LDR 615 Benchmark – Change Initiative: Implementation, Evaluation, and Sustainability 

Grand Canyon University LDR 615 Benchmark – Change Initiative: Implementation, Evaluation, and Sustainability– Step-By-Step Guide

This guide will demonstrate how to complete the Grand Canyon University LDR 615 Benchmark – Change Initiative: Implementation, Evaluation, and Sustainability assignment based on general principles of academic writing. Here, we will show you the A, B, Cs of completing an academic paper, irrespective of the instructions. After guiding you through what to do, the guide will leave one or two sample essays at the end to highlight the various sections discussed below.

How to Research and Prepare for LDR 615 Benchmark – Change Initiative: Implementation, Evaluation, and Sustainability                      

Whether one passes or fails an academic assignment such as the Grand Canyon University LDR 615 Benchmark – Change Initiative: Implementation, Evaluation, and Sustainability     depends on the preparation done beforehand. The first thing to do once you receive an assignment is to quickly skim through the requirements. Once that is done, start going through the instructions one by one to clearly understand what the instructor wants. The most important thing here is to understand the required format—whether it is APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.

After understanding the requirements of the paper, the next phase is to gather relevant materials. The first place to start the research process is the weekly resources. Go through the resources provided in the instructions to determine which ones fit the assignment. After reviewing the provided resources, use the university library to search for additional resources. After gathering sufficient and necessary resources, you are now ready to start drafting your paper.

How to Write the Introduction for LDR 615 Benchmark – Change Initiative: Implementation, Evaluation, and Sustainability                      

The introduction for the Grand Canyon University LDR 615 Benchmark – Change Initiative: Implementation, Evaluation, and Sustainability    is where you tell the instructor what your paper will encompass. In three to four statements, highlight the important points that will form the basis of your paper. Here, you can include statistics to show the importance of the topic you will be discussing. At the end of the introduction, write a clear purpose statement outlining what exactly will be contained in the paper. This statement will start with “The purpose of this paper…” and then proceed to outline the various sections of the instructions.

How to Write the Body for LDR 615 Benchmark – Change Initiative: Implementation, Evaluation, and Sustainability                      

After the introduction, move into the main part of the LDR 615 Benchmark – Change Initiative: Implementation, Evaluation, and Sustainability    assignment, which is the body. Given that the paper you will be writing is not experimental, the way you organize the headings and subheadings of your paper is critically important. In some cases, you might have to use more subheadings to properly organize the assignment. The organization will depend on the rubric provided. Carefully examine the rubric, as it will contain all the detailed requirements of the assignment. Sometimes, the rubric will have information that the normal instructions lack.

Another important factor to consider at this point is how to do citations. In-text citations are fundamental as they support the arguments and points you make in the paper. At this point, the resources gathered at the beginning will come in handy. Integrating the ideas of the authors with your own will ensure that you produce a comprehensive paper. Also, follow the given citation format. In most cases, APA 7 is the preferred format for nursing assignments.

How to Write the Conclusion for LDR 615 Benchmark – Change Initiative: Implementation, Evaluation, and Sustainability                      

After completing the main sections, write the conclusion of your paper. The conclusion is a summary of the main points you made in your paper. However, you need to rewrite the points and not simply copy and paste them. By restating the points from each subheading, you will provide a nuanced overview of the assignment to the reader.

How to Format the References List for LDR 615 Benchmark – Change Initiative: Implementation, Evaluation, and Sustainability                      

The very last part of your paper involves listing the sources used in your paper. These sources should be listed in alphabetical order and double-spaced. Additionally, use a hanging indent for each source that appears in this list. Lastly, only the sources cited within the body of the paper should appear here.

