The change theories in nursing provide a framework to understand, manage, and adapt to the inevitable transformations that occur in the nursing career. The change theories are structured to understand and manage the change processes in the healthcare environments. The current situation affecting the quality of care in healthcare is the need for proper information storage systems. This research will assess the direct or indirect nursing situation that needs change. Specifically, the discussion will focus on a nursing process that is inefficient and unsafe for the healthcare facility and use a nursing theory that suits the change that should be made.
Observation of the Healthcare Environment
The nursing process serves as a guide to providing patient-centered care. The key steps include assessing, diagnosing, planning, implementing, and evaluating the patient’s needs. During the healthcare observation, the healthcare providers handled different patient information. Healthcare information is the data related to the individual medical history, including the patient symptoms, diagnoses, procedures, and outcomes of the patients in the healthcare facility (Goncalves et al., 2020). In the healthcare setting, a problematic issue that impacted the delivery of quality care was related to the patient assessment and diagnosis process. During the process, it was discovered that the healthcare facility needed proper information storage systems to store confidential patient information. There were cases of breach of personal data within the healthcare environment.
Problem Diagnosis
The selected problem is the lack of a proper information storage framework, leading to the breach of confidential patient data. Healthcare data breaches can lead to unauthorized access by curious actors, resulting in identity theft, fraud, and cases of cybercrimes (Seh et al., 2020). In the case presented, the lack of an effective data storage system is a key contributor to the healthcare issue. The problem diagnosed affects the quality of care and patient safety because the breaches expose the patient to personal, medical, and financial information to identify theft. Also, data breaches may lead to a lack of trust because the patients may lose faith in the provider’s ability to protect their data, which leads to reluctance to share accurate information.
Overcoming the issue will require the implementation of an effective change theory in nursing. Flexibility and embracing change in healthcare facilities are vital skills for all nurses. In this case, the hospital facility must implement electronic health records, enhancing patient information’s accuracy and secure storage. An effective nursing change theory that suits the change that should implemented is Lewin’s change theory. The theory has three main stages of change: unfreezing, refreezing, and moving (Burnes, 2020).
The first step is the unfreezing step. The step involves finding a way of making it possible for the change to occur. In this case, the step will help acknowledge the need to implement the technology to overcome the data challenges. The next step is the moving change, which involves the actual planning and implementing stages of the proposed change. The last step is refreezing, which focuses on solidifying the newly implemented changes. This stage will evaluate whether the proposed changes align with the patient needs and practices in the healthcare facility.
Detailed Plan
The proposed timeline for the entire project will be three months. Each step will be carefully executed during this period to prevent the nurses’ resistance to change. The first step of the proposed plan will incorporate the use of Lewin’s unfreezing stage guidelines. This step will be carried out for one month. The step will involve acknowledging the need for change in the nursing facility. All the nurses will be informed through meetings and memos on the need for change. The meetings will help them understand the need for change. All the materials for implementing the change and budgetary allocation will be formulated during this step.
The next step is the moving/change stage. It will involve the implementation and integration of the desired changes. This step will also take one and a half months(Six weeks). The nurses will brainstorm new approaches to the use of the EHR systems. The one-month period will also involve training on the use of the EHR system.
Lastly, refreezing will involve reinforcing and solidifying the proposed changes (Rosca, 2020). The step will take two weeks. This step will ensure that the new changes align with the evolving patient needs and meet the desired changes. During this stage, key performance indicators such as nurses’ knowledge level when using EHR systems, patient safety, and quality of care will be monitored and evaluated.
Evaluation of Effectiveness of the Plan
The evaluation will take place for two weeks after the plan’s full implementation. During this period, the evaluation will be done by conducting surveys and interviews with nurses and the target population. During this period, the nurses will be asked questions about their knowledge of EHR systems and the overall quality of care. Positive feedback will indicate the successful implementation of the desired change. Evaluation will also be done through process evaluation. This will entail observing and monitoring the use of the EHR systems in the healthcare facility.
Reflection on How Change Affects Nursing Profession
The proposed change has a positive impact on the nursing profession. For instance, through the implementation of the EHR system, there will be improved documentation, which will allow easier access and interpretation of healthcare information (Classen et al., 2020). The nurses will also acquire appropriate skills and knowledge to help them store healthcare information accurately. This will reduce errors because timely tracking of medications and dosages will occur. Also, the proposed change affects nursing professionals by enhancing their productivity and effectiveness in the healthcare sector. For instance, the nurses will be able to achieve record accessibility in the healthcare setting. The professionals will have faster access and retrieval of patient information, which is useful in emergency and critical care situations.
In summary, change theories are crucial in nursing because they provide a framework to manage, understand, and adapt to the inevitable transformations in the nursing career. The proposed change in this research is the implementation of EHR records to enhance the accessibility and safety of patient information. The change will be accomplished using Lewin’s change theory in nursing.
References
Burnes, B. (2020). The origins of Lewin’s three-step model of change. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 56(1), 32–59.
Classen, D. C., Holmgren, A. J., Newmark, L. P., Seger, D., Danforth, M., & Bates, D. W. (2020). National trends in the safety performance of electronic health record systems from 2009 to 2018. JAMA network open, 3(5), e205547-e205547.
Goncalves, A., Ray, P., Soper, B., Stevens, J., Coyle, L., & Sales, A. P. (2020). Generation and evaluation of synthetic patient data. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 20(1), 1-40.
Roşca, V. I. (2020). Implications of Lewin’s field theory on social change. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence (Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 617–625).
Seh, A. H., Zarour, M., Alenezi, M., Sarkar, A. K., Agrawal, A., Kumar, R., & Ahmad Khan, R. (2020, May). Healthcare data breaches: insights and implications. In Healthcare (Vol. 8, No. 2, p. 133). MDPI.
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