Kurt Lewin's Model Of Change Analysis

Nursing as a discipline recognizes the value of utilizing resources already developed rather than developing every idea independent of all other disciplines. Barrowed theories are used to describe situations that have been considered in other disciplinesm but are useful in a nursing scenario. In the coming pages an analysis of Kurt Lewin’s Change Management Model and Richard Lazarus’s Stress and Coping philosophy will be discussed.

Change is a great place to begin the discussion and of interest to me because it is a very real part of the life of every individual. As the health status changes, so too must the mindset and lifestyle of the patient. Nurses too, must adapt care based on the needs and desires of patients. There are also the environmental

Kurt Lewin, the “founder of social psychology,” first presented his change model in 1947. This model identifies change as a three step process: Unfreezing, Change, and Refreezing. These are fairly self-explanatory. First, one must recognize the need and benefit of change. Next, alterations in thinking, lifestyle, or products must be made. And finally, the “new” way must be accepted as the norm. This meaning is not only simple, but logical and useful. When nurses work with other nurses to implement a new procedure, one introduces the reason why the change must be made to the team and tries to get the team to see that necessity. Next, the procedure goes into place. Finally, everyone on the team uses the procedure as the accepted methodology. The same process can be used anywhere in society with groups and individuals. Thus, it is widely generalizable. The theory is very easy to understand and clearly stated, thus parsimonious. It is testable. It works. As an infection preventionist and the sepsis champion at our facility, I have utilized this model to implement the use of new sepsis order sets that are founded on evidence based practice. I used scientific research

It effects students and their teachers as well as children and their parents. It is everywhere. Therefore, where there is stress, there is some type of coping and adaptation whether effective or ineffective. Lazarus developed his ideas concerning stress and coping in the 1960s after researching stress and emotion at Johns Hopkins. His theory proposed that incidents in life influence the emotional state of the individual. These events are not only the big events like births, deaths, and taxes, but also the little things like being cut off in traffic and forgetting to thaw meat for supper. This seems reasonable enough. It is useful in that it helps nurses to not take a patient’s emotional state personally and gives pause as to the need to assist the patient in coping. That being said, it is very useful. It is useful in a variety of settings. It is not simply stated or briefly written and therefore, is not parsimonious. It can and has been widely tested. As an educator, the circumstances presented themselves today, so that student nurses were forced to provide care to patients they knew nothing about except for the information they learned during bedside report. This was a brand new situation. It was very unpleasant (stressful) for them. This was a great opportunity to help them learn about coping mechanisms including relaxation