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A Sample Answer For LDR 615 Benchmark – Change Initiative: Implementation, Evaluation, and Sustainability 

Nurses and other healthcare providers play an essential role in promoting optimum health outcomes for the populations they care. They adopt evidence-based interventions that address current and emerging needs in healthcare. Part of the nurses’ role in healthcare entails the analysis of the healthcare environment to identify opportunities for change and improve the performance of their organizations. Safety and quality issues in nursing and healthcare threaten the realization of the desired care outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the issue of medication errors in my practice site and utilization of the developed theory to propose approaches to address it.

Issues in the Area and Outcomes

The practice site is a hospital that provides general and specialized care for diverse patient populations. The organization leads in the region in the provision of high-quality, safe and efficient care. Despite its reputation, the hospital has witnessed a rise in the medication error rate above the quarterly benchmark data. Medication errors comprise a safety issue in nursing and healthcare. Medication errors are largely defined as preventable events that increases the risk of harm or inappropriate medication use(Escrivá Gracia et al., 2019). Medication errors occur when the medication is under the  care or handle of  a healthcare provider or patients.

The rise in medication errors have had negative outcomes on patients and the organization. Some of the patients have suffered unintended harm because of the errors. Issues such as drug interactions and adverse drug reaction cause unintended harm to the affected patients. Medication errors have also increased costs that patients incur. The harm from medication errors results in increased length of hospital stay and complex care, hence, high costs of care. Medication errors have also increased resource utilization in the organization. The hospital uses most of its resources to manage preventable harm to the patients, hence, a decline in its performance(Alghamdi et al., 2019; Thomas et al., 2019). Therefore, change initiatives to address the issue of medication errors should be implemented.

External and or Internal Driving Forces

Medication errors arise from some internal driving force. One of them is nursing shortage. The shortage of nurses increases the workload, occupational stress, and burnout among the few nurses. Increased workload and burnout are crucial predictors of medication errors in nursing. The other internal driving force is the number of medications. The risk of a medication error increases when a patient is on multi-drug therapy. Dual therapy also predisposes patients to committing the errors if they have low level of understanding about the use of the medications. The other internal driving force contributing to medication errors is the lack of medication administration protocols. Examples include nurses being non-adherent to the use of the five rights of medication administration and double checking to minimize the risk of medication errors(Alghamdi et al., 2019; Escrivá Gracia et al., 2019; Thomas et al., 2019). The additional internal driving forces include the lack of teamwork, organizational culture, and lack of competency among staff on the use of technologies for medication processes. Medication errors affect patients, nurses, physicians, and pharmacists.

Stakeholders Involved

A change initiative to address the issue of medication should be adopted. The change initiative will involve several stakeholders. They will include nurses, nurse leaders, nurse managers, physicians, and pharmacists. The proposed change entails training the stakeholders about the best practices for the prevention and minimization of medication errors. The proposed change will affect the stakeholders. The change will require the adoption of new behaviors among the healthcare providers(Escrivá Gracia et al., 2019). They will also have to engage in continuous improvement initiatives in the practice site to ensure the adoption of best practices to prevent and minimize medication errors.

Role and Responsibility as a Change Leader

I will play several roles as a change leader. One of the roles is assessing readiness for change among the stakeholders. Informed assessment data should inform the implementation of the proposed change. Change leaders utilize interventions such as administering staff surveys and interviewing them to determine the readiness for change and needs. The other role is communicating the need for change. The adopters of change should be made away of why the existing system and processes should change. They should be provided with accurate information about the negative effect of the current situation and need for change.The other role as a change leader is managing change. The risk of resistance to change among the adopters is high. As a result, I will adopt interventions such as staff training and their active involvement to facilitate their readiness of change(Dang et al., 2021). The additional roles include communicating plans for change, keeping track of change initiatives, and connecting change initiative to strategy.

Leadership Theory

I will adopt participative leadership theory when implementing the proposed change. Participative leadership theory recognizes the need for leaders seeking input from the followers before implementing an initiative. Leaders encourage followers to express their insights into how to implement the change and best strategies to achieve the desired outcomes. Participative theory will promote stakeholder empowerment and ownership of the change initiative(Dang et al., 2021; Nilsen et al., 2020). I will retain the right to enable the followers to give input about the change.

