Lewin’s Change Theory in Nursing Informatics
Abstract
Most healthcare facilities are gradually moving from paperwork, where charts and records are becoming obsolete with time. The move into the digital era is aimed at cutting the long term costs and improving quality of service. Nursing errors have been greatly reduced by the incorporation of technology into the nursing as well as reduced waiting times that had been costing clients’ significant time. Generally, the introduction of information technology into the healthcare services has played a significant role in ensuring that nursing errors have been minimized as well as a reduction in the length of waiting times for patients before getting health services. Lewin’s Change Theory, which is a time-tested model, is crucial in person, group, as well as organizational change and nursing informatics borrows extensively from the theory. The operation of the Lewin’s Change Theory happens in three stages that include unfreezing, new level, and the refreezing stage. The three stages of Lewin’s theory are equally important and should always be considered. Generally, Lewin’s Change Theory is crucial in explaining the process of change in nursing informatics.
Lewin’s Change Theory in Nursing Informatics
The development of technology has changed several professionals, and the way professions are managed. For example, people used to rely on messengers to deliver messages. Also, written letters came in to rescue people from the limitations of messengers. However, technology has brought in the mail service and mobile phones to replace the letter system. Similarly, other professional fields have followed suit to replace the traditional methods of management. The influence of technology and changes has not spared the healthcare system have been significant in the recent past. Most healthcare facilities are gradually moving from paperwork, where charts and records are becoming obsolete with time. The move into the digital era is aimed at cutting the long term costs and improving quality of service. Nursing errors have been greatly reduced by the incorporation of technology into the nursing as well as reduced waiting times that had been costing clients’ significant time. The expansive evolution of technology is commonly referred to as nursing informatics and has greatly transformed the nursing sector over time. On the other side, the theory is crucial both in education and practice, and thus, nursing practice has to incorporate theory into the profession. Lewin’s Change Theory, which is a time-tested model, is crucial in person, group, as well as organizational change and nursing informatics borrows extensively from the theory.
Kurt Lewin once developed a three-stage theory of change that later came to be known as the Lewin’s Change Theory. Kurt Lewin is commonly referred to as the father of social philosophy due to his exemplary efforts towards changing and improving the field of social philosophy (Ronquillo, Currie, & Rodney, 2016). The Lewin’s Change Theory consists of three stages; the unfreezing, change, and refreezing. In operation, Lewin explained that the model considers three concepts that are the driving force, restraining force, and the equilibrium. Change is bound to happen when either of the driving and the restraining force is larger. Whenever the driving force is equal to the restraining force, the model is said to have achieved a state of equilibrium. The individuals who aim at making a change are therefore required to try and adjust the driving and restraining forces towards the direction of interest. Besides, the model facilitates change by pushing a patient towards a given direction that the nurse is interested in during the treatment process. Under the assumptions of Lewin’s theory, the driving forces are responsible for any change. However, the restraining factors make the process of change difficult and act against the driving forces. The shifts that occur to the equilibrium are based on the changes caused by the driving and restraining forces.
The term “Nursing Informatics” has been in existence for over four decades, and change is inevitable. Issues of technology such as patient data collection, client appointments, and information science have been incorporated into nursing informatics with several stakeholders accepting the fact that technology is crucial in ensuring a successful nursing profession. The basic definition of nursing informatics, therefore, is the application of information technology to the nursing profession. The application of information technology includes education, management, and even practice. However, the advancements in information technology change every day and necessitate a well-organized system of change to take care of the fast-changing field. Lewin’s theory, therefore, is applicable in explaining the need for change in the nursing sector as well as the forces that act against each other in the process of change. In a bid to successfully operate in the various fields, Lewin’s change theory is models in three stages that ensure a successful definition of change to the individual, group, or the organization of interest.
The first stage of Lewin’s Change Theory is the unfreezing process. Normally, people tend to be obsessed with old patterns that are not as productive as desired (Cummings, Bridgman, & Brown, 2016). Groups always show signs of resistance and conformity that becomes necessary to overcome. The unfreezing stage involves finding ways to overcome such resistance and conformity and introducing the mentality of change to such a group. However, breaking the norm of a group requires a strategy, and the unfreezing stage is concerned with such challenges. In a bid to overcome the challenges involved, the unfreezing stage works in three concepts. First, the driving forces are crucial in the process of change and thus should be considered. Increasing the driving factors helps in addressing the challenges of more restraining forces, which may shift the equilibrium towards an undesired direction. Secondly, the stage involves decreasing the restraining forces, which are challenging when driving a group towards the desired direction of change. When the restraining factors are dealt with, the group undergoing the process is in a better position to accept the change that is desired. Lastly, the stage involves finding a relevant combination of the first two methods. A combination should be found such that the driving factors are increased while the restraining factors are being reduced.
Nursing informatics cannot be successful if the first stage of the Lewin’s Change Theory is skipped. The nursing profession involves practices that have been in practice for a long time without improvement, and change is, therefore, inevitable. An example of practices that may fall under the unfreezing stage is where a documentation system is replaced with an electronic storage system. Electronic storage has more benefits to an organization that has been struggling to management paperwork, and change is the only option available. However, the change from the traditional behavior should not be taken lightly, and consideration should be paid on the factors that had been keeping the company on the old systems. Where the group or organization is resistant, a dialogue is essential into bringing the organization to agree to the new requirements for change. Once the organization has smoothly transitioned through the unfreezing stage, the new level stage follows.
