Analysis Of John Kotter's Theory Of Change

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Lewin’s theory of change involves three stages: unfreezing, moving and refreezing. Unfreezing involves preparing people for the change, moving involves acceptance of the need for change and then engaging in the implementation of the change and refreezing involves integrating the change and making it a part of the culture. (Grossman & Valgia, 2013, p. 142) John Kotter took the framework developed by Lewin and went one step farther, well really eight steps. He took those three stages and devised eight steps to complete the change process. The eight steps of Kotter’s Model of Change include create a sense of urgency, form a coalition or team, create a vision for change and develop strategies to implement the change, communicate the vision and …show more content…

It is important to start with little goals. While one hundred percent participation is the ultimate goal, it would be appropriate to start with small percentages and increasing that amount every few months until one hundred percent compliance occurs most often. Circumstances will occur that will keep nursing staff from taking meal breaks, but this should become the exception not the norm. For that that did not routinely take their meal break, this change may be seen as a negative because they are losing money. Keeping this in mind, rewarding those making the change is important to keep momentum going. Drawings for meal tickets or movie passes, thank you notes and surprise treats are all ways to reward staff. As taking meal breaks become routine, nursing staff will notice the improvement in their day. The mental and physical break will decrease fatigue and leave them feeling refreshed. (Witkoski & Dickson, 2010) Routine evaluation of how the change process is progressing is necessary to determine what is working and what needs improvement. Evaluation should occur at the unit level through discussions at staff meetings and unit council meetings. It is also important to have a real time discussion when a break is missed to determine why and what could have been …show more content…

Talking about the change, reinforcing success and education upon hire are all part of creating a new culture. Continue to discuss ways to improve the meal break process and communication that occurs at that time. Communication and teamwork are necessary to ensure meal breaks occur; they are necessary in nursing practice to ensure patient and nurse safety. Units should talk about the difference meal breaks have made in their day. Patient satisfaction and patient safety such as fall occurrences should be trended to determine the effect of staff taking uninterrupted meal breaks. Ideally, patient satisfaction and patient safety trends should improve with nursing staff taking actual uninterrupted meal breaks. Trends should improve with the increased teamwork and communication resulting in answered call lights during breaks and awareness of where their nurse is when they do not see them or another nurse comes in to meet their needs. Upon hire, a routine of taking meal breaks should start from the very beginning and the expectation communicated with both the hire and their preceptor. Developing the routine during orientation should make it easier to keep the routine when practicing

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