Unit 7 Blog Entry 1

Unit 7 Blog Entry 1: Evidence-Based Teaching Strategies

Your organization has finally decided to do away with the antiquated practice of wearing shoe covers in the operating room. Because your hospital has practiced this way for many years, you know there will be resistance to change. You must determine what evidence-based teaching strategies will be best in educating staff on the new practice. Identify three teaching strategies you will use. How will you use them? Identify three or more challenges you expect to encounter when developing your evidence-based teaching strategies. How will you anticipate and overcome these challenges? A thorough method or plan for anticipating and overcoming these challenges should be selected and justified.

Our Health Care Organization has decided to do away with shoe covers in the operating room

Use of shoe covers in critical care area such as the operating room is not helpful in preventing infections of common pathogens such as MRSA and VRE, nor has it decreased the mortality rate among the patients (Ali et al, 2014).  With this new evidence many health care organizations have chosen to do away with the antiquated practice of wearing shoe covers in the operating room.

Evidence-based teaching strategies to best educate staff on new practice

One teaching strategy that will be used to support the evidenced based change of not wearing shoe coverings in the operating room will be peer-to-peer mentoring.  Peer-to-peer mentoring is a constructivist approach to teaching that utilizes social interaction to allow problem solving using a psych cultural approach (Rolloff, 2010).   The second teaching approach to justify the new procedure uses evidence based practice to challenge the practice of using the shoe covers by asking WHY?  If we ask several why questions about the practice it quickly becomes obvious that the practice is not based in fact and lacks evidence to back up the practice (Kaczmared, 2011).  The third approach to educating to support the new practice is Evidence, the searching for supporting facts is an easy way of having the learner teach themselves whether the support for continuing the old practice of wearing shoe covers in the operating ever existed in the first place (Kaczmared, 2011). 

Challenges to anticipate and how to overcome these challenges to the change

One of the greatest resistances to change in an organization occurs simply because the staff becomes comfortable with doing things in one type of manner and they fail to see why the change is needed.  The only way to overcome this resistance it to educate the staff why the change is needed and how everyone involved will benefit from the new change or process (Eisold, 2010).   The second reason change resistance is met within an organization is because the staff members may not fill comfortable using the new approach or method.  This is overcome through instruction of the staff of the upcoming change early in the process, thus allowing the staff members to gain confidence in their ability to utilize the change and make it effective (Eisold, 2010).  Lastly resistance to change comes from fear and resentment that the change is being implemented.  Management must be supportive of the staff and listen to their concerns, it is important to incorporate the needs of the staff into the change process if possible (Eisold, 2010). 

Implementation Method

Before any mention of change is made it is important to get the input of the staff on the general matter.  It is easier to get the staff to admit a change needs to be made if they feel a part of the process (Eisold, 2010).   A complete evaluation of the original process is needed, in this case why are the shoe coverings being worn in the first place (Kaczmarek, 2011).  The need for change must be identified and then the benefits from the change must be factored.  After the staff is trained and informed of why the change is being made, then the implementation of the change can happen.  Evaluation of the change and the resistance to it needs to be evaluated until it is apparent that the new policy is working and is beneficial to all parties involved in the change.

References

Ali Z, Qadeer A, Akhtar A. To determine the effect of wearing shoe covers by medical staff and visitors

on infection rates, mortality and length of stay in Intensive Care Unit. Pakistan Journal of

Medical Sciences. 2014;30(2):272-275.

Eisold, K. (2010).  Resistance to change in organizations.  Retrieved from:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hidden-motives/201005/resistance-change-in-organizations

Kaczmarek, D. (2011). Herding, putting to pasture those sacred cows. Healthcare Purchasing News,

35(3), 72–73.

Rolloff, M. (2010). A constructivist model for teaching evidence-based Practice. Nursing Education

Perspectives, 31(5), 290–293.