Managing Change Research Paper
Nursing roles and responsibilities nowadays are changing, and evolve from maintaining patient care to overseeing the process of healthcare delivery, research, management and other functions. The demand for nurses increases along with the requirements for licensed nurses, and the supply of nurses recently fails to match the demand (Roussel, 2011). Many healthcare organizations face the shortage of nurses and experience staffing issues. The considered healthcare organization is not an exception. Due to the lack of appropriate staffing, nurses have to cope with additional responsibilities and workload, have a hard time balancing their work and life and are more likely to change jobs, to have more sick days and days off. Therefore, there is a major staffing problem in the considered organization and it is recommended to apply change management to tackle this problem.Managing Change Research Paper
Theoretical perspectives for the change
From the organizational perspective, it is reasonable to consider the change theory developed by Menix; in this conceptual framework of nursing change management there are 12 core categories: strategies, change process, characteristics, innovation, responses, role, principles, planned change, environmental influences, nonlinear change, cybernetics and learning dimensions (Grohar-Murray, DiCroce & Langan, 2011). While all of these perspectives are important for managing change, it is especially important to pay attention to such elements as strategies of change, nonlinear change and responses in the considered case. All elements of the change management framework will be considered below in the text of the paper.
Examination of strategies for the planned change
The characteristics of change in the considered case are the pervasiveness of inadequate staffing and increasing demand for nurses. In the change process, it is necessary to take into account organizational structure (vertical) and the maturity of the change system (medium). The major strategies for change are solving problems, participation and empowerment. The first strategy Is to discuss the existing staffing issues with the nurses and outline core problems that hinder staffing. The second strategy is to encourage the participation of nurse leaders in the process of staffing. The third strategy is to empower nurse leaders and nurse managers to solve staffing questions.
Evaluation of external and internal need for the change
In the considered case, there is both external and internal need for change. External forces influencing the need for changing the staffing process are increasing demand for patient care, changing requirements for patient care (and in particular, the growing number of aged patients with special healthcare needs) and changing requirements to the qualifications of licensed nurses. Internal forces are the high level of staff turnover and low level of job satisfaction among nurse staff, the lack of nurse staff availability (the availability of nurse staff does not match the needs of patient care) and poor work-life balance among nurse staff.
Appraisal of change process steps
For planning and implementing the change, it is most appropriate to rely on Lewin’s change theory, which includes three phases: unfreezing, moving and refreezing (Roussel, 2011). At the “unfreezing” stage, it is necessary to challenge the old pattern by either decreasing the restraining forces or increasing the driving forces, or combining both of these approaches (Roussel, 2011). Moving represents the implementation of an alternative strategy which will better match the organizational objectives. Refreezing is the process of establishing the change and integrating it into the corporate culture (Roussel, 2011).Managing Change Research Paper
In the considered case, the first step of the change will be altering the existing staffing strategies by increasing the forces driving staffing and by discussing the staffing issues with the nurses (therefore decreasing the restraining forces). At the second step (movement), the recommended change will be implemented: it is the empowerment of organizational units to plan and implement staffing on their own, and cooperation with nurse leaders in the process of staffing. At the third step, this change should be further instilled in the organizational rules and communicated to the employees as the new staffing approach.
Skills required for the change agent
It is expected that the responses will be acceptance and a certain degree of resistance. The principles of the change in the considered case are the reliance on the change benefits, change ownership, two-way feedback and cooperation. The role of the change agent encompasses, along with core change management functions (planning, organizing, implementing and evaluating the change), such functions as being the leader, implementing nonlinear change, building relationships. Change agents in the considered case should possess impressive leadership skills and should be able to inspire others. Planned change requires a significant shift of responsibility towards nurse staff, and there should be proper leaders to guide this process.
Strategies aimed at improving change responses
According to Lewin’s theory, in order to implement organizational change in an efficient way, it is necessary to weaken the forces shaping the resistance to change and to strengthen the forces driving the change (Grohar-Murray, DiCroce & Langan, 2011). In the considered case, nurse leader should clearly outline the deficiencies of the existing staffing approach and therefore increase the drive to change. In addition to this, the nurse leader should communicate the importance of nurse participation in the staffing process and its advantages. In order to reduce the change resistance, it is recommended to collaborate with the nurses while designing the change at the “unfreeze” stage and devise the new staffing strategy taking into account the comments of nurse staff.Managing Change Research Paper
Evaluation of the change process
After implementing the change, it is necessary to monitor key organizational variables such as the level of staff turnover, job satisfaction, work time coverage, the quality of patient care and the attitude to the effectiveness of new staffing policy. It is optimal to develop a balanced scorecard model for the organization and evaluate its characteristics before the change and every 6 months after the change. In a year, it will be possible to evaluate the effects of the change and to assess whether the change was efficient and helped the organization to reach its goals.
References
Grohar-Murray, M.E., DiCroce, H.R. & Langan, J.C. (2011). Leadership and Management in Nursing. Prentice Hall.
Roussel, L. (2011). Management and Leadership for Nurse Administrators. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.Managing Change Research Paper