Implementation Bar-Coded Medication Administration

Change in the Workplace: Implementation Bar-Coded Medication Administration Change is inevitable and constant in the modern world. Continuous advancement in technology is also changing the healthcare system to ensure patient safety and provide high quality patient centered care. The hospitals are adding more and more computer assisted devices and the nurses are facing new challenges every day. Change in the workplace means making changes in the work environment that is different from the current state. Implementing a change can create anxiety or fear of failure in nurses, which may lead to a resistance to change practice. “Changes to a system may be anticipated and planned, or they may be sudden and unexpected” (Yoder-Wise, 2015). The reimbursement

“It is a critical step in planned change. During this stage, the organizations recognize the need to change and begin to get ready to make that change” (Yoder-Wise, 2015). The idea is to reject the old practice and replace with the new one. The key components of this planned change is to communicate with the nurses, managers and the administrators. Evaluate the cost and benefits of implementing the barcode technology. Motivate the staff by educating them about how powerful tool it is, in reducing the medication error and increasing the patient safety. Build a group of champions in the department to help support the other staff during the change process. Champions will wear a specific colored T shirt with the word “Champion” printed on it. That will encourage and motivate others to work as a team and help each other. Identify the barriers of change, which might be the staff nurses who are skeptical of change. They may have a lack of confidence in their ability to adapt to new technologies, or may perceive the change as a threat. Some nurses have adopted a short cut process of administering medication to save time, which is pre-pouring medications. Workaround is another big barrier which occurs when nurses pass the medication without scanning the medication and the patient’s identification (ID) band, to save time and scan them later. Which is dangerous, and a high risk for making an error. The change agent or the nurse leader will need to use the driving forces that will help the project to be successful. Budget is the major barrier. Since the project needs adequate funding, the support from the administration and higher authority will be required. Also the support from the information technology (IT) and pharmacist is essential in the implementation of the barcode system. “Involving the staff in shared decision will promote a feeling of empowerment that will help their resistance to the change and enable them to