Change Agents and their Roles

The change agents for the proposed change will be varied. They will include nurse leaders, nurse managers, a physician and pharmacist. Nurse leaders will lobby for the resources needed for the change. They will also provide supervisory roles in the change implementation process. They will provide insights into best practices that can be adopted to achieve the desired project outcomes. Nurse managers will work closely with the nurses in the implementation of change. They will provide the supervisory role and obtain feedback from the nurses on how the change outcomes can be improved further. The physician and pharmacist will be involved in the development of change strategies that will meet the needs of other physicians and pharmacists. They must be involved in the process since they prescribe and dispense drugs. Therefore, their role contributes to the medication errors in nursing and healthcare.

Utilization of the Change Model

The developed model is applicable for use in the proposed change. The model has steps that include needs assessment, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and communicating findings. The model is relevant to my organization because of some reasons. First, it supports continuous improvement of systems and processes. The systematic and interdependence of the steps imply that its use enable the adoption of best practices only in the implementation of change(Bonawitz et al., 2020). The relevance to the organization is also attributed to the fact that the model supports efficiency by assessing the need of a change in addressing the organization’s needs before its adoption.

The developed model has a range of strategic aspects. One of them is the identification of the relevance of the change in the needs analysis stage. The needs analysis also ensures the alignment of change with the organization’s vision and mission. The other strategic aspect is the development of goals, objectives, and strategies in the planning phase. The stakeholders that include nurses, physicians, and pharmacists use the assessment  data to develop a plan of  action. The other strategic aspects include training, open communication seeking and communicating feedback in the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation stages(Heinen et al., 2019). The change stakeholders that include nurses, physicians, and pharmacists will undertake these roles.

Potential Barriers to Change and How to Overcome Them

The implementation of the change may face some barriers. One of them is inadequate support from the hospital. Inadequate support may arise from competing needs in an organization that  affect resource use and allocation. This barrier will be addressed by aligning the aims of the change with the organization’s mission. Aligning will enhance the need and relevance of the proposed change. The other potential barrier is resistance from the staff. The staff may not be willing to adopt the change. This may arise from factors such as fear of the unknown impact of the change, lack of knowledge and skills related to the change(Dang et al., 2021). Strategies such as training and education, active stakeholder participation, open communication, and rewarding performance will be adopted to address this barrier.

Evaluation Methods

Outcome and process measures will be used to evaluate the change. Outcome measures provide insights into the effectiveness of the adopted interventions in achieving the set results in the change initiative. Process measures evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies that were used to implement the project. Outcome measures will include the rates of medication errors, costs of care, length of hospital stay, and harms due to medication errors following the implementation of change. The data on these measures will be obtained before and after the change and analyzed to have a clear understanding of the impact of the change on clinical outcomes. Process measures will include staff perceptions about the effectiveness of training, engagement strategies, resources management, and teamwork approaches that were used in the project implementation(Jeffries, 2022). Surveys and interviews will be conducted among the staff to obtain information about their subjective experiences with the change.

Strategies to Anchor Change or Support Continuous Change

It is important to support continuous change to enhance safety and quality in the practice site.  One of the strategies that should be considered to achieve this objective is the provision of regular training and education to the staff. Regular training and education would empower them with the competencies needed to support the use of best practices to minimize and prevent medication errors. The other strategy is regular assessment and providing feedback(Moran et al., 2023). The assessment data will inform continuous improvements in the organization’s systems and processes.

How the Plan Supports the Organizational Mission/Goal

The change plan supports the organizational mission of promoting safety and quality in the patient care processes. The reduction and prevention of medication errors eliminate any risk of unintended patient harm, hence, safety and quality. The change also aligns with the organization’s goal of implementing initiatives that contribute to evidence-based practice. The proposed change will improve the existing systems and processes, which will form part of the evidence-based strategies in the organization.

