Problem Statement
Planned change is necessary in the healthcare setting. Described as “purposeful, calculated, and collaborative,” planned change helps prepare nursing staff for a new technology or process, ensuring its safe and effective implementation (Mitchell, 2012, p. 32). The issue that I wish to address within my organization is technology upgrades. Nurse administrators would like to invest in portable electronic devices for all nursing staff, which would enhance quality of care and promote accuracy and efficiency: which are embedded in the mission and goals of the organization (Leape, Rogers, Hanna, et al., 2006). However, the technology has not been implemented properly because underlying processes and procedures have not yet changed. We need a change management strategy that builds on the Kurt Lewin model of unfreezing, moving forward, and then refreezing. Ultimately, the change needs to result in changed norms of behavior.
Medication errors had been either steady or even slightly increasing over the least two years in our organization. To respond to this problem, administrators investigated a number of systems upgrades to patient databases and electronic health records. The nursing staff already received proper training on how to use the new portable devices, which are linked to centralized databases and client software installed on all station computers. Administrators believed this would be sufficient to implement the new technology, but it was not; medication errors remain a problem.
Currently, the medications are not color-coded. Nurses need to read through the long list of medications and only see the red dots when there is a medication contraindication, and not when more minor medication conflicts could also arise. Similarly, the new technology does not automatically preclude human errors: such as accidentally inputting a medication with a similar name or misreading the doctor’s handwriting. My proposal is to have a whole new policy whereby no doctor is permitted to use handwriting and must use the portable electronic device to make the prescription, and also have our systems analyst alter the color coding procedure for all medications. This proposal aligns with the research showing that new technology in nursing “can improve the quality of care, reduce costs, or enhance working conditions,” (De Veer, A. J.D., Fleuren, M.A.H., Bekkema, N., et al., 2011, p. 1).
Aligning the Change
This change aligns perfectly with our organization’s mission and vision, which include a commitment to patient care, to patient autonomy and safety, and to continually striving to improve. As Hamer (2013) also points out, nurses can use technology to improve practice, but the technology does not act alone (p. 1). My proposal also…
