Abstract
Without appropriate educational preparation, nurse managers may not have the competencies to manage accelerated change effectively. Part 1 of this two-part series provided the condensed findings from an extensive review of nursing, business, and higher education literature. Part 2 describes the results of a Delphi study whereby baccalaureate-prepared nurse manager experts and nurse educator experts in baccalaureate nursing programs validated what linear and nonlinear change management concepts they believed were relevant in managing change in today's dynamic environment. Staff development educators and administrators, as organizational change agents, can use the validated concepts to develop educational offerings to promote effective change management.
A comprehensive literature review of nursing, business, and higher education change management literature formed the basis for the Delphi study and its findings featured in Part 2. Part 1 of this two-part series presented the findings from the literature review.
The challenge of this study was to compare the change management concepts validated by nurse educator experts in baccalaureate nursing programs with those concepts validated by baccalaureate-prepared nurse manager experts in midlevel management positions in healthcare delivery environments. One purpose was to propose an expanded conceptual framework for change management for use by nurse educators and nurse managers. There were two research questions for the study:
What concepts that compose change management content are (a) found in the literature of nursing, business, and higher education, and (b) considered relevant for inclusion in the subject matter of nursing change management curricula?
What similarities and differences exist from comparisons of two sets of change management concepts validated by expert nurse educators and expert nurse managers?