There was a time at the beginning of COVID that our part of the hospital did not have the
acuity that we were use to because pediatrics was not being affected the way that adults
were. We did not have enough patients to keep everyone working clinically, so our
manager decided to change our assignments to work on community out reach COVID
prevention plans. This was a large change for our department because we all work at the
bedside in ICU's and have not made public health plans. We were all hesitant about the
change as it was something completely new in a situation that the whole world was having
a hard time managing. Our manager though was great when delivering the news and
provided us with clear directions and resources to use. She called a staff meeting that was
mandatory for everyone announced the news, was transparent on why this was happening,
and introduced everything briefly. Then she told all of us not to worry that things would
work out and there were more details and directions to come. She listened to every ones
responses and concerns, making everyone feel heard. She was patient when showing us
how to do the plans and was always available for questions when we were working on it.
She printed and laminated the instructions so they were easy to reference. Overall she
made this a quick and easy change that was met with a fair amount of resistance that she
sorted through and alleviated.%
I think our manager did a great job with her approach to change. I would not have changed
anything. As for change management skills that I found useful was planning out change.
Identifying who the change would affect, what was going to change for them, and when.
This is something I would benefit in using in my personal life because I agree to help a lot
of people but don't always account for what helping them might entail or change in my
life.
