Assignment: Benchmark – Change Initiative: Implementation, Evaluation, and Sustainability
Assignment: Benchmark – Change Initiative: Implementation, Evaluation, and Sustainability
Benchmark – Change Initiative: Implementation, Evaluation, and Sustainability
Nurses play an important role in the promotion of health and wellbeing of the diverse populations that they serve. They utilize their knowledge and skills in assessment to determine the actual and potential health needs of their patients. Organizational factors such as stress and burnout however affect the efficiency with which nurses offer their care. Persistent exposure to work stressors increases the risk of nurses developing burnout, which lower the safety, quality and efficiency of care. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the issue of burnout among nurses in the institution I work with as a nurse and proposed a change initiative that can be adopted to promote their health and wellbeing.
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Issues in the Area and Outcomes
I currently work in a hospital as a registered nurse. I work in the maternal-child area. One of the issues that I have witnessed among the registered nurses in the department is burnout. Burnout is an emotional experience that arises from the persistent, chronic exposure to work stressors. Nurses exposed to burnout experience depersonalization, demotivation, and lack of concentration in their provision of patient care (Lahana et al., 2017). Despite the management being aware of the level of work stressors and burnout among nurses working in the department, little has been done to ensure that their needs are met. The consequences of burnout among the nurses working in the unit have included low job satisfaction, morale, and high turnover rate among them (Lahana et al., 2017). There has also been a sharp rise in the rates of errors in care and delayed or missed care (Kowalczuk et al., 2020). As a result, it is critical that responsive interventions are adopted to address the issue.
External and or Internal Driving Forces and People Affected
The issue of burnout among registered nurses working in the department is attributable to a number of factors. One of them is staff shortage. The department is understaffed, which leads to high workload for the existing staff. High workload is a critical predictor of burnout among nurses, as it acts as a work stressor. The other internal factor is the prolonged working hours for nurses. Often, nurses in the department work beyond the scheduled hours to cover the shortage of staffs, predisposing them to burnout. There is also the effect of high patient turnover in the unit, which increases the workload and burnout (Lahana et al., 2017). The institution has also failed in implementing interventions that address the critical needs of the staffs in the department. Consequently, most of the needs of the staffs remain unaddressed, leading to their demotivation, low job satisfaction and stressed with their work. The external factor that is contributing to the issue is covid19. Covid19 has led to a high influx of patients into the department, leading to increased workload and predisposition of nurses to burnout.
Stakeholders Involved How Change Initiative Will Affect Them
The proposed change to address the issue of burnout in the department includes increasing the number of staff in the department, rewarding performance, and training them on the use of cognitive interventions to manage occupational stress. A number of stakeholders will be involved in the implementation of change. They will include nurses, nurse leaders and managers, and human resource personnel. Nurses will be direct beneficiaries of the proposed initiatives. Nurse leaders and managers will determine the workload levels in the department and propose the optimum number of staffs needed for the implementation of the proposed change. The human resource personnel will recruit new staff and develop schemes for rewarding the nurses working in the maternal-child department. They will also organize the training that the nurses need to enable them manage work stressors effectively. The proposed change will affect nurse managers and leaders by increasing their need to embrace effective and facilitative leadership and management styles. They will also have to support the implementation of the change initiatives by supervising, coaching and mentoring the adoption process (Singh & Ramdeo, 2020). Nurses will be affected through their provision of enabling opportunities for their health and wellbeing.
Role and Responsibility as a Change Leader
I will play critical roles as a change leader in the implementation of the proposed change. One of the roles that I will play is resource allocator. I will oversee the efficient allocation of resources to ensure the realization of the critical needs in the department. I will also oversee the utilization of the allocated resources to promote efficiency. The other role that I will play as a change leader will be promoting the active participation of the stakeholders. I will ensure that the nursing staffs and other stakeholders are actively involved in the change initiative for them to have the required competencies. Active participation will also eliminate the risks of resistance to change from them. The other role will involve fostering active collaboration among stakeholders to ensure their ownership of the proposed change. I will also strengthen the use of open communication frameworks to eliminate any risks of misunderstandings and mistrust in the implementation of the change.
