Managing Barriers And Fostering Mentorship Discussion

While different organizations across various industries and sectors advocate for positive change, healthcare is perhaps the one sector that experiences changes in part due to the incessant research and innovation that takes place. While lauding this pole position in healthcare, Khan, and Smuts (2019) have cautioned that the requisite changes that are needed from employees and organizations do not come so easily. In view of this, there are barriers that need to be considered when a change in practice is intended. In the context of this short report, three barriers are analyzed. A key barrier mentioned by researchers such as Wykes et al. (2018) is the assumption by organizations that effecting change in practice is easy. Leaders in healthcare must be aware that change is faced with a multitude of barriers key among them being that people generally are slow in embracing change. In truth, people seek the maintenance of the status quo because they are unwilling to step into the unknown, especially within sensitive disciplines such as nursing. The second barrier is the lack of awareness of what the proposed changes bring to the organizations and individual employees. According to Camargo et al. (2018), the fact that these changes are untested within the organization, it is hard to quantify or conceptualize what exactly the benefits will likely be. There is also the barrier of nurses and other healthcare practitioners being too busy to learn (Murray, Woodside & Braunscheidel, 2020)Managing Barriers And Fostering Mentorship Discussion. The healthcare organization is sometimes very busy leaving practitioners with almost no time to take up new changes as they come.

Theory suggests that change-related issues be analyzed through the micro and macro levels by individual employees. Following this and in the context of change introduction in a healthcare setting, there are three ways in which the identified issues could be managed and perhaps alleviate the acceptance of the change. Firstly, it is necessary that all parties impacted by the change be made aware of the change process and its importance. Assume, for instance, that a new EHR system is proposed for the organization. Recognizing the nursing and physician teams are the ones whose operations will be impacted the most, it benefits to engage with them prior to the introduction to the new system and why the existing one is being replaced. Secondly, communication needs to be done effectively and in a timely manner. In order to increase the chances of change acceptance, the management needs to regularly communicate with members of the organization about the proposed changes. Doing this according to Bordoni et al. (2019) allows input from the concerned parties where the concerns are addressed and discussed. An aspect of communication that should be applied during a change process is truthfulness, straightforwardness, and timeliness from the healthcare organization. This way, employees are beforehand made aware and psychologically prepared for the impending changes. According to Khan, and Smuts (2019)Managing Barriers And Fostering Mentorship Discussion, communication helps prepare for the transition process. Thirdly, phased implementation would help manage the identified issue of unwillingness to change or lack of time to adapt to changes. Introducing changes in phases allows for gradual changes to take place which prepares the team for the ultimate shift from a particular way of practice to the proposed new model. A key benefit of using this approach is that practitioners are not bombarded with too many changes instantly.

Nursing practice is evidence-based and nascent practitioners profit a lot from being mentored by their more experienced peers. There are two areas that I will need mentoring in as I engage in EBP. One, I need to hone my skills and practice in applying recently available evidence for practice. Evidence-based practice requires nurse practitioners to base their practice on the best and most recent evidence from various sources. It would benefit me to be made aware of the available ways of accessing this information. For example, giving oxygen to COPD patients, I need to be guided on the proposed and recently approved ways and measures for doing this. A second area that I need mentorship in is optimizing patient care in my position as a registered nurse. In theory, I am aware of the use and application of the PICOT framework but a little guidance from a more experienced RN would go a long way in honing my skills in EBP Managing Barriers And Fostering Mentorship Discussion.

Recognizing that nursing practice is very dynamic and that a multitude of evidence-based practices is being developed by the day, there are a number of particular needs that I anticipate. I need, for example, to improve my skills in critical thinking. I am aware that evidence-based practice calls for practitioners to keep abreast of developments in practice and on specific conditions and diseases. To aid me in this, I need to work on my critical thinking skills as they will improve my decision-making. I also need to work on my skills in communication. Through this course and modules, I have learned the importance of communication. In a healthcare setting, communication will involve interacting and engaging more with colleagues and patients. Evidence-based practice is best realized when the nurses communicate effectively so that they are able to better understand and share information to be applied in practice Managing Barriers And Fostering Mentorship Discussion.

References

Bordoni, M. G., Baum, A., García, G., Moriñigo, P., Luna, D. R., Otero, P., … & de Quirós, F. B. G. (2019, August). Change Management in Healthcare Organizations: Soft Skills Training Strategies Through Blended Learning Environments. In MedInfo (pp. 1999-2000). https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI190754

Camargo, F. C., Iwamoto, H. H., Galvão, C. M., Pereira, G. D. A., Andrade, R. B., & Masso, G. C. (2018). Competences and barriers for the evidence-based practice in nursing: an integrative review. Revista brasileira de enfermagem, 71, 2030-2038. https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2016-0617

Khan, H. U., & Smuts, R. G. (2019). A comparison of change management guidelines to address technology adoption barriers: A case study of higher educational institutions. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology, 97(7), 1999-2021.

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Murray, M. K., Woodside, S., & Braunscheidel, M. (2020). Project Management and Change Management: Working Together for Effective Organizational Change. The BRC Academy Journal of Business, 10(1). https://dx.doi.org/10.15239/j.brcacadjb.2020.10.01.ja04

Wykes, T., Csipke, E., Rose, D., Craig, T., McCrone, P., Williams, P., … & Nash, S. (2018). VOCALISE: barriers to change. In Patient involvement in improving the evidence base on mental health inpatient care: the PERCEIVE programme. NIHR Journals Library Managing Barriers And Fostering Mentorship Discussion