Readiness of organizations for change, motivation and conflict-handling intentions: Senior nursing students’ perceptions

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Summary

This study examined the perceptions of 62 senior nursing students of the readiness of Jordanian organizations for change, students’ motivators and their conflict-handling intentions.

Such concepts should be taught at Schools of Nursing in order to prepare the students as nurses in the near future. It is found that the course of “Nursing Leadership and Management” has positive influence on students’ understanding of the studied concepts.

This descriptive study was conducted in seven hospitals. Grossman and Valiga’s (2000) [Grossman, S., Valiga, T.M., 2000. The New Leadership Challenge: Creating the Future of Nursing. F.A. Davis, Philadelphia, pp. 147–148.] instrument was used to measure the readiness of organizations for change. As they progress in the course, the students’ perceptions about the organizational readiness to change increased; the students “somehow” perceived that the Jordanian organizations were ready to change. The students were asked what motivates and they were asked about their conflict-handling techniques. Senior nursing students reported that private hospitals were better than governmental hospitals in their readiness for change. In general, male students perceived the readiness of organizations for change more positively than female students. The students were mainly motivated by “achievement” and used “collaboration” as a primary conflict-handling technique.

Further studies are needed to explore in-depth the concept of the readiness of organizations for change. Achievement is a strong motivator that should be encouraged among students. Conflict-handling techniques in general and collaboration in particular should be taught for nursing students as these techniques will influence their future professional lives.

Section snippets

Background

Nothing remains constant. Organizations need to acknowledge that changes are happening and must adapt to them. Change in an organization is influenced by two opposing forces: driving forces and restraining forces. Change is more easily accepted by decreasing resisting forces rather than by increasing the driving forces. Once a change has been accepted and implemented by a group, the initiators of the change must keep working with the members and emphasize the positive effects of the change (

The readiness of organizations for change

It is important to mention that there is a paucity of research on this topic (Dalton and Gottlieb, 2003). Readiness is associated with introducing change. Readiness is based on a subjective feeling or a perceived ability. Readiness tends to be conceptualized as a state where a person [organization] is assessed as ready or not ready.

The concept of readiness is expanded to include the process of becoming ready and the outcomes associated with readiness for change. The process of readiness for

Ethical consideration

The participation in this small-scale study was voluntarily; the students were given the chance to withdraw from the participation if they were not interested; they were told that their withdrawal will not influence their grades in the course. The students were told that answering and returning back the questionnaire is their consent form to participate in this study. Also, the students were told not to write their names on the questionnaires which ensure the anonymity and confidentiality

Results

The readiness of organizations for change, as perceived by the senior nursing students, was assessed at the beginning and at the end of the course. The differences were reported as follows: the organization provides programs or forums for discussion of changes and trends in healthcare delivery (X¯=2.50 versus X¯=3.52); the organization uses or plans to use advanced practice nurses (X¯=3.08 versus X¯=3.52); the organization supports the staff’s continuing education, re-education, and advancement

Discussion

Based on the results of this study, it could be concluded the students “somehow” perceived that the Jordanian organizations were ready to change. Most of students’ responses about the readiness of organizations for change increased at the end of the course. This result was expected because the students’ engagement in the daily nursing and managerial activities with their nursing preceptors at the clinical settings increased with the advancement of the course; professional trust relationships

Implications

It is a reality that students could be influential while still learning. Students should be encouraged to be change agents. In current turbulent healthcare environment, nursing leaders should take seriously students’ opinions to adopt successfully any change.

Nursing educators should encourage their students to be achievement-oriented and collaborate with other healthcare professionals; these characters are important for successful future professionals. Unless the students are encouraged to live

Recommendations

Using a larger sample, the readiness of organizations for change should be studied in further research focusing on nurses rather than nursing students. Rather than being limited to private and governmental hospitals, other types of hospitals should be included in the sample. To detect any generational or trend differences, a longitudinal study should be considered to collect data from all students who will be enrolled in the “Nursing Leadership and Management” course. A prospective study could

Summary and conclusions

Students’ perceptions about the readiness of organizations for change, factors motivate the nursing students and their conflict-handling intentions varied according to the stage of the course, type of hospitals, and gender. The students’ perceptions about the organizational readiness to change increased; the students “somehow” perceived that the Jordanian organizations were ready to change. As perceived by the students, private hospitals were better than governmental hospitals in their

Acknowledgements

We, the authors, thank the students who participated in the current study; they provided us to the vision to study the readiness of organizations, motivation, and conflict-handling intentions of nurses.

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