Change Implementation and Management Plan

It is one of the most cliché of clichés, but it nevertheless rings true: The only constant is change. As a nursing professional, you are no doubt aware that success in the healthcare field requires the ability to adapt to change, as the pace of change in healthcare may be without rival.

As a professional, you will be called upon to share expertise, inform, educate, and advocate. Your efforts in these areas can help lead others through change. In this Assignment, you will propose a change within your organization and present a comprehensive plan to implement the change you propose. 

To Prepare:

• Review the Resources and identify one change that you believe is called for in your organization/workplace.

  This may be a change necessary to effectively address one or more of the issues you addressed in the Workplace Environment Assessment you submitted in Module 4. It may also be a change in response to something not addressed in your previous efforts. It may be beneficial to discuss your ideas with your organizational leadership and/or colleagues to help identify and vet these ideas.

• Reflect on how you might implement this change and how you might communicate this change to organizational leadership.

The Assignment (5-6-minute PowerPoint presentation):

Change Implementation and Management Plan

Create a narrated PowerPoint presentation of 5 or 6 slides with video that presents a comprehensive plan to implement the change you propose. 

Your presentation should be 5–6 minutes in length and should include a video with you as presenter. 

Your Change Implementation and Management Plan should include the following:

• An executive summary of the issues that are currently affecting your organization/workplace (This can include the work you completed in your Workplace Environment Assessment previously submitted, if relevant.)
• A description of the change being proposed
• Justifications for the change, including why addressing it will have a positive impact on your organization/workplace
• Details about the type and scope of the proposed change
• Identification of the stakeholders impacted by the change
• Identification of a change management team (by title/role)
• A plan for communicating the change you propose
• A description of risk mitigation plans you would recommend to address the risks anticipated by the change you propose

Change Implementation and Management Plan

11/02/19

Change Implementation and Management Plan
Nurses can provide a higher standard of compassionate patient care only when the organization maintains a healthy work environment which includes overall health of work environment, better nurse staffing and retention, less moral distress and lower rates of work place violence (AACN, 2018).
The purpose of this paper is to present an executive summary of the current issues in the work place where I work, a proposed change plan and its justification, type and scope of the change, identification of the stakeholders, a change management team, how to communicate the proposed change, and finally how to overcome the risk associated with this change.

Summary of the current issue
Based on the Clark’s work place assessment, the organization where I work received 54 points. It falls on an ‘unhealthy work environment’ category. This organization is under the state administration. The level of trust among and between the leadership and other members of the work place are satisfactory but the communication between the members of the team is never transparent and it always create confusion among the staff. Individual achievements are never appreciated and less opportunity for the professional growth or advancing the career in this organization. The work load is too high as the nurse to patient ratio is very high and the safety of the nurse in the work environment is very low as they have to work in a less protected unit where extremely violent individuals are admitted for psychiatric treatment. More over many nurses have to tolerate bullying by senior coworkers.

Proposed Change
In order to have a change in the work place environment the first step to take is to bring awareness of the issue to the management, and the employees.
Formation of a small group of health workers who can volunteer to meet the management and make them aware of the current issues can be the initial step in the proposed plan
Encourage more staff to attend the continuing educational programs.
Regular meeting at the unit level with all the health care employees to address the issue should be included in the plan
Encourage nursing staff to bring out the issues what they face in the clinical site instead of hiding them because of the fear of loss of license or job.
Recruitment of a new management team who support the staff who ever bring forward the issues of the unit and suggest solutions and keeping adequate nurse patient ratio by retaining the nurses.
Encourage unit level communication and trusting relationship among the employees.
Initiate steps to address the uncivil workers in the unit level by using challenging conversation with DESC model.

Justification of the proposed plan
According to Aronsson et al. (2015) depressive symptoms are potential outcomes of poorly functioning work environment and the research results concluded that employees both men and women who report lack of decision latitude, job strain and bullying will experience increasing depressive symptoms over time.
As the poorly functioning work environment has a negative impact on the employees physical and psychological health causing an indirect impact on patient care, it is important to make changes to an unhealthy work environment in any healthcare setting.
Skilled communication, true collaboration, effective decision making, appropriate staffing, meaningful recognition, and authentic leadership are the six standers to maintain a healthy work environment (Clark, 2015).
By recruiting managerial staff and nurses, the work load of the staff will be balanced which will have a positive impact on the quality patient care.
This will facilitate transparent communication at different levels of the organization and make an easy implementation of every plan of change.

