Leaders of the organization wanted to design and build an educational system to support a specific leadership behavior to "Embrace change that achieves results”. Feedback on the annual employee satisfaction survey suggested leaders’ need more support to manage the multitude of changes they were faced within their departments as a result of technological advancements in patient care and safety.  The feedback created a strong sense of urgency to change the way the hospital approached change initiatives and the way they were being implemented at a departmental level.

Leaders identified over 175 patient care managers, unit directors, physician leaders and advanced practice nurse leaders who could benefit from learning new skills and benefit from greater support in the implementation of change initiatives at the departmental level.

A design team was created, made up of leaders across the hospital.  The team’s purpose was to communicate the sense of urgency the hospital felt around managing change processes differently, act as a guiding coalition for change, and be subject matter experts, giving input into the design of an educational and coaching process to support new change practices.

Leadership development and the director of patient care services worked with Howick Associates to identify specific reference materials they wanted to incorporate into the change management curriculum, and collaborated on the design of orientation sessions and two-day learning workshops.

“Embraces Change has provided a comprehensive approach to organizational initiatives that lends itself well to integrating key individuals who are not necessarily employed by the system; physicians and families. The defined concepts in Embracing Change  and the multiple tools allow flexibility based upon the level of engagement of the group while focusing on the movement to change.