Transitioning to a new level is the second stage of the Lewin’s Change Theory. The primary goal of applying the Lewin’s Change Theory is to help an individual, group or an organization to accept the change that is crucial in moving from old unproductive practices to newer productive practices without failure from challenges of resistance and conformity (Batras, Duff & Smith, 2016). A successful change involves a complete change of thoughts, behavior, and even beliefs. The second stage of the Lewin’s Change Theory, therefore, involves bringing the individual or organization into choosing a new level of thoughts and behaviors. Most traditional practices are based on a lack of the ability to move to new methods and the beliefs that are aimed at protecting the company from the risks that may come with the movement to new practices. For example, a company may be formed under the belief that, underpaying workers improves productivity by saving on costs. However, a change could be imposed such that workers are paid better so that they are motivated to work more hence improving productivity.
Nursing informatics borrows much from the second stage of the Lewin’s Change Theory since chance is crucial in improving the quality of services offered while keeping the costs of operation at manageable levels. The second stage, therefore, aims at liberating the profession from the old ways of operation. The behaviors of nurses, for example, have to change to give space for the new procedures that come with change. For example, nurses have to be computer literate and should forego the tradition methods of capturing patients’ details. When the behaviors and thoughts of the organization of interest have been successfully transformed, the organization is deemed ready for change. The assessment for the successful transformation is done after the target group has been convinced that the new method is better than the existing methods. For example, convincing a nurse that an electronic method of storage is safer than the traditional filing system is crucial in making the nurse accept the new method. In a bid to convince the target population, analysis has to be done on the previous practices to bring out the setbacks associated with the previous method and how the proposed method will overcome the said challenges. Once a group has gone through the first two stages of the Lewin’s Change Theory, the most important part is moving into the last stage, referred to as the refreezing stage.
A patient who has been through the Lewin’s Change Theory may easily revert to old habits if the procedure is not completed. The patient who represents the target group has to be helped to adapt to the new methods (Hussain et al. 2018). The importance of helping the target population to adapt is because the new methods come with new challenges that require familiarity while addressing them. The refreezing stage involves establishing the introduced method to ensure that the new methods become the standard operating methods. To keep the change process, continuous, rewards, and support should be maintained while champion leadership remains essential. The target group requires a well-organized transition in a bid to create a trust that will help in a smooth transition to the new methods. Loss of trust in the process of change could push the target group into sliding back to the old ways and could suffer the change procedure a major blow. The success of new methods depends on how well the organization can freeze the methods to fit into the standard operating systems of the organizations.
A new method should be able to remain operational until a change is necessary. Therefore, the incoming personnel should be oriented into the new methods to avoid mishaps that might cost the organizations. The orientation of new personnel involves offering support services, giving rewards, and coming up with policies as well as a solid orientation that aim at familiarizing the new personnel with the new methods. The establishment of support mechanisms is always essential in ensuring that the personnel do not get stranded between transiting from the old methods to the new methods. Also, the mechanisms are aimed at mitigating the risks that might come with the introduction of new methods of operation. In a bid to give more light into the Change Theory, Lewin extended his analysis to explain the forces that are in operation during the process of change.
The application of Lewin’s Change Theory in nursing informatics happens due to the operation of various forces. In the Change Theory, Lewin believed that any situation happens due to the impact of driving forces or restraining forces. Human behavior is always responsible for the situations that affect daily lifestyles (Bamberg & Schulte, 2018). Also, the change in human behavior is brought about by beliefs, expectations, and cultural practices that happen around an individual or a group. Besides, the forces that operate on the lives of individuals may be positive or negative depending on the desired direction of change. Some forces will act to motivate individuals towards achieving their goals while others will act against the individuals’ attempts of accepting a change. The forces that act towards supporting an individual to accept a change are referred to as driving forces. Some driving factors might include but not limited to the drawbacks associated with the previous methods where individuals are forced into finding better alternatives. Also, a workgroup may be motivated by the supervisors and workmates to work towards achieving a certain goal. On the other side, restraining forces discourage individuals from achieving the desired goals or even accepting change. For example, the fear of additional costs, or even technological illiteracy could discourage individuals from accepting a new method of operation.
Moreover, an organization is at a state of equilibrium if the impact of driving forces equals to that of restraining forces. A company that is not moving to any direction of the production is said to be on a state of equilibrium (Hayes, (2018). The nursing informatics has, however, to move away from the state of equilibrium towards a positive side. When an organization remains at the equilibrium state, a risk develops in that the restraining forces may overpower the driving forces and drive the organization to an undesirable direction. Therefore, keeping the driving forces stronger than the restraining forces keeps an organization at a precautionary position. Besides, the equilibrium position has to be upset whenever a change is desired. The direction that the position moves after upsetting the equilibrium state, however, depends on the readiness of the target group towards accepting change. For example, the nursing informatics has to take advantage of the fast developing technology to learn the requirements of the new methods that come with new technology.
In sum, the development of technology has impacted the development of several professions, and nursing informatics has not been spared. The introduction of information technology into the healthcare services has played a significant role in ensuring that nursing errors have been minimized as well as a reduction in the length of waiting times for patients before getting health services. Lewin’s Change Theory has been applied in the nursing profession to help in the smooth transition of personnel from old practices to new methods of operation. The operation of the Lewin’s Change Theory happens in three stages that include unfreezing, new level, and the refreezing stage. The three stages of Lewin’s theory are equally important and should always be considered. Generally, Lewin’s Change Theory is crucial in explaining the process of change in nursing informatics.
References
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