Leadership Theory
I will use servant leadership theory in facilitating the implementation of the change. Servant leaders get their desired outcomes in their organizations by paying attention to the needs of those they lead. They focus on motivating those they lead to embrace behaviors that will drive excellence in service provision. I will utilize the principles of servant leadership such as ethics, trust, collaboration, and empathy to facilitate the successful implementation of the change. I will ensure that the adopters of the change play a critical role in all the processes of change such as assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation (Blokdyk, 2020). Through it, I will promote ownership of the change in the department.
Change Agents and Their Roles
As noted above, several change agents will be required for the successful implementation of the proposed change. They will include representatives of the nurses, nurse leaders, nurse managers and human resource personnel. The representative of the nurses will ensure that the proposed change addresses the crucial needs of the nurses. They will also facilitate the change process by assisting in the implementation of the change. The representatives will also ensure the relevance of the proposed interventions. Nurse leaders and managers will determine the workload levels in the department and propose the optimum number of staffs needed for the implementation of the proposed change. The human resource personnel will recruit new staffs and develop schemes for rewarding the nurses working in the maternal-child department. They will also organize the training that the nurses need to enable them manage work stressors effectively.
Relevance of the Model
Lewin’s model of change will be used in implementing the proposed change. Lewin proposed the three-step model that asserts that change occurs in phases that include unfreezing, changing and refreezing. According to the model, change occurs in a systematic process and not sudden. The adopters of the change have to be prepared adequately to embrace the change (Abd el-shafy et al., 2019). Lewin’s model will be relevant to the organization because of a number of reasons. Firstly, the proposed change focuses on transforming the existing systems and processes. Achieving sustainable changes in systems and processes require systematic processes that can be achieved using Lewin’s model. The model also promotes sustainability of change. The systematic implementation of change ensures that the existing structures, systems, and processes are strengthened for the long-term use of the change. Lastly, the model recognizes the importance of developing the competencies of the adopters for the sustainability of change. Therefore, it is an effective model for the proposed change (Harrison et al., 2021).
Strategic Aspects
Lewin’s theory has a number of strategic aspects that are applicable to the proposed change. One of them is creating awareness among the adopters of change. Lewin asserted that the implementers of the change should inform the adopters about the impending change. Creating awareness ensures that the adopters develop the behaviors that will support the change. Nurse leaders, managers, and representatives of the nurses will inform the nurses about the impending change. The other strategic aspect is open communication. Lewin recognized that successful implementation of change requires open communication between the adopters, leadership and management involved in the process. Open communication ensures that the adopters express their needs and views on aspects related to change that should be improved for the success of the whole process. Nurse leaders and managers will ensure that open communication is promoted in the implementation of the change.
The other strategic aspect that relates to the proposed change is facilitating change process. Lewin proposed that interventions such as training, active participation, supervision, coaching, and rewarding should be considered to ensure the adopters embrace the proposed change (Blokdyk, 2020). The applicability of the aspects is that nurses in the department will be trained on cognitive interventions to reduce stress and burnout and rewarded for their contributions to success of the organization.
Potential Barriers and Ways of overcoming them
One of the potential barriers that may be experienced in implementing the proposed change is lack of institutional support. The institution may not support the proposed change due to its financial implications. The barrier will be addressed by ensuring that the proposed change is financially sound and sustainable. The other barrier that may be experienced is the low level of involvement and utilization of the change initiative by the nurses. The barrier will be addressed by increasing their active participation in all the activities of the proposed change such as assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation.
Evaluation Methods
The evaluation of the proposed change will utilize process, structural and outcome measures. Process measures will aim at determining the effectiveness of the strategies that were used in the implementation of the change. It will assess the effectiveness of interventions such as training, open communication, and active participation in facilitating the success of the change process. Outcome measures will evaluate whether the desired outcomes of the change were achieved or not. Tools such as surveys and interviews will be used to obtain information about the subjective experiences of the participants with the change. Structural measures will focus on whether the organization changed its systems and processes to support sustainability of the change (Singh & Ramdeo, 2020).
Strategies to Anchor the Change or Support Continuous Change
One of the strategies that will be used to anchor the change will be the provision of continuous support to the nurses in the use of the change initiatives. Continuous support will strengthen the use of best practices by the nurses in addressing work stressors. The other strategy will be providing regular evaluation and feedback. The evaluation feedback will strengthen the continued use of best practices that support the change process. The last strategy will be the incorporation of the change into institutional policies (Blokdyk, 2020). The incorporation will ensure its consistent and daily use in guiding the realization of the desired goals in healthcare and nursing.
