clear communication between nurses and management when implementing a change of this nature. The use of Lewin’s Change Management theory can support nurses through the transitions and identify areas of strengths and resistances prior to implementing change. Without a framework for guidance, it can be difficult to keep on track.

No matter how easy is may seem on the surface, the unfreezing, moving and refreezing stages of Lewin’s 3-Step model must be taken (Lewin, 1946). These stages are difficult and persistence by the organization in sticking to its objectives for growth and improvement must remain a top priority. In reality no matter how many positives a new idea is there will always be resistance when it is introduced. Change management is therefore central to the process of making the transition from the old system to the new and change management practices should be employed throughout the transition (ITIL,

The healthcare field is constantly changing and frequent practices and procedures are reviewed and updated based on evidence-based practice (EBP). Research and EBP guides us in identifying areas that need improvement or revision. Whether it be new practices, procedures, protocols, or equipment, nurses are expected to be able to adapt to change. At Sacred Heart hospital, a new intravenous pump (IVP) will be introduced hospital-wide. The purpose of this paper is to describe what leadership style, change theory, and collaborative practice will be utilized in implementing the new IVP and how healthcare economics plays a role in its implementation.

With our main research question we aim at exploring the importance of effective change management and the characteristics of a successful change management program in a hospital. The main research question can be formulated as: To what extend is change management necessary and how can it most efficiently be implemented in a hospital?

In the article entitled “Lewin’s Theory of Planned Change as a Strategic Resource”, the author, Shirey (2013) stated that Lewin’s approach to change involves looking at the forces that are needed to diminished or strengthened in order to bring about change within an organization. Burnes and Cooke (2012) added to Shirey’s point by noting that it is important to understand the psychological forces influencing peoples’ behavior at a given point in time before change can be made. Both authors main point of agreement is that there are a number of forces that drive, restrain or balance peoples’ behavior. These authors stated that organizational change is necessary to meet consumer needs. Also, as technology changes, such as the change from the paper medical record to the EMR, health care organizations have to adopt these changes to improve patient safety. In addition, change provides a learning opportunity for employees and allows

The significance of Lewin’s change theory lay not in the formality of the theory itself but rather on his ability to conceptualize real situations and as a result come up with models that reflect ideal situations. Kurt Lewin cut a niche for himself as one of the pioneers of the applied, organizational and social psychology. Born Kurt Zadek Lewin in September 9 1890, he is acknowledged as the founder of social psychology and among the first people to study organizational development and group dynamics. He lays claim to the term action research which he coined in 1944 to try and explain the effect of social action and the factors that lead to the same. A spiral circle

The first step in Lewin’s change theory is unfreezing. During the unfreezing step the change agent conducted a review of literature to gather data on how significant the issue of wait times is at doctor offices and how others have attempted to solve this issue. After the review of literature was completed, the change agent reviewed the wait times of patients at the ambulatory surgery center. The change agent was able to review the wait times of patients because the nurse manager at the surgery center keeps a log book of the time the patient arrivers at the surgery center and the time the patient is taken to the preoperative exam room. The change agent completed a review of ten patients wait times over a week.

This article introduces health care managers to the theories and philosophies of John Kotter and

In addition, Lewin recognized that change is almost always met with resistance. More importantly, he identified the behaviors and environments that stimulate resistance. Thus, careful consideration of behavioral and environmental impacts must occur in the Unfreezing stage of Lewin’s Unfreezing-Changing-Refreezing Model prior to implementing the change. This will prepare the leaders of the organization to meet the resistance with the correct leadership and management style.

Fixing problems that face health care in many health facilities demand a system wide set of solutions. The systems used in these facilities must be assessed and redesigned to identify factors that will aid in the achievement of the set goals. The enormous task of achieving the goals should be undertaken collaboratively by all the key stakeholders, who include, health care professionals, planners and policy makers, administrators, payers, and patients and their families. These partnerships must begin with a common understanding of the problems together with a shared commitment to cooperate and work together to eliminate the problems. With this knowledge, therefore, an action plan for redesigning the health care system can be developed and later implemented. For a successful health care service to be realized, there are various factors which should be employed and which are not found in the traditional business setting. These include unique economic processes, proper regulatory requirements and the perfect quality indicators. This creates a need for every leader within the healthcare industry to create or develop unique skill sets that will harmonize both organizational leadership and the inter-professional team development. It is, therefore, important to understand the comprehensive approach to the management of patient care and also how the concepts of team development and organizational leadership support healthcare leaders in creation of a patient-centric