Application: Adoption of New Technology Systems Essay

Posted: November 16th, 2022

Application: Adoption of New Technology Systems Essay

Assignment: Application: Adoption of New Technology Systems As a nurse, you can have a great impact on the success or failure of the adoption of EHRs. It is important for nurses to understand their role as change agents and the ways they can influence others when addressing the challenges of changing to a drastically different way of doing things. Everett Rogers, a pioneer in the field of the diffusion of innovations, identified five qualities that determine individual attitudes towards adopting new technology (2003). He theorized that individuals are concerned with: • Relative advantage: The individual adopting the new innovation must see how it will be an improvement over the old way of doing things. • Compatibility with existing values and practices: Application: Adoption of New Technology Systems Essay. The adopter must understand how the new innovation aligns with current practices. • Simplicity: The adopter must believe he or she can easily master the new technology; the more difficult learning the new system appears, the greater the resistance that will occur. • Trialability: The adopter should have the opportunity to “play around’ with the new technology and explore its capabilities. • Observable results: The adopter must have evidence that the proposed innovation has been successful in other situations. Note: You are not required to purchase Rogers’ book or pursue further information regarding his list of five qualities. The information provided here is sufficient to complete this Assignment. The full reference for Rogers’ work is provided below the due date on this page. For this Assignment, you assume the role of a nurse facilitator in a small hospital in upstate New York. You have been part of a team preparing for the implementation of a new electronic health records system. Decisions as to the program that will be used have been finalized, and you are now tasked with preparing the nurses for the new system. There has been an undercurrent of resistance expressed by nurses, and you must respond to their concerns. You have a meeting scheduled with the nurses 1 week prior to the training on the new EHR system. Consider how you can use the five qualities outlined by Rogers (2003) to assist in preparing the nurses for the upcoming implementation. To prepare • Review the Learning Resources this week about successful implementations of EHRs. • Consider how you would present the new EHR system to the nurses to win their approval. • Application: Adoption of New Technology Systems Essay. Reflect on the five qualities outlined by Rogers. How would addressing each of those areas improve the likelihood of success? Write a 4-page paper which includes the following: • Using Rogers’ (2003) theory as a foundation, outline how you would approach the meeting with the nurses. Be specific as to the types of information or activities you could provide to address each area and include how you would respond to resistance. • Analyze the role of nurses as change agents in facilitating the adoption of new technology. Please use the following 7 references and 3 more APA 6th ed within 4 years. The first reference is for in place of Everett Rogers (2003)unless there is another refefrence that can be found.Thanks 1 Heidi Blackburn, (2011) “Millennials and the adoption of new technologies in libraries through the diffusion of innovations process”, Library Hi Tech, Vol. 29 Issue: 4,pp.663-677, https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1108/07378831111189769 2 McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2018). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning. Chapter 14, “The Electronic Health Record and Clinical Informatics” 3 Bates, D. W. (2010). Getting in step: Electronic health records and their role in care coordination. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 25(3), 174–176. 4 Fickenscher, K., & Bakerman, M. (2011). Application: Adoption of New Technology Systems Essay. Change management in health care IT. Physician Executive, 37(2), 64–67. 5 Hyrkäs, K., & Harvey, K. (2010). Leading innovation and change. Journal of Nursing Management, 18(1), 1–3. 6 Mooney, B. L., & Boyle, A. M. (2011). 10 steps to successful EHR implementation. Medical Economics, 88(9), S4–6, S8–S11. 7 Murphy, J. (2011). Leading from the future: Leadership makes a difference during electronic health record implementation. Frontiers of Health Services Management, 28(1), 25–30.

Adoption of new technology systems

• Using Rogers’ (2003) theory as a foundation, outline how you would approach the meeting with the nurses. Be specific as to the types of information or activities you could provide to address each area and include how you would respond to resistance.

Technology systems are intended to improve health care delivery and outcomes while reducingoverall costs. In fact, medical technology offers unique advantages that include automating and streamlining health systems, sharing health information across different systems (such as laboratory, emergency room, surgery and pharmacy), and pinpointing evidence-based tools to improve the performance of health systems. In spite of the relative advantages the new technologies that new technologies offer, their implementation is accompanied by uncertainties that cause resistance to their application. This is particularly true for nursing personnel who knowledgeable about health care systems given their focus on primary health care delivery (McGonigle&Mastrian, 2018). Rogers (2003) acknowledges the existence of these uncertainties and their incidental resistance from nursing personnel, going on to cite five features that should be addressed to reduce the uncertainties and resistance. Application: Adoption of New Technology Systems Essay

ORDER A PLAGIARISM- FREE PAPER NOW

The first feature is relative advantage, defined as the perception that the new technology improves performance. In this case, it is important to note that although implementing new technology would incur an initial high cost, these costs would be recovered in the long run to result in lower overall costs. For that matter, the information provided to nurses should focus on whether or not the new technology system will make operations substantially better that they were before the system was implemented. As long as the new technology has greater value than its predecessor, the nurses will support its adoption and offer minimal resistance (Buchbinder& Shanks, 2011; Rogers, 2003). As a result, the information provided to the nurses should focus on identifying the technology’s relative advantages and how substantial improvements would be realized once the technology is implemented. Application: Adoption of New Technology Systems Essay

