Change champions are vital for healthcare organizations as they help integrate novelties necessary for improving the quality of services and patient outcomes. Furthermore, such employees advocate for the continuing education and practice scope expanse among their colleagues, enabling them to evolve and become better specialists (Miech et al., 2018). You also mentioned the crucial aspect of change leaders’ activities — the engagement of nurses to meet the healthcare system’s goals and address the inevitable challenges. Indeed, implementing strategic initiatives that encourage the organization to update its practices continuously is a mission of change champions in facilities of all types. You also identified the role of opinion leaders in achieving goals oriented on better quality and patient outcomes. I agree with your statement that such individuals are “respected sources of information connected to novel ideas and possess sufficient interpersonal skills to influence others’ decision-making.” Human resources of any organization must integrate change champions and opinion leaders to the collectives where the practice updates are urgent.
The alternative perspective to assess the importance of change champions and opinion leaders in a healthcare organization is to view how their administration and team-building improve the workplace environment and services’ quality. Human resources must consider that individuals at the executive positions might not be the actual authorities for other employees. Moreover, opinion leaders are frequently the most experienced or proven reliable team members, who have the decision-making and recommendation power regardless of their post (Spoon et al., 2020). Valuable insight from your post is that change champions can develop and advocate for unique solutions for organizations’ issues and achieve the goals efficiently with qualified managers. Indeed, the leaders can select the most appropriate strategy to adopt a novel project or significantly improve the practice by influencing, encouraging, and motivating the team.
Progress cannot be achieved without updating old operations and integrating novel practices, and, in a healthcare organization setting, change champions are vital for successful development. Furthermore, massive challenges frequently occur and damage the team members’ motivation, and a person who advocates and supports the culture of novelties integration can help maintain the selected direction (Cullen et al., 2020). You correctly pointed out that “champions have long been regarded as key facilitators for successful change efforts in healthcare.” Another type of employee crucial for an organization’s services improvement is the opinion leader, perceived as a reliable advisor in different cases. I agree with your interpretation of such individuals as valuable sources of information with sufficient communication skills. The collaborative work of change champions and opinion leaders can result in the successful and efficient implementation of progress-oriented projects to enhance the services and impact patient outcomes.
The alternative perspective to view the performance of change champions and opinion leaders is to develop a hypothetical model of a healthcare organization’s collective without them. Indeed, human recourses may avoid hiring or promoting employees with bright leadership and communication skills to maintain the strict organizational structure and decrease a chance for pivotal updates in operations. You mentioned a valuable detail that practice changes require additional support, such as finances, workforce, and time; thus, facilities might have reasonable arguments to avoid change. However, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that adaptive teams and healthcare organizations are in advantageous positions and can address the severe challenge without significantly losing quality and worsening patient outcomes (Daly et al., 2020). Change champions and opinion leaders are highly valuable for any team, and their willingness to improve the practice is necessary for assisting employees and organizations in adapting to unstable working conditions.
References
Cullen, L., Hanrahan, K., Farrington, M., Anderson, R., Dimmer, E., Miner, R., Suchan, T., & Rod, E. (2020). Evidence-based practice change champion program improves quality care. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 50(3), 128-134. Web.
Daly, J., Jackson, D., Anders, R., & Davidson, P. M. (2020). Who speaks for nursing? COVID‐19 highlighting gaps in leadership. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 29(15-16), 2751-2752. Web.
Miech, E. J., Rattray, N. A., Flanagan, M. E., Damschroder, L., Schmid, A. A., & Damush, T. M. (2018). Inside help: An integrative review of champions in healthcare-related implementation.SAGE Open Medicine, 6, 2050312118773261. Web.
Spoon, D., Rietbergen, T., Huis, A., Heinen, M., van Dijk, M., van Bodegom-Vos, L., & Ista, E. (2020). Implementation strategies used to implement nursing guidelines in daily practice: A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 111, 103748. Web.