Leadership

CASE INTRODUCTION

Huddles are such an important part of nursing – they relay pertinent information, increase safety, offer team building opportunities, promote better outcomes for the patient, and ultimately can reduce costs.

Here is your scenario:

Your nurse manager identifies that the staff on your rehabilitation unit, and particularly that you as the evening charge nurse, are resistant and oppositional to an important new patient safety strategy of implementing huddles to improve staff communication.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF CASE 

Paragraph 1

 Your nurse manager meets with you, the evening charge nurse, (and with you he had previously begun a disciplinary action process because you refused to implement huddles on the shifts when you was in charge).   You now understands that you (and the staff) were wrong, and you begin to explore with the manager how better to implement huddles on your shift.

Paragraph 2

 In a quarterly staff development in-service for the rehab facility’s leaders, a group of nurses and charge nurses, including you, learn about implementing change using Lewin’s five-step Stages of Change (SCM) Model. The nurse manager and you apply this model to their failed implementation of huddles.

Paragraph  3 – You return to your unit and share with the staff that you—and they—were wrong to refuse to implement huddles. You begin to start the process as a change agent.

DISCUSSION GUIDE – QUESTIONS  Worth 2 points each (16 points)

Paragraph 1

1. How does your nurse manager know that you are ready to learn and be a part of the unit change?
2. How was the decision to implement the huddles handled?
3. What is the importance of a huddle?

Paragraph 2

1. What would you do prior to implementing a staff meeting to best communicate new information to the staff?
2. How would you describe Lewin’s Theory of Change? Can you give an example where you have used this theory?
3. What other theories of change are you familiar with, in addition to Lewin’s?

Paragraph 3

1. How would you manage conflict with the other unit staff?
2. How would you handle the resistance to change as noted by the unit staff?