Conclusion

The issue identified in the practice site is medication errors. Several internal factors contribute to the problem. The developed change model is relevant to the organization. The model will inform the strategies that will be adopted to achieve the desired change outcomes. Stakeholders will be actively involved to ensure sustainable change.

References

Alghamdi, A. A., Keers, R. N., Sutherland, A., & Ashcroft, D. M. (2019). Prevalence and Nature of Medication Errors and Preventable Adverse Drug Events in Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Settings: A Systematic Review. Drug Safety, 42(12), 1423–1436. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40264-019-00856-9

Bonawitz, K., Wetmore, M., Heisler, M., Dalton, V. K., Damschroder, L. J., Forman, J., Allan, K. R., & Moniz, M. H. (2020). Champions in context: Which attributes matter for change efforts in healthcare? Implementation Science, 15(1), 62. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-020-01024-9

Dang, D., Dearholt, S. L., Bissett, K., Ascenzi, J., & Whalen, M. (2021). Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals: Model and Guidelines, Fourth Edition. Sigma Theta Tau.

Escrivá Gracia, J., Brage Serrano, R., & Fernández Garrido, J. (2019). Medication errors and drug knowledge gaps among critical-care nurses: A mixed multi-method study. BMC Health Services Research, 19(1), 640. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4481-7

Heinen, M., van Oostveen, C., Peters, J., Vermeulen, H., & Huis, A. (2019). An integrative review of leadership competencies and attributes in advanced nursing practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 75(11), 2378–2392. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14092

Jeffries, P. (2022). Clinical Simulations in Nursing Education: Advanced Concepts, Trends, and Opportunities. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Moran, K. J., Burson, R., & Conrad, D. (2023). The Doctor of Nursing Practice Project: A Framework for Success. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Nilsen, P., Seing, I., Ericsson, C., Birken, S. A., &Schildmeijer, K. (2020). Characteristics of successful changes in health care organizations: An interview study with physicians, registered nurses and assistant nurses. BMC Health Services Research, 20(1), 147. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-4999-8

Thomas, B., Paudyal, V., MacLure, K., Pallivalapila, A., McLay, J., El Kassem, W., Al Hail, M., & Stewart, D. (2019). Medication errors in hospitals in the Middle East: A systematic review of prevalence, nature, severity and contributory factors. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 75(9), 1269–1282. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-019-02689-y

A Sample Answer 2 For LDR 615 Benchmark – Change Initiative: Implementation, Evaluation, and Sustainability 

Change processes are necessary for an organization. The changes may be influenced by either external or internal factors. In some cases, both internal and external factors affect the organization’s performance capacity. The present paper will examine change initiative for my organization and assess its implementation, evaluation and sustainability of the same.

The Issue in The Organization

Financial management issues affect the ability of healthcare organizations to operate effectively and address the patients’ needs fully. St. Vincent Health Center is a model example of the impact of the financial management approaches on daily business operations. Changes in the organization’s performances can affect the outcomes in various ways. The St. Vincent Health Center aims at increasing access to healthcare services through community outreach and charity works among others. However, as part of the quality initiative and improvement process, the company may have to adjust its mode of operation and leadership from time to time. The change adopted in the hospital involved changing its mode of operation from the non-profit to for-profit approach following the merger between the Daughters of Charity and the Prime Health Facilities. The change in the management and mode of operation altered the financial stability of the company.

The hospital relied on donations to support their daily activities; however, changing to a for-profit organization meant that they develop a restrictive financial management system that will reduce cost and maximize profitability. Under such a system, the company would restructure the employees and other roles and this would mean that some of them would be rendered jobless. The grants and donations made it possible for the healthcare institution to offer free community services; however, such services would be terminated with the change in the management.

The average hospital spending was estimated at $1.1 million annually and this was mainly generated through charities (St. Vincent Medical Center AG Report, n.d.). It was easy for the hospital to spend such amounts because their decisions were mainly influenced by the funding availability. On the other hand, the current state of management requires the hospital to raise funds from its operations to run its daily activities. The company has also to overemphasize quality production as a way of promoting sustained profit generation.