Justification of the proposed plan
(Continued……)
Recruitment of new nurses in the organization will reduce staff burn out and incivility.
The appropriate staffing at managerial levels and providing sufficient resources for professional growth and development are steps that can be taken to create stronger work team.
DESC model can be used to improve the communication and team work skills which in turn improve the quality of patient health care.
The DESC model has four elements to address the incivility. It can be done by describing the situation, expressing concerns, stating other alternative, and the consequences related to the incident.

Type and scope of the proposed change
The proposed model for change implementation and management plan in the organization level is Gifford Model
Based on relations, change and task there are three leadership and management behaviors in this model
In the relations-oriented phase the focus is on the staff communication and collaboration with inter-professionals
Change –oriented phase reinforce vision and goal of change, advocate for change and additional resourcesinternally and externally.
The task-oriented phase conduct regular leadership meeting, monitor performance and outcomes, procure resources, education and training and policies to reflect change.
This type of implementation model has a potential to develop knowledge on change management among healthcare managers (Eldh et.al 2016)

Stakeholders impacted by the change
The proposed change can bring a lot of improvements in the personal and organizational level.
The different stakeholders benefitted from the change are nurses in the clinical setting, clinicians, psychiatric technicians the mangers, administrative staff, clerical staff, nurses in the staff development units and above all the patients.

Change management team
The development of a change management team is vital in the implementation process.
The involvement of nurse managers, clinicians, nurses on the floor, nurse leaders, nurses in the staff development unit , the administrative staff and the clerical staff should make the change management team. Each person can provide suggestions to make changes in the work environment in order to improve the working conditions.

Communicating the plan
There are different methods to communicate the proposed plan to the stakeholders.
The most convenient method of communication is sending e-mails to the stakeholders of the change
Using bullet boards on each unit is another way of communication about the plan of change.
Inservice-education regarding the issue and the plan of change is an effective method of the implementation process.
Conducting face to face meeting is another method of communication.
Power point presentations are effective way of making the stakeholders understand the proposed plan and its scope

Risk mitigation plans
Based on the previous efforts made by professionals, it is possible to face some risks related to the implementation process such as failure to accept the proposed plan by the organizational administration/ management, disagreement between the stakeholders regarding the benefit of the proposed plan, lack of enough support by the unit managers or the nurses, lack of interest among the employees in participating and implementing proposed plan.
A well planned proposal can avoid some of these risks. Bringing awareness about the issue by sending E-mails or informing through presentations, bullet boards before a face-to-face meeting with the stakeholders can increase the knowledge among the employees regarding the importance of bringing change in the work place. Addressing the above mentioned risk possibilities during the implementation process will make the process a step ahead.

Conclusion
In conclusion, a justified plan of change for the current issues in the organization has been explained. The stake holders involved, the change management team, the communication methods and the risk associated with the implementation process and its mitigation technics has been detailed.

References
American association of critical-care nurses (2018). Healthy work environment. Retrieved from https://www.aacn.org/nursing-excellence/healthy-work-environments?tab=Patient%20Care
Aronsson, G., Bendz, L. T., Grape, T., Hall, C., Hammarstrom, A., Hogstedt, C.…. Theorell, T. (2015). A systematic review including meta-analysis of work environment and depressive symptoms. BMC Public health. Retrieved from https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-015-1954-4
Clark, C. M (2015). Conversations to inspire and promote a more civil workplace. American nurses today, 10(11), 18-23. Retrieved from https://www.americannursetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ant11-CE-Civility-1023
Eldh, A. C., Ehrenberg, A., Olsson, C. B., Palmcrantz, S., Tistad, M., Tomson, G., Wallin, L (2016). Developing leadership in managers to facilitate the implementation of national guideline recommendations: A process evaluation of feasibility and usefulness. International journal of health policy and management, 5(8), 477-486. Retrieved from http://www.ijhpm.com/article_3183_5015382bcf9183a74ef7e79b0a941f65
 

Change Implementation and Management Plan

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Change Implementation and Management Plan

Baptist Health South Florida was named one of the 2019 Fortune 100 best companies to work for (Baptist Health South Florida, 2019).
In the workplace assessment survey Baptist Health obtained a score of 85 (Clark, 2015). While the score is high, indicating it is a moderately healthy work environment, there were some elements that the organization scored low (Clark, 2015). There is poor level of employee satisfaction, engagement, and morale. This presentation aims to summarize and address the organization’s poor employee satisfaction and engagement; propose a strategy to lead organizational change, discuss the details of the plan, name its stakeholders and change agents, This presentation also aims to discuss how to communicate the proposed plan, and finally discuss the risk mitigation plans. Change in an organization may be difficult to implement but if well planned, it could help improve and resolve issues in the organization.
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Summary of the Issue in the Organization

