Implementing Electronic Medication System: A Plan of Change Using Lewin's Three Step Model and Transformational Leadership Style

This article discusses the implementation of electronic medication system in a 200 bed hospital using Lewin's Three Step Model and Transformational Leadership Style. It also highlights the benefits of the system and potential aspects of resistance.

RUNNING HEAD: LEADERSHIP 1
LEADERSHIP
NAME:
INSTITUTION:
TUTOR:
DATE:

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LEADERSHIP
INTRODUCTION
There has been a recent proposal by the state to implement the electronic medication
system after showing that it improves on the safety of medication administration. The state has
shared the results on the websites (Volpi & Giannelli, 2015). This comes as a coincidence since
there have been several errors at the 200 bed hospital where I work. The nurse leader has just
called a meeting to provide information on how the project should be implemented within six
months. The medication system is freely available on the website and can be installed freely in
all the computers at the wards.
Effective leadership is a mandatory requirement or skill in all healthcare environments.
Organizational change is also paramount in the healthcare organizations since most of this
changes take place to the benefit of the patients, the healthcare workers and the organization at
large (SAA, 2016) .In this assignment, there will be an illustration of how the 200 bed hospital
will change from the manual medication system to the electronic medication system.
DISCUSSION
BENEFITS OF THE ELECTRONIC MEDICATION SYSTEM
The solution in medication error lies in the use of an electronic medication system. This
is a digital program that can be applied in different cases. The electronic medication system has
the ability to prescribe drugs (Dalal, Barto, & Smith, 2015). This can be done by the use of
desktops. The EM can also be used in the decision support systems especially where there is
evidence based order sets, allergy checking and also drug interactions. The system can also be
used to order and supply different solutions like the electronic transfer of prescriptions as well as

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the inventory solutions .Finally, the system can also be utilized in the electronic medical records.
This system is associated with different advantages.
The electronic medication system if implemented at our hospital would benefit both the
nurses or the midwives, the patients and the hospital in general. This is because there would be
less paperwork and less time will be spent on a patient (Sethuraman, Kannikeswaran, Murray,
Zidan, & Chamberlain, 2015). This therefore increases efficiency and the number of patients
served and this therefor increases the income of the hospital. There will be less administration
errors since the changes will be noted instantly. This acts in the benefits of the patient as they
would recover on time. The system is also more accurate and since they have reminders, the
patient would never miss on medications. There would also be easier reporting to the supervisors
for quick decision making. The Ems would generally improve the output and input of the
organizations and we are therefore supposed to embrace it quickly.
PLAN OF CHANGE USING THE LEWINS THREE STEP MODEL
The Lewins model has three steps and they include and it is a very important tool which
can be used to implement a plan of change. The initial step is the unfreezing stage. This involves
setting the basis for change and bring out a positive perspective regarding the Electronic
Medication System (Bakari, Hunjra, & Niazi, 2017). This would be achieved by picking out the
different heads of departments then they would be trained and educated on the benefits of the
electronic medication system. The training and meetings should be only for one month .The
meetings and the training ought to be very simple and enjoyable so that the participants can
enjoy and feel how simple it is. The training should also be quick to identify the advantages of
the electronic medication system (Cummings, Bridgman, & Brown, 2015).In this 200 bed

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hospital for example, the head of departments should be educated on how the system can
administer medicines within a very short time and how safe it is.
Changing is the second step in Lewins model. In this stage, all the nurses should now be
told of disadvantages of the manual medication system and why there is need for change. They
should be told of how to get rid of the paper works. Paper works are very risky as they can be
burnt or stolen. This are now what should be changed. This stage can last for only two weeks.
Refreezing is now the final step and this involves making the changes permanent. This is the
stage where the desktops and the laptops are finally installed in all the wards and there is no
space for the old paperwork or manual prescription of the drugs. This stage can take around eight
weeks.
LEADERSHIP STYLE TO BE USED
To implement the plan, I would utilize the transformational leadership style. This is
because this is the most preferred leadership style among employees. This style involves
bringing about change through motivation and effective communication (Zampieron, Spanio,
Bernardi, Milan, & Buja, 2012) .In this scenario, I would motivate all the healthcare providers on
the importance of the change from paperwork or manual medication system to the electronic
medication system .I would allow the other employees to also air their views and then get the
way forward on how the change would be accomplished (Anderson & Sun, 2015). This style has
been successfully used on many instances and that’s why I would also stick to it.
Autocrat leadership style involves a leader having total power over other workers. The
leader in this case has total control and would not consider the suggestions from other workers
(Yahaya & Ebrahim, 2016). As compared to the transformational leadership, this type would not

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allow the transition to the new electronic medication system (Saleem, 2015). This is because it is
very difficult to achieve change where there is no communication.
POTENTIAL ASPECTS OF RESISTANCE AND HOW THEY CAN BE
HANDLED.
The potential aspects of resistance in this plan would arise from the increased costs of
operation. This would mean the hospital would incur extra expenses to acquire the soft wares and
hardware that would be used to change the order of operations. The patients would be required to
pay more for the services and this is where the resistance might arise from. To address this
resistance, the hospital will be restricted from charging higher fees for the services rather than
carry out an internal audit.
The plan might also experience resistance from other staffs due to addiction. Studies have
found out that healthcare workers tend to be addicted to computers especially those installed with
music or videos and internet. Most of them waste much time on such useless things rather than
doing their intended functions and lead to more errors .To address this resistance, the workers
should be told of potential penalties to anyone found using the desktops for functions rather than
those they are intended for.
CONCLUSION
Medication errors has been a common occurrences in healthcare organizations. Those
people affected are the children especially those below the age of 12 years and adults who are
above 60 years. The 200 bed hospital in which I work in is not an exception. There is therefore
the need to come up with a long lasting solution to errors in medication. The solution is the
electronic medication system which uses different hardware and soft wares. To implement the

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change, there is the Lewin Three step model to be used. It has three steps, unfreezing, changing
and freezing. This steps have specific timeframes or milestones in which they are to be achieved.
Transformational leadership is the best style to use when there is need for change. It motivates
employees as opposed to the autocratic style. There are chances of resistance in implementing
the plan and therefore needs strategies to address the resistance. Change is envitable and all
healthcare workers ought to take it positively.

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