            Furthermore, the disruptions arising from the restructuring in the organization would negatively impact the employees’ morale. The adjustments in the salaries could also impact the commitment of the employees depending on the direction it takes. The management announced that it would lay off some employees to ensure sustained profitable operation and this would create worries in them. For example, the employees anticipating to be relayed may be discouraged and so fail to offer the quality of healthcare services to the patients. Emotional and psychological distress could also influence the development of burnout among the employees and so impact the quality of services delivered by the organization negatively.

The Role of External and Internal Forces

The rising cost of health is a major concern in the U.S. Despite the increased Medicaid eligibility and coverage, a good number of Americans are still struggling with the medical costs. Furthermore, the changes in the reimbursement strategies altered the patients’ responses in terms of health insurance payment. The patient relies on a third party to pay for their medical bills and this is the only option for them considering that seeking medical services without insurances could be even more costly. The Medicaid programs came with other policies aiming at addressing serious health issues and minimize the cost of medication (Fuller, et al., 2018). Some of the policies developed include hospital readmission within 30 days. Furthermore, healthcare institutions are expected to regularly evaluate their operations and offer quality healthcare services to minimize claims that may expose them to losses (Bowblis & Applebaum, 2016).

Internal and External Driving Forces

The increasing cost of medication in the United States affects healthcare delivery in many ways. The government is constantly working on measures to increase access to healthcare services and reduce medication costs (Savitz & Savitz, 2016). The Medicaid and Medicare programs were introduced to help people who could otherwise not access healthcare services get such services. On the other hand, the rising cost of medication has necessitated various reforms on the operation of such programs. Many healthcare providers focused on profit generation and neglected the need to prioritize quality healthcare delivery. Such operations were highly supported by the fee-for-service compensation plans. On the other hand, Medicaid and Medicare programs have adopted the value-for-service compensation plan and this means that the healthcare providers are no longer compensated based on the number of interventions performed but rather the patients’ outcomes (Mate, et al., 2020).

The change in the reimbursement policies affected the operation of the healthcare institution significantly. The hospital has no control over the external factors; therefore, the management has to realign their operation strategies to meet the external force. In this case, the hospital has to prioritize quality healthcare delivery even as they work to record a high patient flow and profitability to meet the operational cost requirements. Also, the hospital will be forced to re-evaluate the operational processes and decide on the areas to eliminate to cut the costs following the changes in the management. Furthermore, the Medicare and Medicaid programs introduced fines for the hospitals that fail to meet the minimum operational standards such as having high cases of readmissions within 30 days among others. Such fines come with health cost implications that are undesirable for the healthcare institution.

Therefore, with the withdrawal from charity work, the hospital has to work on attaining operational efficiency by minimizing costs. Maximizing profit and also offer quality healthcare services to their patients (Neyestani, 2017).

Stakeholders Involved

The change process involves collaborative efforts from various stakeholders. The key stakeholders include the hospital leadership, the employees, and the community. The community and the patients will be affected because they will no longer receive free services as before. However, they will have to cater to their treatment costs. On other hand, the employees are key players in the healthcare delivery process. The change in the management would result in a change in the working environment and this could affect their commitment and duty delivery in various ways. For instance, the introduction of the for-profit mode of operation means that some employees may be laid off and this will affect performance in various areas. Thirdly, the leadership and management team are important stakeholders in the company. They have an important role in making decisions and controlling activities in the organization.

Role of the Change Leadership

According to the transformation leadership theories, engaging with the employees regularly and making them part of the change process reduces resistance and improves the change success (Galli, 2019). The theory emphasizes the importance of making relationships rather than commanding in creating a suitable environment for change implementation. The leader has the responsibility of making all stakeholders conceive the need for the change and participate positively in it (Micu & Necula, 2019). Furthermore, the change is likely to disrupt normal operations and activities in the organization; therefore, the leaders must let all the stakeholders understand how the change may affect their daily operations and the possible adaptive measures to engage.

