Changing the Conversation: Helping Healthcare Workers Grow Through Change

Abstract

Organizational change pervades all types of organizations and job descriptions, and the constantly evolving state of technology makes the rate of change apt to increase in the next few years. The healthcare industry is one such organizational setting that is not immune to such changes. Whether that change is internal or external, it can create effects that send ripples through the entire organization for an undetermined amount of time. To contribute to the research and practice of buffering adverse organizational change effects in the healthcare industry, the proposed symposium addresses several different types of change, interventions, and outcomes resulting from change initiatives. Internal changes, such as implementing shared governance councils, and external changes, such as new methods of keeping medical records, are discussed along with the organizational characteristics that can help create positive outcomes for healthcare workers despite such upheavals. Through a better understanding of organizational change, healthcare workers can experience less workplace disruption to ultimately enable enhanced patient care.