Communication between Nurses and Patients - Essay Example

Recently, my facility implemented a change in the process of conducting bedside handovers. In this case, the facility used to carry out bedside handovers using the old approach where nurses only handed the reports to the other nurses reporting for duty without involving the patient. Hence, the new approach wanted to involve the patients in their care by having the patients participate in the process when the nurses were carrying out the handover process by the bedside. This way, patients will be able to ask nurses questions regarding their progress and process of care. In line with this, the process of change involved a number of principles as guided by Lewin’s principles of process of planned change.

The principle of unfreezing as advocated by Lewin improved the chances of success. In this case, Lewin advocated for proper and efficient planning of the change process in a detailed manner that clarifies and identifies the problem while suggesting the change process (Keele 236). In this case, this principle helped the facility change the thoughts, attitudes, and behavior of the nurses regarding the old and conventional method of bedside handovers. In effect, the new process of change was set to be effective since all nurses were aware of the new method of bedside handover. In addition, the principle of unfreezing, which involves encouraging people on the need for process of change was instrumental in ensuring that the change process was successful (Keele 236). In this case, unfreezing involved building relationships with the nurses who were to implement the planned change.