Change Agent

Representatives from each department in the institution will be recruited. The nurses’ leaders will work with the leaders from another professional team to convince their subjects to support the change process. The leaders will act as vision bearers and will enhance the change implementation process by letting others subscribe to the vision and support it fully.

Change Model

The change process will be based on Kotter’s model of change. Based on the model, the first step will involve increasing the urgency for change and building the change team

Barriers to Change

Poor communication could be the major barrier to the change process. Furthermore, financial constraints could threaten the stability of the organization’s performance during the change implementation

Evaluation

The change will be evaluated from time to time to determine the possible changes to adjust. The evaluation will involve benchmarking the performances against the targeted goals in the change vision.

Anchoring Change

Continuous education on the organization’s vision, mission, and the change process will be made to anchor the change. Reminding the staff within the organization will help them conceive the vision and own the change process with time. Furthermore, the education will ensure that people are committed to the change process. Furthermore, the identification and provision of the resources required to support the change process will be enhanced. Providing the relevant resources will reduce fatigue among the healthcare providers and other stakeholders and ensure change success.

Change and Organization’s Mission and Vision

The organization’s vision and mission are coherent as they focus on improving the quality of healthcare services. The values in the mission are supported by the change vision. Regular communication will help in making both the vision and mission known to all stakeholders in the organization; therefore, all people will work to achieve them in their areas of operation.

Conclusion

Finally, the change process can be the toughest experience in an organization without proper planning and resource allocation. Kotter’s change model defines the processes required to achieve a successful change process. The process ensures that all stakeholders are aware of the change process and scope and thus reduces possible resistance likely to be encountered. The change leaders and agents must learn to communicate the processes to other stakeholders in time.  

References

Bowblis, J. R., & Applebaum, R. (2016). How does Medicaid reimbursement impact nursing home quality? The effects of small anticipatory changes. Health Services Research, 52(5), 1729-1748. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.12553

Fuller, R. L., Hughes, J. S., Goldfield, N. I., & Averill, R. F. (2018). Will hospital peer grouping by patient socioeconomic status fix the Medicare hospital readmission reduction program or create new problems? The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 44(4), 177-185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjq.2017.10.002

Galli, B. J. (2019). A shared leadership approach to transformational leadership theory. Scholarly Ethics and Publishing, 751-790. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-8057-7.ch038

Lv, C., & Zhang, L. (2017). How can collective leadership influence the implementation of change in health care? Chinese Nursing Research, 4(4), 182-185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnre.2017.10.005

Mate, K. S., Rakover, J., Cordiner, K., Noble, A., & Hassan, N. (2020). Novel quality improvement method to reduce cost while improving the quality of patient care: A retrospective observational study. BMJ Quality & Safety, 29(7), 586-594. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2019-009825

Micu, A., & Necula, R. V. (2019). Cooperation for innovation and exchange of good practices in human capital management. Annals of the Dunarea de Jos University of Galati. Fascicle I. Economics and Applied Informatics, 25(2), 135-140. https://doi.org/10.35219/eai1584040943

Neyestani, B. (2017). Quality costing technique an appropriate financial indicator for reducing costs and improving quality in organizations. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/k8r7m

Savitz, L. A., & Savitz, S. T. (2016). Can delivery systems use cost-effectiveness analysis to reduce healthcare costs and improve value? F1000Research, 5, 2575. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.7531.1

Small, A., Gist, D., Souza, D., Dalton, J., Magny-Normilus, C., & David, D. (2016). Using Kotter’s change model for implementing bedside handoff. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 31(4), 304-309. https://doi.org/10.1097/ncq.0000000000000212

St. Vincent Medical Center AG Report (n.d.). https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/charities/pdf/st-vincent-medical-center-ag-report.pdf