Effective Nursing Leadership for Implementing Electronic Health Records

Running head: REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Nursing Leadership
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Introduction- Nursing leadership is considered as an essential determinant of
vivacious professional nursing practice across a range of healthcare systems that allows
empowered nursing professionals to accurately implement evidence-based strategies in their
practice. The nursing profession is challenging and dynamic and always requires the
engagement of nurses who can act as role models (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). Nurse unit
managers are entitled with the duty of overseeing different aspects of operation in a nursing
unit that exists in a healthcare facility. Their role encompasses supervision of all nursing staff
to patient care monitoring (Weiss & Tappen, 2014). The essay would discuss the value of
effective leadership in a healthcare setting that aims to implement electronic health records
for enhancing patient safety and improving patient health.
Thesis statement- Effective nursing leadership and enhanced healthcare are
indispensable to each other.
Electronic medication system- eMeds systems have the advantage of supporting
improve quality, effectiveness and safety of management of medications among all hospitals.
Medication errors have been identified as the second most prevalent medical incidents that
are reported across different nursing homes and hospitals. These primarily comprise of
overdose or omission of medications that threaten patient health and safety (Foo et al., 2017).
The eMeds are defined as systems that are capable of prescribing, supplying and/or
administering medicines in an electronic format. The fact that eMeds cover a range of
hospital medication cycles is particularly important in this case scenario that involves a
hospital with 200 beds. Medication errors that were reported in the hospital result in a failure
to deliver appropriate treatment services, and has the potential of harming the patients or
service users (Ohashi et al., 2014). The most common impact of such medication error are
patient injury and their subsequent death. The major benefit of eMeds can be attributed to the
fact that it reduces medication errors. A completely computerised system of healthcare

2REFLECTIVE ESSAY
delivery would also prove beneficial by increasing the productivity and efficiency during all
medication rounds.
They will also reduce the work pressure on registered nurses, and result in an
enhanced decision making process and governance. Other advantages can be attributed to the
fact that these systems improve the daily experiences that are related to nursing care, thus
promoting overall patient safety. Furthermore, research evidences have also established the
fact that these electronic medication management systems are quite cost effective (Pearce &
Whyte, 2018). The cost-effectiveness can be associated with the reduction in the rate of
probable adverse drug events across hospitals. Owing to the fact that the hospital being
discussed in the case scenario has had faced an increase in the medication error related
incidents over the past years, there is a need to implement eMeds for enhancing patient
health, lowering ADE and improving the overall reputation of the hospital.
Change model- The change model was developed by Kurt Lewin and involved three
steps namely, unfreezing, changing, and refreezing. This model of change theory will be
applied for implementing the electronic medication management system across the hospital.
The first stage of unfreezing will be one of the most essential stages that will make the entire
setup ready for the change in medication management. It will involve preparing all
stakeholders, patients, and healthcare professionals ideally for the change. This preparation
phase will be conducted over a period of three months (Hossan, 2015). Meetings will be
organised with nurses and other healthcare professionals for explaining the benefits of the
change. These will be facilitated by displaying the statistical data on past incidents of
medication error, followed by assessing the capacity for bringing about the change. The
second stage of changing is most vital and encompasses a transition. This phase will be
conducted over a period of six months and will comprise of a journey that will help in
accomplishing the change.