Change is an inevitable element of progress and development since it signifies the work on the drawbacks of the past for better achievements in the future. In the field of health care, continuous change based on the latest evidence-based practice research drive performance excellence and lead to the improvement of patient health outcomes in the long-term perspective. When introducing and implementing change in a health care setting, it is essential to validate it with a theoretical framework that would drive the change in professionals’ behavior in response to the required change (Ceccato et al., 2007). However, any change is characterized by the facilitating and constraining factors that should be leveraged for the change to occur successfully. This paper will address the barriers to change associated with the implementation of augmented reality into surgery practices in a surgery ward setting and applicable change models capable of facilitating the implementation of change.
The prospective research site for the DNP research project might be characterized by several challenges hindering change due to the complexity of the investigated phenomenon. The complexity of change is implied in its definition, which holds that change is “the transformation of tasks, processes, methods, structures, and/or relationships” (White, 2019, p. 59). The proposed DNP project aims at transforming methods and processes, which will lead to changes in tasks completed by team members. Thus, one of the most relevant barriers to such a change might be employee resistance to change. This barrier is associated with the claim that the status quo is comfortable and change might be difficult (“NRDNP 870 module 7,” n. d.). However, Rosenbaum et al. (2018) claim that resistance to change should not be viewed as a negative issue but should be approached “from a position of improved understanding and involvement” (p. 287). Moreover, resource availability might be a significant barrier to the implementation of the research project’s change. Since it deals with the integration of computer-assisted surgery, it might be challenging to obtain the tools and initiate high-quality training that might be costly for the organization.
Another common but very significant constraint to change in any organizational setting is the lack of motivation. It is related to the assertion that unclear outcomes do not produce the expected driving force for the transformation (“NRDNP 870 module 7,” n. d.). In this regard, the integration of augmented reality in settings where conventional manual methods have been used might require convincing the stakeholders of the expected beneficial outcomes. This challenge is closely related to the next identified barrier, which is the complexity of the skill acquisition process. Indeed, it might be a long-term endeavor to implement the augmented reality solutions to practice with the preceding mastering of necessary skills by team members. Finally, stakeholder engagement obstacles might also serve as barriers to change since the decision-makers at the governing level should be persuaded about the benefits of the intended transformation.
In order to implement the planned change within the framework of the proposed DNP project, specific frameworks of change management should be used. The change models that would be applicable to the project include Lewin’s force field analysis and Havelock’s theory of planned change (White, 2019). The application of Lewin’s model is validated by its integration of both organizational and behavioral factors of change (Udod & Wagner, 2018). This model divides the forces into driving and constraining, the balance in which allows for a change to happen (Arab-Zozani et al., 2019). Lewin identified three stages of change, namely unfreezing, moving, and refreezing, which help guide the behavior and organizational structural changes. As for Havelock’s model, it presents a more detailed step-by-step guide that helps to address different challenges in sequential order. Ordered according to the acronym CREATER, the seven stages include care, relate, examine, acquire, try, extend, and renew (White, 2019). This model allows for the deliberate identification of possible challenges and drawbacks for driving exceptional quality of the outcome.
Thus, when implementing change under the framework of the DNP project, the proposed models of change will allow for more precise identification of the barriers to change. Moreover, they will help align the process of change with organizational goals and facilitate the driving forces so that they outweigh the constraints. When integrating augmented reality into the organization, the use of these models will provide frameworks for validating the need for change, motivating stakeholders, and justifying positive outcomes. Thus, change agents will be able to visualize the process of change, and multiple barriers to change will be eliminated. The stages that prioritize checking, trying, and improving imply successful transformation that will improve health care practice.
References
Arab-Zozani, M., Pezeshki, M. Z., Khodayari-Zarnaq, R., & Janati, A. (2019). Balancing overuse and underuse in the Iranian healthcare system: A force field theory analysis. Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences, 29(2), 231-238.
Ceccato, N. E., Ferris, L. E., Manuel, D., & Grimshaw, J. M. (2007). Adopting health behavior change theory throughout the clinical practice guideline process. Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 27(4), 201-207.
NRDNP 870 module 7. (n. d.). [PowerPoint slides].
Rosenbaum, D., More, E., & Steane, P. (2018). Planned organisational change management: Forward to the past? An exploratory literature review. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 31(2), 286-303.
Udod, S., & Wagner, J. (2018). Common change theories and application to different nursing situations. In Leadership and influencing change in nursing. Web.
White, K. M., Dudley-Brown, S. P., & Terhaar, M. F. (Eds.). (2019). Translation of evidence into nursing and healthcare. Springer Publishing.