Reference no: EM133803685

Question

Change is inevitable in healthcare; however, nearly two-thirds of change projects fail for various reasons, including poor planning, unmotivated staff, ineffective communication, and widespread changes.[1] All healthcare providers, from the bedside to the boardroom, have a crucial role in ensuring effective change. Implementing best practices from change management theories can improve the likelihood of success and lead to better outcomes in practice. Suppose a healthcare provider working in a hospital department has seen a rise in unwitnessed patient falls during shift changes over the past 3 months. Implementing evidence-based changes to the shift change process could help reduce these falls. However, departmental leadership has tried to address this issue twice in the last 3 months without success. Staff continue to revert to previous shift change protocols to save time, resulting in prolonged periods where patients are unmonitored. What strategies can departmental leadership and staff adopt to create lasting, positive changes that benefit both patients and employees? The answer may lie within the work of several change leaders and theorists. Although theories may seem abstract and impractical for direct healthcare practice, they are valuable for addressing common healthcare challenges. Lewin, an early change scholar.