EMPLOYEE
ENGAGEMENT

According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report, only 15% of employees worldwide are engaged in their jobs (Mishra, Boynton, & Mishra, 2014). More Gallup research shows that employee disengagement costs the United States upwards of $550 billion a year in lost productivity. Baptist Health scored 85 in the workplace assessment inventory (Mishra et al., 2014). The organization scored low in employee engagement and satisfaction.
Several environmental factors lead to increased patient visits in the hospital which they could not accommodate in terms of space and human resources. The stress because of the increased demands of work decreased employee engagement and satisfaction scores.
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Proposed Change

Employee engagement is the leading indicator of success for any organization. This is why organizations that listen and respond to the needs of employees deliver better results (Cullen & Adams, 2012).
To improve Baptist Health’s employee engagement, a monthly team building activity is proposed. These social events will help people bond with others on the team who they don’t interact with on a daily basis and builds a better sense of community within the organization.
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Impact of Change in the Organization

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
Increased productivity
Employee satisfaction
Employee engagement
Customer satisfaction

Team building activities lead to increased productivity, employee satisfaction, employee engagement, and customer satisfaction.
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Type and Scope of the Proposed Change

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

To implement this change, the leaders will identify what type of team building activities that interests the team. Team building activities are social activities that could boost the morale and productivity of a group. It could be as simple as a pizza party, yoga class, pot luck activity, or a karaoke activity. This will involve the whole organization which could initially be done per department. Participants will include nurses, technicians, unit clerks, leaders, and even physicians. A date will be selected to accommodate majority of the team.
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Stakeholders

Employees
Nurse Leaders
Patients

Benefitting from the monthly team building activity are the employees, nurse leaders, and patients. Employees and leaders increase rapport and patients consequently benefit resulting to increased satisfaction.
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Change Management Team

The team heading this change will be the director and senior leaders of each department. Leaders must show their commitment to improving engagement in order for improvements to take hold. No one will believe engagement is a priority unless the leadership team takes engagement very seriously and displays that level of engagement by modeling the way.
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Communicating the Proposed Change

Dissemination of proposed change can be done through shift huddles, staff meetings and group presentations (Gleeson, 2017).
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Risk Mitigation Plan
Plan for indoor activities.
Plan for outdoor activities during the summer.
Involve security officers for safety.
Give simple incentives to participants.

In any project, there are risks involved. In a team building project, possible risk involves staff members not participating, environmental factors like rain or accidents. To address these issues, the project leaders could
Plan for activities that could be done indoors to ensure safety from the sun or rain.
Plan for outdoor activities during the summer.
Involve security to ensure safety of the participants.
Encourage participaton of the team by giving simple incentives to those that participate.
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Conclusion
Change is difficult
Leaders must use effective implementation strategies to engage clinicians.
Team building activity could help increase employee engagement and satisfaction.
Leaders should show commitment to improving employee engagement.

Implementing change is difficult; consequently, nursing leaders must use effective implementation strategies to engage clinicians and promote adoption of change activities to improve patient outcomes. Team building activities may increase employee engagement and satisfaction. To implement it effectively, leaders should show commitment to improving employee engagement.
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References
Baptist Health South Florida. (2019). Baptist Health South Florida named one of the 2019 Fortune 100 best companies to work for. Retrieved from https://newsroom.baptisthealth.net/ pressrelease/baptist-health-south-florida-named-one-of-the-2019-fortune-100-best-companies- to-work-for-by-great- place-to-work-and-fortune/
Clark, C. M. (2015). Conversations to inspire and promote a more civil workplace. American Nurse Today, 10(11), 18-23. Retrieved from https://www.americannursetoday.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/11/ant11-CE-Civility-1023
Clark, C. M. (2019). Combining cognitive rehearsal, simulation, and evidence-based scripting to address incivility. Nurse Educator, 44(2), 64-68. doi: 10.1097/NNE.0000000000000563
Cullen, L., & Adams, S. L. (2012). Planning for implementation of evidence-based practice. Journal Of Nursing Administration, 42(4), 222-230.
doi:10.1097/NNA.0b013e31824ccd0a
Gleeson, B. (2017). Five powerful steps to improve employee engagement. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentaleeson/2017/10/15/5- powerful- steps-to-improve- employee-engagement/#5b8cfa23341d
Mishra, K., Boynton, L., & Mishra, A. (2014). Driving employee engagement: The expanded role of internal communications. International Journal of Business Communication, 5(2), 183-202.
doi: 10.1177/2329488414525399

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