2023 WK3 kmc To be a change agent means to transform the environment that needs

WK3/kmc 

To be a change agent means to transform the environment that needs to be worked upon. “Being a change agent is a major function for nurses. Nurses are on the floor seeing the effects medicine and the health care system is having on the patient” (Keyes, 2017). I personally have yet to act as a change agent, but I have witnessed it in my own facility. Just recently we switched how we handle wound care. The hospital went years without a hospital-acquired wound, and sadly they had 14. Due to the reoccurring issues, a team of nurses, physicians, CNAs, CNO, etc. all gather together to come up with a plan and implement it. Included in this plan was: a turn schedule, inquiring more/better air mattresses, and wound care education for everyone. With the new plan in place, the wounds have decreased and the existing wounds have healed better as well.

In just the last month, our charting system has been updated. Our old system had many complaints, issues, too many steps and overall just wasn’t the best. The new charting is more efficient for the medical staff in that it takes less amount of time to chart. Also, steps and certain things like IVs, wounds don’t have to be re-charted unless there was a change. In addition, with the old charting, the same questions and answers would have to be re-charted when the ER admitted a patient. With the new charting in place, admissions to the floor take half the time than before. Nurses were definitely on the list when implementing this change. It took some years to come up with a plan and put it into place, but it happened and it works. We use the system probably more than anyone else and voiced our concerns for a change. Nurses “play a critical role in shaping the health care system of the future” (Keyes, 2017) someday I too hope to become a change agent.