Introduction
When working as a master’s prepared nurse, it is important to understand some of the key aspects that would define one’s capability or capacity to work as a nurse, as masters programs offer high-level training to nurses. The high-level training programs offered through masters programs allow them to prepare for any eventualities or challenges arising within the nursing practice. In addition, masters programs also provide nurses with information that they would require in their bid to engaging in progressive change. The key element of focus for this report is to address a key health care delivery situation that would require change as a way of evaluating the role of master’s prepared nurses in working as change agents.
Health Care Delivery Situation
One key health care delivery situation occurring within the nursing practice is poor communication between nurses and nursing leaders, which act as a major challenge in the achievement of set goals and objectives. In nursing practice, communication is one of the key elements that define the possibility of success in the handling of specific issues or challenges arising within the nursing profession. However, McMillan (2015) argues that the nursing profession has experienced a significant disconnection between nursing leaders and nurses attributed to lack of effective communication.
Therefore, this suggests the need for change within the organizational setting in a bid to creating that progressive platform that would define overall effectiveness in allowing nurses to gain the expected motivation that guarantees success. On the other hand, changing nursing practice to incorporate enhanced communication is important, as it would increase motivation for nurses working within different health settings to guarantee that connection to health care delivery.
Leadership Theory
One key leadership theory that master’s prepared nurses can apply in dealing with the issue of poor communication, as highlighted and discussed in the previous section, is the behavioral theory of leadership. As the name suggests, this theory focuses more on ensuring that leaders understand the need for change in behaviors among their followers, as this would provide them with that basic front from which to engage as leaders (Mitchell, 2013). The application of this theory would create the need for the master’s prepared nurses to develop a taxonomy of actions.
The actions would be focused towards ensuring that nursing leaders and nurses understand the need for communication as one of the key tools that would define their need for performance. However, it would be important for the master’s prepared nurses to understand that their actions must be identified within a broad pattern, which would help in defining the outcomes expected. Ultimately, this would mean that the nurses would engage in such actions based on their understanding of the projected outcomes in promoting enhanced communication.
Proposed Plan
A proposed plan for change that the master’s prepared nurse would initiate as part of addressing the health care delivery situation would involve creating provisions that would involve regular consultative meetings. Holding of consultative meetings regularly is one of the key steps towards ensuring that nursing leaders engage with nurses, as it creates a platform where nurses are allowed to present their views and ideas on the functionality of a facility. In this case, the master’s prepared nurse must be willing to focus more of his or her attention towards understanding some of the key expectations projected by some of the nurses working within the facility. The consultative meetings would act as one of the key steps towards allowing nurses to share such information.
Strategies to Initiate Change
The first key strategy that the master’s prepared nurse can utilize is personal counseling to ensure that nurses develop a positive attitude towards the change expected within the facility. Montani, Courcy, Giorgi, and Boilard (2015) argue that one of the key challenges that change agents ought to expect when implementing change is a lack of commitment from specific employees due to uncertainties associated with changes. However, engagement in personal counseling would help the nursing leaders to address some of the queries that the nurses may have with regard to the change expected within the facility.
The second key strategy utilized by the master’s prepared nurse is effective education and training as part of providing the nurses with a complementary understanding of the changes occurring within the facility. In this case, the change reflects on changing the mode of communication within the facility to ensure that it is somewhat easier for nursing leaders and nurses to engage. Thus, this would mean that the master’s prepared nurse must focus more on outlining some of the key advantages of enhanced communication in a bid to attracting the attention of other nurses.
The third strategy that the master’s prepared nurse may utilize as part of the platform for change initiation allowing all other nurses to share their ideas on some of the key areas associated with the change that they may require changing. In most cases, nursing leaders encounter a situation where they tend to lack the platform that would allow them to engage effectively when dealing with other nurses. In such cases, it would be essential for the nursing leaders to seek a common ground from which to engage with the nurses, as this would provide them with clarity on the changed expected.
Lastly, the master’s prepared nurse must be ready to answer any queries or issues associated with the changes expected, as this would define whether the nurses are motivated towards the same. Lack of a clear cut definition of the key components associated with change leads to a situation where some of the nurses may find themselves experiencing increased negativity associated with the change. However, it would be essential for a nursing leader to evaluate the extent of the queries and provide nurses with a sense of satisfaction.
Essential Elements to be an Effective Change Agent
The first essential element needed by a master’s prepared nurse to becoming an effective change agent is having a clear vision of the change, as this would define the prospects of success for the change. When acting as a change agent, one defines the course of actions that others would engage, thus, meaning that it would be important to have a clear vision that would define the strategic direction for the changes expected.
The second essential element is that a master’s prepared nurse must be patient but also be persistent, as this would help outline the importance of the change expected while providing nurses with a front allowing them to understand the dynamics. Change agents ought to understand their role in building sustainable changes that would have effective outcomes for all stakeholders involved. In this case, it would be essential for the master’s prepared nurse to become persistent especially in the results as a way of highlighting the value of the expected change.
The third key element that a master’s prepared nurse must adopt in a bid to becoming an effective change agent is the need for monitoring the implementation process to establish some of the key areas to expect challenges. When implementing change, it is important to note that nursing leaders tend to encounter a wide array of challenges some of which are evident from the onslaught of the change. Certainly, this highlights the need for a master’s prepared nurse to embark on an evaluation of the change implementation process to alienate some of these challenges.
Why the Leadership Role is an Integral Component
The leadership role is an integral component for a master’s prepared nurse, as it provides him or her with an opportunity of leading by example in a bid to guaranteeing overall success margins. When working as a master’s prepared nurse, one of the key elements that nurses encounter is that they are somewhat knowledgeable meaning that they have a higher amount of knowledge that would define their actions. In such cases, working as a leader would require such nurses to overstretch their limits in a bid to establishing their character and credibility. The leadership role of a master’s prepared nurse would be somewhat different when compared to the leadership role of another nurse, as the master’s prepared nurse understands the value of maintaining touch with his or her followers. However, this would require them to lead others by example, as this would provide them with that opportunity of exerting their influence on other nurses based on what they expect with regard to performance.
Definition of Interprofessional Collaboration and Communication
Intraprofessional collaboration refers to the alliance of different professionals working within the same field of study in funding effective solutions to the challenges experienced in the profession. On the other hand, intraprofessional communication refers to the communication among professionals working within the same field allowing them to engage as part of their position in finding possible solutions to an issue or challenge.
References
McMillan, K. (2015). The critical bricolage: Uniquely advancing organizational and nursing knowledge on the subject of rapid and continuous change in health care. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 14(4), 1-8.
Mitchell, G. (2013). Selecting the best theory to implement planned change: Improving the workplace requires staff to be involved and innovations to be maintained. Gary Mitchell discusses the theories that can help achieve this. Nursing Management, 20(1), 32-37.
Montani, F., Courcy, F., Giorgi, G., & Boilard, A. (2015). Enhancing nurses' empowerment: the role of supervisors' empowering management practices. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 71(9), 2129-2141.