How Change Supports Organizational Mission/Goal, Addresses Stakeholder Concerns and Equity
The proposed change supports organizational mission of quality, safety and efficiency in patient care. The change ensures that the needs of the nurses are met to promote their dedication towards service excellence in care. It also supports the organizational goal of ensuring efficiency in operations by minimizing safety and quality issues as well as lowering staff turnover rates. The change also addresses the concerns of the stakeholders. It aims at ensuring that the health and wellbeing of nurses are protected through the adoption of initiatives that empower them to manage their work stressors and provide high quality and safe care. The change also promotes equity in the organization. It ensures that the available resources are used to address the prioritized needs of the healthcare stakeholders.
Conclusion
In summary, the proposed change focuses on the issue of burnout among registered nurses working in maternal-child department. Burnout is a critical concern in nursing, as it affects the safety, quality and efficiency of care. The proposed change focuses on aspects that include hiring of additional staffs, rewarding performance and training them on cognitive interventions to manage work stressors. The stakeholders will be actively involved to ensure the successful implementation of the change. The evaluation approach will focus on outcome, process and structural measures. The change will promote the realization of organizational goals and address stakeholder concerns.
References
Abd el-shafy, I., Zapke, J., Sargeant, D., Prince, J. M., & Christopherson, N. A. M. (2019). Decreased Pediatric Trauma Length of Stay and Improved Disposition With Implementation of Lewin’s Change Model. Journal of Trauma Nursing | JTN, 26(2), 84–88. https://doi.org/10.1097/JTN.0000000000000426
Blokdyk, G. (2020). Organizational Change Management Communication a Complete Guide—2020 Edition. Emereo Pty Limited.
Harrison, R., Fischer, S., Walpola, R. L., Chauhan, A., Babalola, T., Mears, S., & Le-Dao, H. (2021). Where Do Models for Change Management, Improvement and Implementation Meet? A Systematic Review of the Applications of Change Management Models in Healthcare. Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 13, 85–108. https://doi.org/10.2147/JHL.S289176
Kowalczuk, K., Krajewska-Kułak, E., & Sobolewski, M. (2020). Working Excessively and Burnout Among Nurses in the Context of Sick Leaves. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 285. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00285
Lahana, E., Papadopoulou, K., Roumeliotou, O., Tsounis, A., Sarafis, P., & Niakas, D. (2017). Burnout among nurses working in social welfare centers for the disabled. BMC Nursing, 16(1), 15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-017-0209-3
Singh, R., & Ramdeo, S. (2020). Leading Organizational Development and Change: Principles and Contextual Perspectives. Springer Nature.
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You will utilize your change model for this assignment. Review the feedback submitted by your instructor on your previous change model assignment. The change model that was used in the previous submission was Lewin\’s model. Make any changes or modifications necessary for the submission of this assignment.
Evaluate the performance of your organization or department. Identify an area that would significantly benefit from initiating a change. Write a paper (1,500-1,750 words) in which you describe the particular area you propose to address through a change initiative. Include the following for your company:
Discuss the issues in this area and the current outcomes as a result of the issues.
Describe the external and/or internal driving forces, contributing issues, and the people affected.
Evaluate the stakeholders involved and discuss how they will be affected by your change initiative.
Clarify your role and responsibility as a change leader. Discuss the leadership theory (or theories) you will use to guide the change process.
Discuss the change agents you need to recruit in order to successfully implement your change. Describe the roles of these change agents.
Utilize your change model to develop strategies: (a) Explain the relevance of this model to your organization; and (b) Present the strategic aspects using your model. Be sure to clearly define the purpose of each aspect, the people involved, and the actions that need to be taken.
Identify, or predict, the potential barriers to change. Discuss possible ways to overcome these obstacles, including methods for dealing with emerging or unforeseen circumstances that could impede implementation.
Describe the evaluation methods you will use to determine the level of success of your change initiative. Discuss what metrics or measureable determinates you will use.
Propose strategies to anchor change or support continuous change.
Establish how your change plan supports the organizational mission/goal, genuinely addresses stakeholder concerns, and will serve as an equitable contribution for the community or society overall.
I currently work in Baptist Hospital in maternal-child area.
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