Information technologies are detrimental to the contemporary health care services. However, since the technologies tend to develop very quickly, it is necessary for healthcare organizations and practitioner to be able to adjust and adopt changes rapidly. In an ideal situation, nurses who come to work to a certain facility should already have the knowledge of the required systems and be ready to work with them (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018). This is not always the case and, in many situations, new technologies have to be introduced to the staff during their practice. The adoption of new EHRs is often associated with resistance to change. Consequently, the professionals involved in the introduction of the technology and the nursing staff training have to prepare the nurses for the change. In this paper, an approach to a meeting with nurses concerning the implementation of a new EHR system will be discussed using the theory of Everett Rogers.
Approaches to the Meeting with Nurses
According to Rogers (2003), there are five major qualities involved in the diffusion of innovations; they are the relative advantage, compatibility with existing values, simplicity, triability, and observable results. Preparing for a meeting with nursing staff, a nurse facilitator needs to take into account all of these qualities in order to ensure understanding and acceptance of the new technology. Resistance to change is not a rare phenomenon; and it can occur in any organization where new systems and technologies are implemented (Predişcan, Braduţanu, & Roiban, 2013). Moreover, resistance to change can dictate the overall success of its implementation (Yılmaz & Kılıçoğlu, 2013). Practically, over the course of the meeting, the facilitator’s task is to present the new technology in a way that would ensure a positive reaction of the staff and minimize their resistance to this change. In this regard, the five qualities of innovation diffusion mentioned previously could be rather helpful (Sahin, 2006).
Information and Activities
Using the five qualities as guidance for the successful introduction of the new EHR system, it is important to begin with outlining the advantages that this technology can offer. This task is in line with the first quality – relative advantage – according to which, the new technology needs to be perceived by its users as an improvement compared to the previous system (Robinson, 2009). Consequently, the presentation needs to contain information for the nurses emphasizing the practical benefits of the new EHR system. In order to match the requirements of the second quality – compatibility with the existing values – it is important that the information presented by to the users emphasizes the reasons why this change is implemented.
Further, such qualities as simplicity and traibility can be combined in a single activity. Namely, the users could be introduced to the interface of the new EHR system, and several nurses could be invited to try using it right in front of the rest of the audience. This way, everyone would be able to see that the new system is easy to use and can be navigated even by people who have not used it before. Finally, the last quality – observable results – can be included in the presentation in the form of evidence signifying the effectiveness of the introduced technology. By reviewing the reports of other hospitals who have adopted it earlier, a nurse facilitator can gather relevant evidence to convince the audience about the efficiency and benefits of the technology under discussion.
Addressing Resistance
The aforementioned activities will help minimize resistance to change that is already present in the facility to some degree. To be more precise, resistance to change is usually dictated by such factors as the fear that the new technology would be difficult to master, the idea that it may slow down or complicate the habitual working process, and that it would not generate any advantages for the users. During the presentation, by demonstrating the user interface of the new system and allowing the nurses to try it out for themselves, the facilitator can address worries related to the adjustment to the new technology. Also, by presenting evidence that shows the benefits this technology provided in other hospitals, the facilitator can help users understand the need for this change and accept it readily.
Role of Nurses and Change Agents
Nurses represent the largest segment of the healthcare labor force in the United States. As a result, nurses are the practitioners who gather, process, and respond to a huge amount of information concerning the systems and operations that work well and the ones that require changes. In turn, nurses should be the ones to initiate change, advocate for it, and, of course, accept it when it comes. Flexibility and resistance to change are common issues in any industry and profession.
However, in nursing, frequent change is a necessity because this professional field has to deal with some of the most common health care problems and, consequently, has to start finding and adopting solutions for them. Being a significant part of the constantly evolving health care industry, nurses often serve as the agents of change who collect the information needed for its planning and implementation. However, barriers to change faced by the professionals working in this field slow down their performance as change agents creating resistance. This is why such barriers have to be addressed in a timely manner in order to prepare the existing nurses for the future adjustments.
Summary
In the field of nursing, change occurs frequently. Most commonly, it is driven and dictated by the need for quality improvement. In the contemporary healthcare, change is often related to the introduction and integration of new information technologies. Unfortunately, due to the fact that not all nurses are equally tech-savvy, organizational change related to nursing informatics is usually met with a portion of resistance. The latter can be addressed with the help of the five qualities of change diffusion outlined by Roberts (2003). The qualities include the basic set of factors related to the successful implementation of change, as well as its acceptance by the potential users of the introduced innovations.
Conclusion
Nurse facilitators involved in the introduction of change to the nursing staff face a series of challenges as their major task is to achieve a higher level of acceptance of the upcoming change and to minimize resistance among employees. Using the five qualities of change diffusion, nurse facilitators can navigate through their tasks quite easily and address all the drivers of resistance by introducing the new technology in a comprehensive manner so that the staff members could see the benefits it can offer for their everyday performance and develop confidence in regard to the use of the new system.
References
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2018). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
Predişcan, M., Braduţanu, D., & Roiban, R. (2013). Forces that enhance or reduce employee resistance to change. Web.
Robinson. L. (2009). A summary of diffusion of innovations.Web.
Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York, NY: Free Press.
Sahin, I. (2006). Detailed review of Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theory and educational technology-related studies based on Rogers’ theory. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 5(2), 14-23.
Yılmaz, D., & Kılıçoğlu, G. (2013). Resistance to change and ways of reducing resistance in educational organizations. European Journal of Research on Education, 1(1), 14-21.