Introduction
It is important to note that healthcare quality and patient safety are highly reliant on evidence-based practice or EBP. The latter requires from a healthcare organization a capability to both sustain and implement it. Therefore, nursing professionals in leadership positions need to be able to ensure that there are specific strategic plans put in place. The proposed EBP change is an implementation of a resilience training program to address nursing burnout. The model will advance research and clinical practice through a close collaboration model or ARCC. Since the leadership plan revolves around transformational leadership (TL), the underlying competencies are knowledge, emotional intelligence, empowerment, interpersonal relationships, and problem-solving. The training program will need resources, such as additional nurses, scheduling, and finances. The strategy of empowerment will be used for communication, whereas equity and inclusion are essential for the sustenance of the change. The evaluation will focus on three key areas: employee satisfaction, nursing burnout, and quality of care.
The EBP Change
The proposed EBP change for the implementation in my future role is a resilience training program to address the problem of nursing burnout. It is stated that “a resilience training program consisting of teaching professional techniques for dealing with cognitive behavior and increasing their resilience to the challenges demanded by the nursing profession” (De Oliveira et al., 2019, p. 70). Nursing burnout causes a significant increase in nursing errors as well as a drop in healthcare delivery quality (De Oliveira et al., 2019). In addition, the issue makes nurses more dissatisfied with their jobs. The EBP change will focus on improving nurses’ coping skills, resilience, and subjective perception of stress.
The EBP Model and Rationale
The EBP model selected for the use and the rationale for integrating the EBP model is advancing research and clinical practice through the close collaboration model. The rationale for ARCC is “nurses’ beliefs and values about EBP, and the strengthening of competencies for the use of evidence would be able to make feasible the daily exercise care based on the EBP premises” (Camargo et al., 2018, p. 7). Under the ARCC model, the key factor is a transfer of experience, where training is provided to the nurses who are capable of assisting other staff members.
Leadership Competencies and Rationale
A leader’s ability to drive change is directly and profoundly affected by organizational culture. However, the most important aspect of the transformational leadership style is the fact that it is about change at its core (Prochazka et al., 2018). In other words, the sole purpose of TL is to cause positive change leading to performance improvements, which is why it is potent and powerful at overcoming problems related to organizational culture. Therefore, the core competencies include leadership knowledge, emotional intelligence, empowerment, interpersonal relationships, and problem-solving. A study found that “organizational climate was positively related to knowledge-sharing behavior. Knowledge-sharing behavior was found to affect organizational learning and to be a mediator in linking transformational leadership and organizational learning” (Kim & Park, 2020, p. 761). In other words, leadership knowledge under the transformational framework improves knowledge-sharing, which betters the organization’s climate and learning. Emotional intelligence is positively correlated with transformational leadership effectiveness (Kim & Kim, 2017). Problem-solving is an essential skill which is both improved by and necessary for the transformational leadership theory.
Required Resources
The key resources needed are more nurses, scheduling, and finances for the training program. Nursing burnout needs to be addressed by ensuring that the training does not add an extra layer of stress. If a shortage of nursing staff is observed, more nursing professionals need to be hired. The scheduling needs to be convenient for the trainees in order for the latter not to affect the work or free time. Lastly, funding from the management needs to be given to hiring competent professionals in resilience training.
Interprofessional Collaboration
The EBP change requires a minimal level of interprofessional collaboration, but nursing managers, top managers, and doctors will be involved. The main reason is that nursing managers will be the ones implementing and sustaining change, whereas doctors can be the source of additional work pressure. Evidence-based evaluation of the organizational environment and procedures will reveal if these statements are true, which is why interprofessional collaboration will be needed.
Communication Strategy
In order to encourage collaboration, communication, and positive changes, it is appropriate to use the strategy of empowerment. The leadership strategy of empowerment is positively influenced by the transformational leadership theory as well. A study suggests that there is “the linkage between transformational leadership and work engagement is partially mediated by structural empowerment … by enabling access to information, opportunities, support, and adequate resources” (Amor et al., 2019, p. 169). In other words, being an effective transformational leader is impossible without the approach of empowerment, which is a necessary ingredient in improving engagement among subordinates. The given strategy is tightly tied to leadership knowledge and knowledge-sharing, where increased access to information, as well as support, creates positive changes in a group or organization.
Strategies to Sustain the EBP Change
In the case of sustaining the EBP change, equity and inclusion are essential when making the transitions. It is stated that “for the public good and sustainability, diversity plans evidence progress and success” (Stanley et al., 2019, p. 255). Thus, equity and inclusion bring diversity to the workplace and organization, which provide sustainability, representation, and the public good. Interprofessional team members needed to plan and implement changes will include nurses, nursing managers, top management, and doctors.
Evaluating the Practice Changes to Determine Success
The key metrics of evaluation include employee satisfaction, nursing burnout, and quality of care. It is evident that a reduction in stress levels accompanied by better stress coping skills will make the perception of the problem significantly reduced, which will result in increased employee satisfaction. When it comes to the direct evaluative measurement, it is nursing burnout itself, which can be assessed through surveys, questionnaires, and reports. However, the most critical metric is quality of care, which also involves the rate of nursing errors.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the proposed ARCC EBP model is a resilience training program for nurses to improve the quality of care. The transformational leadership competencies needed are knowledge, emotional intelligence, empowerment, interpersonal relationships, and problem-solving. An empowerment strategy will be vital for communication and collaboration, whereas equity and inclusion will be needed to sustain the integrated changes. Both funds and time, as well as additional staff, will be needed as resources for the EBP change. It is important to note that employee satisfaction, nursing burnout, and quality of care will be the core metrics of evaluation.
References
Amor, A. M., Abeal Vázquez, J. P., & Faíña, J. A. (2019). Transformational leadership and work engagement: Exploring the mediating role of structural empowerment. European Management Journal, 38(1), 169-178. Web.
Camargo, F. C., Iwamoto, H. H., Galvão, C. M., Monteiro, D. A. T., Goulart, M. B., & Garcia, L. A. A. (2018). Models for the implementation of evidence-based practice in hospital based nursing: A narrative review. Text & Context Nursing, 26(4), 1-12. Web.
De Oliveira, S. M., de Alcantara Sousa, L. V., Vieira Gadelha, M. do S., & do Nascimento, V. B. (2019). Prevention actions of burnout syndrome in nurses: An integrating literature review. Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health, 15(1), 64–73. Web.
Kim, H., & Kim, T. (2017). Emotional intelligence and transformational leadership: A review of empirical studies. Human Resource Development Review, 16(4), 377-393. Web.
Prochazka, J., Vaculik, M., Smutny, P., & Jezek, S. (2018). Leader traits, transformational leadership and leader effectiveness: A mediation study from the Czech Republic. Journal of East European Management Studies, 23(3), 474–501. Web.
Stanley, C. A., Watson, K. L., Reyes, J. M., & Varela, K. S. (2019). Organizational change and the chief diversity officer: A case study of institutionalizing a diversity plan. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 12(3), 255–265. Web.