Introduction
Promoting change in the operating room is a crucial step in improving the quality of nursing services therein. Alterations in the specified environment contribute to a significant improvement of services quality. Additionally, the process of information transfer is enhanced significantly once the required changes in the organizational behavior and information management are made among the nursing staff (Miller & Andrews, 2013). Therefore, facilitating change in the designated environment is crucial for the safety and recovery of the patients.
Factors to Consider Prior to Changing the Setting
The specifics of the nursing setting, in which the alterations occur, often define the speed and significance of the changes in question. Moreover, the environment, in which nursing changes take place, incorporates the factors that either hamper the process or, on the contrary, promote it. Therefore, manifesting change in the operating room may be somewhat different from the
Unique Factors
There is no need to stress the fact that the environment of an operating room is unique and, therefore, needs very specific actions to be taken to promote changes in the designated area without disrupting the key processes. Since the process of surgery is very delicate and requires a significant amount of care, promoting changes in the specified environment needs compliance with a range of requirements. Particularly, the alterations in question will have to include an adoption of a different leadership strategy. Although teamwork is essential in all domains of healthcare, it is absolutely indispensable in the operation room, as any form of surgery demands that the actions of the staff should be well-coordinated (Giltiane, 2013). Therefore, the principles of transformational leadership (Curtis, Vries, & Sheerin, 2012), which involves the assumption of a professional responsibility by the nursing staff, are crucial for a nurse to have in the environment of an operating room.
General Factors
Apart from the factors mentioned above, the internal ones, i.e., the ones that do not pertain to the specific environment of the hospital, deserve to be listed. First and most obvious, the problem regarding helping the staff in adjusting to the new environment will have to be addressed.
The communication issue should also brought up as one of the essential elements to be addressed. There is no need to stress that the changes, which will occur in the operating room, will affect the way, in which information is transferred from one member of the hospital to another. Moreover, the specified alterations will trigger a significant shift in the very process of retaining data and keeping it safe from the possible instances of a security breach. Herein the need for a nurse to make sure that the existing data security systems work properly, as well as enhance the latter, if possible, lies.
Finally, the disruption in the traditional course of actions will cause the need to rearrange the coordination process. Consequently, the roles and responsibilities of each staff member will have to be revisited. A nurse, therefore, will have to make sure that they are familiar with their role and responsibilities and ready to implement the current tasks.
Identifying an Opportunity for Change
Changing a nursing environment is essential for the sake of providing patients with opportunities to recover. As long as nurses keep the realm, in which they work, changing, new chances for nurses to acquire new skills as well as improving the current ones will emerge. Seeing that recent technological innovations allow for enhancing the communication process between a nurse and a patient, as well as among nurses, significantly, impressive opportunities for change can be seized by nurses to alter operating rooms (Labrague, Arteche, Yboa, & Pacolor, 2013).
Using Research to Initiate Change
The process of change can be accomplished with the help of research. By carrying out vast observations and reporting on the outcomes of various experiments on the subject matter, one will be able to locate the problems that need to be handled. Particularly, the principles of evidence-based research (EBP) will have to be integrated into the process. Defined as “a decision-making process that integrates the best available research evidence with family and professional wisdom and values” (Buysse, Witton, Rous, Epstein, & Lim 2015), EBP is related directly to the implementation of the theoretical tenets and adjusting the existing strategies to the environment of a certain hospital (Glymph, 2015).
Conclusion: Change as an Essential Element of Growth
Promoting change in the nursing environment is essential to the enhancement of services quality. As long as nurses acquire new skills and seek new options for improving the quality of care, the opportunities for recovery will remain high among the patients; moreover, the chances for successful treatment are only going to grow. The specified phenomenon is also applicable in the operating room setting; unless alterations are regularly made to the basic nursing processes occurring in the course of a surgery, patients will unable to recover fast; moreover, the later may face numerous complications emerging due to a drop in the nursing process quality. Herein the significance of updating the operating room services lies.
While the subject matter concerns the skills of nurses primarily, the issue regarding the communication process also needs to be addressed. The incorporation of modern IT tools in the nursing process is a welcome change of pace in the realm of nursing, as it will allow for retrieving feedback from patients as well as the data regarding the course of the surgery in a manner as expeditious as possible.
Reference List
Buysse, V., Witton, P. J., Rous, B., Epstein, D. J., & Lim, C.-I. (2015). Evidence-based practice. Web.
Curtis, E. A., Vries, J. d., & Sheerin, F. K. (2013). Developing leadership in nursing: Exploring core factors. British Journal of Nursing, 20(5), 306–309.
Giltiane, C. L. (2013). Leadership styles and theories. Nursing Standard, 27(41), 35–39.
Glymph, D. (2015). Healthcare utilizing deliberate discussion linking events (HUDDLE): A systematic review. AANA Journal, 83(3), 183–188.
Labrague, L. J., Arteche, D. L., Yboa, B. C., & Pacolor, N. F. (2013). Operating room nurses’ knowledge and practice of sterile technique. Journal of Nursing Care, 1(4), 1–4.
Miller, L. J., & Andrews, J. (2013). Utilizing first occurrence, nursing behavior, and growth data to enhance animal management: An example with African elephants. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 26(1), 19–25.