Change Implementation and Management Plan

Change Implementation and Management Plan

Medical errors and quality problems are common health-threatening mistakes in the organization. The errors harm many patients through inadequate care, lengthy hospital stays, increased mortality rate, and higher healthcare costs. Although it is difficult to eliminate all medical errors, reporting errors is critical to error prevention. This provides modification and creation of procedures and policies for similar forfending errors. The healthcare organization needs to develop processes and systems that anticipate inevitable medical errors and prevent them before they occur. Success will need polygonal strategies such as restructuring leadership in the healthcare delivery system, organization investment and regulation and education, and vigorous training for nurses and physicians.

The change being proposed

Medication errors are a common problem in the organization. For example, the incidence of errors linked to medicines is high, and it is estimated that about 770,000 patients die in hospitals every year as a result of adverse drug events and nurse ignorance (Khammarnia et al., 2015). Studies have indicated that medical error-related deaths are high compared to the number of deaths occurring from AIDs mortality, breast cancers, and motor vehicle accidents (Makary & Daniel, 2016). It is a surprise that medical errors are reported when it has harmed a patient, and they cannot be concealed easily. Reporting medical errors is critical, and it needs to form part of workplace culture. Although the organization should blame and punish nurses for medical errors and ensure they are accountable for their actions, they should be provided with information and training that improve patient safety (Khammarnia et al., 2015). The organization also needs to encourage a “no-fault, no-blame culture” to encourage nurses to report cases of medical errors. Thus, the interventions aimed at preventing medical errors should ensure a safe and competent medication delivery system.

Justifications for the change

Medical errors occur due to system errors or human mistakes. However, when things go wrong, the common reaction of a person is to conceal the mistake. Reporting instances of medical errors enables a platform for errors to be analyzed and documented to assess their causes and develop new strategies to improve patient safety (Hwang & Ahn, 2015). Therefore, medical errors in the organization need to be reported regardless of whether they cause patient harm or death. Although the organization should blame and punish nurses for medical errors and ensure they are accountable for their actions, they should be provided with information and training that improve patient safety (Hwang & Ahn, 2015). The organization also needs to encourage a “no fault no blame culture” to encourage nurses to report cases of medical errors.

The type and scope of the proposed change

Current evidence of medical errors in the organization is overwhelming. Medical errors are a common misuse problem that causes injuries to patients and sometimes becomes life-threatening and fatal (Makary & Daniel, 2016). The type of change that the organization needs to implement is based on Lippitt’s Seven Steps of Change theory (Ballantyne, 2018). The theory provides approaches that are key to generating change as follows:

Phase 1: Diagnosis of the problem: Reporting medical errors is based on the nurse’s decision, and they can be hesitant to report due to fear. A no-fault, no-blame approach should be introduced to reduce psychological and cultural barriers (Ballantyne, 2018).

Phase 2: Motivation and capacity to change: The organization should organize staff meetings where they can get direct feedback from nurses to gauge their skills, desire, knowledge, and attitude for change (Ballantyne, 2018). Staff motivation will be reflected through the number of returned surveys and rates of meeting attendance.

Phase 3: Determining the change agent: A change agent is an enthusiastic individual with great desire and interest to see positive change. Such a change agent will be able to make a change in the organization. The change agent will be responsible for carrying out conducting in-services, gathering data on medical errors and patient safety, supervising junior staff and nurses, assessing the data, and providing a summary report on performance to review the plan and modify where needed (Ballantyne, 2018).

Phase 4: Evaluating the change management plan: The change will be evaluated to determine its effectiveness in reducing medical errors (Ballantyne, 2018). The evaluation will be carried out as an audit or feedback.

The stakeholders impacted by the change.

Healthcare institutions are made of different entities and stakeholders who work together to facilitate the provision of healthcare. This means that when developing a system change, various stakeholders must be consulted to deliberate on how to reduce medical errors. Therefore, the significant stakeholders who will be impacted by the change are the Clinic CEO, Clinic Supervisor, Medical Assistant/Nurses/physicians, and Patients and their families.

The change management team

The four collaborators were identified in preparation for the proposed project. First, the clinic CEO was chosen because of her routine engagement in evidence-based practices aimed at reducing medical errors. Second, the Clinic supervisor was selected because of her potential influence on the widespread knowledge of patient safety and her expertise in providing quality care and reducing medical errors. Third, the medical assistants, nurses, and physicians were selected because they provide care to patients and understand the technical and ethical issues inherent in providing care. Fourth, the patients and their families will be involved in the project because they are the subject that the intervention will help in improving their outcomes.

A plan for communicating the change

The plan for communicating change will include clarifying to all stakeholders the need for change and the importance of reducing medical errors. The change agents will be selected, and they will be sent out to talk to nurses about the change. However, change agents must be fully informed about the importance of change (Harrison, 2017). The communication process will be made face-to-face because facial expressions will be key in getting the message across instead of using broadcast announcements and email. A feedback loop will be developed to get responses on what is not working and what needs to be addressed and adjusted (Harrison, 2017). Finally, communication will remain till the end to ensure compliance and acceptance.

The risk mitigation plans

Risk mitigation plans will involve risk identification, evaluation, and mitigation. The potential risks, such as costs, schedule, financial, and environmental, will be identified and recorded in a checklist (Qazi et al. 2016). Each risk will be evaluated to determine the probability that it will occur. A risk mitigation strategy will be developed to reduce the effect of the unexpected event through risk-sharing, avoidance, reduction, and transfer (Qazi et al. 2016). The mitigation plan identifies the risks and what will be done to eliminate the risk.

References

Ballantyne, H. (2018). An introduction to change management theory for veterinary nurses: part one. Veterinary Nursing Journal, 33(11), 305-308.

https://doi.org/10.1080/17415349.2018.1516123

Harrison, P. (2017). Communicating Change. Exploring Internal Communication (pp. 79-86). Routledge.

Hwang, J. I., & Ahn, J. (2015). Teamwork and clinical error were reported among nurses in Korean hospitals. Asian nursing research, 9(1), 14-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anr.2014.09.002

Khammarnia, M., Kassani, A., & Eslahi, M. (2015). The efficacy of patients’ wristband bar-code on the prevention of medical errors: a meta-analysis study. Applied clinical informatics, 6(4), 716. https://doi.org/10.4338/ACI-2015-06-R-0077

Makary, M. A., & Daniel, M. (2016). Medical error—the third leading cause of death in the US. BMJ. 353. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i2139

Qazi, A., Quigley, J., Dickson, A., & Kirytopoulos, K. (2016). Project Complexity and Risk Management (ProCRiM): Towards modeling, project complexity is driven by risk paths in construction projects. International journal of project management, 34(7), 1183-1198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2016.05.008

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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.

Change Implementation and Management Plan

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

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

Change Implementation and Management Plan

Create a 5- or 6-slide narrated PowerPoint that presents a comprehensive plan to implement the changes you propose.

Your narrated presentation should be 5–6 minutes in length.

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 addressing the risks anticipated by the change you propose.