Downsizing a Nursing Department
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An increasing number of hospitals, in the pursuit of goals related to both efficiency and effectiveness, are implementing reorganization schemes that frequently involve downsizing, decentralization, or some combination of downsizing and decentralization (Barrett, 1995, p. 24). Among health care professionals, nurses tend to be those most frequently displaced by the contemporary downsizing and decentralization strategies (Suderman, 1995, p. 7). While the size of the nursing staff in the acute care hospital that is the setting for the planned change must be reduced, the major nursing problem involves the need to preserve the quality of patient care while accomplishing the downsizing objectives.Downsizing of the nursing department will occur is so directed by the hospital administration. The objective of the nursing administrators in this situation is to develop a change strategy for the nursing department, gain hospital administration approval for the strategy, gain nursing staff support for the strategy, and implement a strategy that will serve the interests of patient care, the nursing staff, and the hospital to the maximum extent feasible given the constraints of downsizing. Literature is reviewed that is relevant to changes in the health care environment in the United States that affect such strategiess as downsizing. Literature also is reviewed in relation to theory to support and facilitate organizational change. Two such theoretical models ar
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ion of change associated with the downsizing of the nursing department in an acute care hospital. The theory is referred to as "change theory" in the remainder of this review. The principal elements change theory are force field, motivators, and stages (Goad & Hough, 1993, p. 185). The force field is comprised of factors that function both as driving forces and as restraining forces with respect to a specific action or phenomenon (Goad & Hough, 1993, p. 186). Force field analysis also provides for a status quo wherein driving and restraining forces are in balance. Motivators for change are defined as confirmations that some form of desirable outcome is not being attained under existing operational conditions. The specific outcomes that are not occurring are defined in change theory as the non-accomplishment of a desired job, a non-obtaining of wants and needs, and the non-achievement of growth or maturation (Goad & Hough, 1993, p. 187).
Three stages are structured into change theory (Goad & Hough, 1993, p. 187). The first stage, "unfreezing," is defined as the period wherein "change agents create dissatisfaction," while "inspiring the motivation to accept some type of change" (goad & Hough, 1993, p. 187). The second stage
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Schneller Ott, Gillies Devers, Analysis Five, Goad Hough, Evaluation Analysis, Hyde Fottler, Evaluating Evaluating, Department Education, , Change Theory, planned change, mshp program, nursing administration, change agent, health care, change theory, nursing department, acute care, acute care hospital, care hospital, health services, goad hough 1993, lewin's change theory, gillies devers 1995, hough 1993 187,
Approximate Word count = 4213
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page)
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