Effective Leadership in Nursing: Adopting Electronic Medication System

This article discusses the importance of adopting electronic medication system in nursing and how to implement it using Lewin's model. It also explores leadership styles and potential resistance to changes. The article emphasizes the need for proper training and sufficient time for adjustment to implement changes.

Running head: EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN NURSING 1
Leadership in Nursing
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Introduction
Leadership plays a critical role in clinical practice ensuring a high quality health care
system that persistently provides safe and efficient care to the patients (Daly, Jackson, Rumsey,
Patterson, & Davidson, 2015). The electronic system of medication lowers pressure on nursing
due to the reduced medication errors. The system also enhances decision-making and governance
within the health facility. Furthermore, the electronic system improves the experience of nursing
staff. The system also enhances the productivity and efficiency in the medication rounds. The
electronic system also reduces paperwork; thus increasing the time of nurse-patient interaction.
The write-up will also examine the essence of adopting the electronic system in medication.
Moreover, the essay will propose a change plan using the Lewin's model. The paper will also
evaluate the leadership styles that can help hospital administrators to effect changes. Finally, the
essay will explore resistance to transition and methods to overcome the challenges.
Essence of the Electronic Medication System
The adoption of the electronic system has various merits in healthcare set-ups. The two
hundred bed hospital should adopt the policy to eliminate the medical mistakes that it has been
experiencing over the last three years. Nurses would benefit from the system as it makes nurses
to commit less clinical errors (Elliott, Lee, & Hussainy, 2016). The patients are the leading
beneficiaries of the electronic system of medication as it shields them from the danger of
medication errors. The reduction in medication errors improves the reputation of a health facility.
Therefore, the hospital should adopt the electronic system.
Lewin’s Model of Change
The two hundred bed hospital should apply the three steps in the model to effect changes
in the facility. The first step is unfreezing which require the leader to convince employees of the

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necessity of changes (Cummings, Bridgman, & Brown, 2016). In the case study, the initial step
involves organizing staff meetings to explain why the health facility should adopt the electronic
system. The hospital administrator should reveal the statistics of medication errors at the
conference. The leader should also point out the weaknesses of the current methods of
medication administration. The process of introducing the changes would take six weeks.
The second step in the model is the change process. At this phase, employees start to
solve the uncertainty of transition and prepare for the new procedures (Wojciechowski, Murphy,
Pearsall, & French, 2016). In the case study, the nurses begin to forget the past methods of
medication administration and prepare for the electronic system. The hospital administrator
should allow enough time for the caregivers to embrace the new system and leave the old one.
The leader should ensure that every employee has accepted to work in the new direction before
implementing the changes. The administrator should explain the benefits of the new system, and
the process can take ten weeks.
The third and final step is the refreezing phase. Refreezing is the process of incorporating
the changes in the organization’s values and culture (Bakari, Hunjra, & Niazi, 2017). The
institution should include the changes in the company's job description. In the case scenario, the
electronic system should form part of the hospital's treatment methods. The refreezing step
should help the organization and the clients to institutionalize the transition. Furthermore, the
firm should ensure that employees apply the changes in all their endeavors. The successful
incorporation of switches makes the employees comfortable and confident at work. The process
can take ten weeks.
Leadership Styles

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The healthcare leaders should adopt an effective leadership style to implement the changes.
Transformational leadership style involves a close working relationship between the leader and
the teams of employees (Cheng, Bartram, Karimi, & Leggat, 2016). The technique consists in
convincing the groups about the essence of an individual change. In the scenario, the leadership
trait is necessary to assure the nurses to embrace the electronic system of medication
administration. A transformative leader can easily apply the Lewin's model to implement
changes in an organization. The leader has the responsibility of acting like the role model to the
other employees. Therefore, the style is effective in achieving change.
Caregivers can also apply the autocratic leadership style to implement changes.
Authoritarian leadership is where the leader controls every decision of the company (Cope, &
Murray, 2017). In the method of administration, the employees can only offer a few suggestions.
In the case scenario, the style is useful if the nurses refuse to embrace the electronic system.
Therefore, the leader should force the implementation of the changes to reduce medication errors
and ensure patient safety. Autocratic style is essential in scenarios that require urgent decisions.
Therefore, the head nurse should adopt the authoritarian style if caregivers refuse to embrace the
electronic system.
The comparison of the two leadership styles indicates that transformative technique is
more effective than authoritarian in the case scenario. Autocratic leadership forces decisions on
employees which can cause rebellion and industrial unrest (Zydziunaite, & Suominen, 2014).
However, the transformative style allows the workers to take part in decision making; hence,
facilitating the process of change. The authoritarian style does not create room for employee
training on the new methods; thus, leading to the poor implementation process. On the other

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hand, transformative leadership creates time for employee exposure on the essence and benefits
of transition. However, the autocratic style can be useful when an urgent decision is necessary.
Potential Resistance to Changes and the Solutions
The two major points of resistance to changes are inadequate training and insufficient
time for adjustment. Improper nursing training on the uses of the electronics system limits the
knowledge of nursing on the new strategy. Little time to adjust to changes also causes improper
implementation of the changes. The hospital administrator should provide adequate training on
the application of the electronic system in medication administration. The management should
allow sufficient time to enable the caregivers to adjust to the changes.
Conclusion
The electronic system reduces the medication errors in health facilities; thus improving
patient safety. An appropriate adoption of the system enhances the reputation of the health
facility. The Lewin's model of change assists caregivers to embrace the electronic system and
discard the manual mode of medication. Transformative leadership style and the autocratic
leadership technique are useful in effecting changes. However, the transformative method is
more appropriate to the authoritarian one in the case scenario. The potential points of resistance
to change are inadequate training and insufficient time for adjustment. Therefore, proper training
and sufficient time for adjustment are necessary to implement changes.

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References
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Cope, V., & Murray, M. (2017). Leadership styles in nursing. Nursing Standard (2014+),
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Cummings, S., Bridgman, T., & Brown, K. G. (2016). Unfreezing change as three steps:
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Daly, J., Jackson, D., Rumsey, M., Patterson, K., & Davidson, P. M. (2015). Building nursing
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Elliott, R. A., Lee, C. Y., & Hussainy, S. Y. (2016). Evaluation of a hybrid paper-electronic
medication management system at a residential aged care facility. Australian Health
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Wojciechowski, E., Murphy, P., Pearsall, T., & French, E. (2016). A case review: Integrating
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