NR554 Week 7 Discussion, Contributing Factors of Change

Contributing Factors of Change NAME Chamberlain College of Nursing NR 554: Nurse Leader and Healthcare Policy DATE Considering the many factors that contribute to the change process, what are the most consistent factors that challenge nurse advocates seeking change? Often individuals and organizations do experience resistance when implementing change. Nevertheless, the change process may be useful in solving the various challenges the organization may be facing. There are many factors that may cause resistance to change and a number of those factors may also challenge nurse advocates seeking change. One of the major factors they face is inadequate resources. The provision of health care services is often costly and obtaining the required resources is quite a challenge. Explanation: There's a challenge from the other staff members who may not have a similar view. In a facility, there are a variety of employees at different levels whereby some may be satisfied with their jobs while others may not. Those that want change may lack support from other staff members. Another challenge may be the lack of experience in the change management process. Finding the right people and putting together a team of individuals who know how to effectively manage change may also be a big challenge. Another challenge might be the increased workload. Often the nurses may have workloads, coupled with increased pressure to compete their duties, this may result in increased resistance. Week 7: Contributing Factors of Change Often individuals and organizations do experience resistance when implementing change. Nevertheless, the change process may be useful in solving the various challenges the organization may be facing. Those affected by the change may be nurses, managers, and other support staff. There are many factors that may cause resistance to change and a number of those factors may also challenge nurse advocates seeking change. One of the major factors they face is support from leadership. Complex challenges within the current healthcare environment can result in a perceived misalignment of hospital administration versus the needs of frontline nurses for optimal patient care. According to Oliveira & Tariman (2017), frontline nurses felt they were misunderstood and disrespected, and that managers and executive leadership were not investing in nurses’ education and training on advocacy. Nursing leadership has a responsibility to induce changes in the clinical environment and support nurses who are engaged in patient advocacy. According to Kodama & Fukahori (2017), nurse managers could promote changes in their department by using four attributes. The four attributes include having both micro and macro perspectives, respecting own beliefs and external standards, being proactive, and having empathy for staff nurses (Kodama & Fukahori, 2017). In order to have micro and macro perspectives, nursing leaders need to collect detailed information such as the number of incidents, turnover rate, staff nurses’ characteristics, and relationships between nurses and physicians (Kodama & Fukahori, 2017). The information can then be analyzed and interpreted for potential underlying causes. With the information learned through the assessment, leadership can better understand the situation concerning the department as a whole and not just parts of it (Kodama & Fukahori, 2017). According to Kodama & Fukahori (2017), when nursing leadership evaluated outcomes of change they would make judgments based on both their belief regarding nursing and standards such as the hospital's mission. When nursing leaders address a clinical situation that can worsen without intervention they can prioritize change and create a long-term vision of their department apart allowing them to become proactive in developing strategies to prevent employee resistance to change (Kodama & Fukahori, 2017). Nursing leaders that utilize emotional intelligence, which encompasses empathy, promote change processes and avoids resistance (Kodama & Fukahori, 2017). Nurses that engage in and enhance relationships with nursing leaders to better understand one another’s perspectives develop win-win solutions. To encourage nursing leaders to promote change and support nursing advocacy it is suggested that leadership programs for nurse managers should be developed to enhance the four attributes and that hospital executives should create a working environment that enables nurse managers to participate in leadership programs (Kodama & Fukahori, 2017). If nurse managers’ beliefs are not consistent with the hospital mission, change cannot be successful. As leaders, nurse managers should have a sense of achieving the hospital mission or their attempt to support a change in their department and support nursing advocacy. Reference Kodama, Y., & Fukahori, H. (2017).Nurse managers’ attributes to promote change in their wards: a qualitative study. Nursing Open, 4(4), 209–217. Oliveira, C., & Tariman, J. D. (2017). Barriers to the Patient Advocacy Role: An Integrative Review of the Literature. Journal Of Nursing Practice Applications & Reviews Of Research, 7(2), 7-12. doi:10.13178/jnparr.2017.0702.0704 PROFESSOR RESONSE TO PEER POST: Yes, indeed! Very good strategies! How about staff-champions? Thanks Amy, RESPONSE TO PROFESSOR POST: “Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.” Richard Hooker, 1554–1600 Dr. Fildes, According to Shaw, Howard, West, Crabtree, Nease, Tutt, & Nutting (2012), “change champions are important for moving new innovations through the phases of initiation, development, and implementation”. Change champions play a vital role in engaging team members in a shared vision by reinforcing goals and recognizing positive performance (Mount & Anderson, 2015). Identifying change champions in each department affected by the change is an approach that can prove highly successful for embedding and sustain change within an organization. Change champions are also effective in implementing change because of their ability to promote peer-to-peer accountability, thus empowering the entire team to achieve the desired goal. Benefits of change champions include identifying issues on the ground and raising them quickly to the project team; gathering feedback on the communications campaign and feedback to the change team; identifying key resistors of change; assisting with managing resistance to change amongst their colleagues; and becoming super users and therefore assist in training of users (Warwick, 2009). Developing change champions who understand how to initiate, facilitate, and implement needed change is an alternative that offers considerable potential for addressing resistance to change. A well-supported network of change champions can make a huge difference to ensuring sustainable outcomes for the organization. Carole B. Reference Mount, A., & Anderson, I. (2015). Driving Change—Not Just a Walk in the Park: The Role of the Nurse Champion in Sustained Change. Nurse Leader, 1336-38. doi:10.1016/.2015.06.003 Shaw, E. K., Howard, J., West, D. R., Crabtree, B. F., Nease, D. E., Tutt, B., & Nutting, P. A. (2012). The Role of the Champion in Primary Care Change Efforts. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFM, 25(5), 676–685. Warrick, D. D. (2009). Developing Organization Change Champions. OD Practitioner, 41(1), 14-19. RESPONSE TO PEER POST: As innovators and change agents, nurses drive processes and policy that ultimately care for the patient and the community. However, many of those in healthcare know that change does not come easy and often the change itself becomes a big process. Penny, I agree that being a change agent and innovator are major functions of nurses. Nurses must continue to look for ways to impact change within the healthcare system. Nursing leaders play an important role to create an environment that fosters and encourages innovation and change, thus eliminating resistance to change and fear. According to Boston-Fleischhauer (2016), nurse leaders must create environments and opportunities for staff innovation, communicate expectations concerning time commitments and acceptable levels of risk, and allow for failures. Change leaders must be mindful of the possible barriers that serve to lessen purposeful change, such as resistance. Change agents must maximize every opportunity to engage with others to legitimize necessary change and encourage challenges and provide support. They must foster and create an environment that allows people to experiment with new ways of operating. Change leaders must also lead by example and embody the changes they wish to implement with every word and action. Thus, they must be dedicated to making change a reality. Reference Boston-Fleischhauer, C. (2016). Beyond making the case, creating the space for innovation. Journal of Nursing Administration, 46(6), 295-296. doi:10.1097/NNA.