Building A Change Manager Within This Health Care Facility

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.

Resistance to change is an expected reaction of human nature. We are not accustomed to change, as it is possible to lead to failure; however, there are also ways to manage the resistance within the company.

By looking back at our past, not only are we are able to determine what has worked and what hasn’t worked, but we can also derive inspiration from the key figures who have influenced positive change in the field of nursing. Knowing that change begins with one person, but can easily develop momentum, inspires me to become a leader and look for ways in which I can facilitate positive

Participation of all employees in a healthcare organization is needed within a transformational organization. Change is probably never popular, but is necessary for the transformation and restructuring of the healthcare industry. There are several models in the scope of transformational changes and learning organizations. The capacity to change is embraced by organizational transformation and initiatives sustained are representative of learning organizations (Johnson, 2009).

Every profession embraces change. Whether it is small, like a simple word addition to the important Patient Information document, or large, like a staff shift, the medical field is constantly changing. To fully understand the scope of what it means to change, I have been challenged to ask “Why?” The answers have helped me grow at Eastside Medical Center.

Health care organizations are in a continual state of change so they can adapt and grow. Effective nurse leaders must be well equipped to handle the complexities of change, and be prepared to deal with resistance to change. According to Marquis and Huston (2015), change is a complicated process that requires planning, and it takes time to be able to recognize, address, and overcome resistance. Resistance to change can vary, but nurse leaders need to be empowered to buffer the negative effects of resistance (Montani, Courcy, Giorgi, & Boilard, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of change and the how the effective nurse leader confronts and deals with resistance to change.

Change can be challenging and studies have shown that most nurses practice the way they were taught, not by what has been proven to work (White & Spruce, 2015). Strategies for implementing practice changes that involve careful planning and the utilization of employees who can motivate participation, be champions for change, and influence others are important (Huber, 2014). Job descriptions, mission statement, and vision should all be incorporated with evidence-based practice and it is useful to have discussions with staff during any meetings. Using a variety of interactive strategies to encourage the acceptance of change and having leaders that are positive examples, who advocate for the use of evidence-based practice, provide resources and processes, and who are accountable for their actions is essential. Health care culture is affected by current issues and trends such as the expectation of patient-centered care with improved quality and safety, reimbursement changes, introduction of electronic medical records, and the increased need for

William Bridge’s three-step change model “deals with change at a more granular, individual level, suggesting that change within a health care organization means that individuals must transition from one identity to a new identity when they are involved in a process of change” (Campbell, 2008, p. 23). According to Bridge, for change to take place, three transition periods must be experienced, including endings, the neutral zone, and beginnings (Campbell, 2008). This model is appropriate for the current changes made in our facility because it focuses on individuals and their ability to transition to change. ”Change is something that happens to people, even if they do not agree with it. Transition, on the other hand, is internal, it’s what happens in people’s minds as they go through change. Change can happen very quickly while transition usually occurs more slowly” (Mind Tools Editorial Team, n.d, p. 1). Changes made in the workplace require transitioning for employees, this is why I feel it is important that administrators and committee members utilize this model as our organization continues to adjust to the advancements in technology.

When leading change, Nurse Manager’s (NM) and other nursing leaders take the time to step back, evaluate and gauge successes and shortcomings. As established goals are reached, time is provided to stop, look and

Explanation of Change Theory Planned change in nursing practice is necessary for many reasons, but it can be challenging to implement. Understanding and using a change theory framework can help managers or other change agents to increase the success rates. (Murphy, 2006). Changes can be implemented in many ways. It must be planned, purposeful, well calculated and collaborative effort to bring about improvements with the assistance of a change agent (Roussel, 2006).

for buy-in, enabling action, creating short-term wins, don’t let up, and making it stick). Bridges

Change starts with the perception of its need, so a wrong initial perception can be the first

The first lesson is that the change process goes through a series of phases that are long and considerable amount of time. The second lesson is that any mistakes that occur in any phases can have a adverse impact on the momentum of the change process (Mento, Jones & Dirndorfer, 2002).

Without competent leadership change can have negative impact on both the employees and the patients. According to Wright (2010), lack of leadership in change management could lead to adverse outcomes such as resentment, rebellious attitudes, and could end up damaging the same people it intended to make better (p.20). Therefore, experts warned that it is very important to have competent leadership at the helm of change management (p.20). As the focus of providing leadership shifts to nurse administrators who are often in the frontline of change management, nurse administrator should use essential tools such as the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) five domain of competence as a framework in change management.

As organizations evolve in time, new ideas, promote growth of the organization and their employees. Change occurs for various reasons such as new staff roles, increase or decrease in funding, acquisition of new technology, new missions, goals, visions, and goals. Diagnosing the reason for resistance to change is not something that is new to organizations. Many organizations is confronted with changes and employees that do not like change. Per Chron Small Business, change resistance occurs when there’s poor communication, self-interest, feeling excluded, lack of trust, and skills/training.