The second feature is compatibility, defined as the technology’s constancy with existing values, experiences and needs of the nurses. The primary focus of nursing personnel is to provide the best possible medical care and outcomes in all circumstances. As such, information provided should show how the technology is compatible with nursing services, such as improving access to information, facilitating cross referencing and storing information securely. This is particularly important when the nurses have experiences with failed technologies that did not deliver as expected thus leading to resistance. This is addressed by presenting the technology as being consistent with the nurses’ needs, past experiences and values, while showing that the technology will perform as expected in the nurses’ environment and culture (Buchbinder& Shanks, 2011; Rogers, 2003).

The third feature is complexityand simplicity, defined as the perceived difficulty of learning to use and comprehending the technology’s application. New technologies that require the nursing personnel to develop new understandings and skills would experience greater resistance when compared to technologies that do not have such requirements. This resistance can be minimized by simplifying multifunctional and complex technologies, so that nurses are able to use the new technology without having to integrate and lean new workflows. As such, support for the technology would be maximized by ensuring that is does not cause much change or disruptions to the existing nurse workflows (Buchbinder& Shanks, 2011; Rogers, 2003). Application: Adoption of New Technology Systems Essay

The fourth feature is trialability, defined as the extent to which the nursing personnel experienced the technology in use on a limited basis before its full implementation. Although implementing a new technology on a trial basis within the health care industry is not a viable option given the associated costs and logistics realities, this shortcoming can be addressed through implementing the technology in a phased approach. This would offer the nurses an opportunity to experience the technology and present their concerns that would then be addressed before the technology is fully implemented. Through the nurses’ experiences, they will learn about the technology’s advantages, enhancing their perception of it’s values and reducing the complexity thus making them more supportive of the technology (Buchbinder& Shanks, 2011; Rogers, 2003). Application: Adoption of New Technology Systems Essay

The final feature is observability, defined as the technology’s results visibility to other stakeholders. Nursing personnel are most likely to support a technology if they can perceive its results and advantages. In this case, applying a phased approach that incrementally implements the technology ensures that nurses observe it in operation, identify its challenges and successes, andcan then make an informed decision on whether or not to offer their support. For that matter, support can be garnered through observability by presenting believable and obvious results of the technology whether at the current practice site or at another practice site (Buchbinder& Shanks, 2011; Rogers, 2003).

Addressing the five features as presented ensues that the nurses transition though the decision process from a position of gaining initial knowledge towards forming an informed attitude about the technology and making the decision on whether or not support or reject the technology, and finally confirming their decision. The five-step process is intended to address the nurses’ uncertainties concerning whether or not to accept and incorporate the new technology into ongoing practice (Mooney & Boyle, 2011; Rogers, 2003).Application: Adoption of New Technology Systems Essay

• Analyze the role of nurses as change agents in facilitating the adoption of new technology.

As change agents who support the adoption of new technology, nurses accept that change is a fact of their professional life that could range from improving their efficiency and processes to evidence-based practice that shapes their efficacy. This identifies nurses as active participants in the adoption of new technology (Blackburn, 2011). Assuming that the new technology would present positive aspect, nurses are expected to ask questions that validate the goals and benefits of the technology. The first question is whether the technology will improve clinical outcomes for patients (Bates, 2010). The second question is whether the outcomes of the new technology can be tracked. The third question is whether the change brought about by the new technology will help the nurse to more accurately identify areas for improvement. The fourth question is whether the technology will improve care delivery safety. The fifth question is whether it will improve the efficiency of care delivery (Hyrkäs& Harvey, 2010; Murphy, 2011). The final question is whether the technology resolves the existing process barriers. Answering these six questions will help the nurses in confirming the benefits of the new technology. Once the benefits have been confirmed, the nurse can then authoritatively act as a champion who facilitates, guides and acts as a role model to inspire other stakeholders to adopt the new technology. This means that as change agents, nurses provide a forum to influence and support other stakeholders towards successfully implementing the new technology (Fickenscher&Bakerman, 2011; Skolnik, 2010). In this respect, nurses act as change agents to facilitate the adoption of new technology through embracing change to continue meeting the holistic and unique needs of each patient, leading other stakeholders in accepting the change.Application: Adoption of New Technology Systems Essay

References

Bates, D. W. (2010). Getting in step: Electronic health records and their role in care coordination. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 25(3), 174–176.

Blackburn, H. (2011). Millennials and the adoption of new technologies in libraries through the diffusion of innovations process.Library Hi Tech, 29(4), 663-677.doi: 10.1108/07378831111189769

Buchbinder, S. & Shanks, N. (2011). Introduction to health care management. New York, NY: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Fickenscher, K., &Bakerman, M. (2011). Change management in health care IT. Physician Executive, 37(2), 64–67.

Hyrkäs, K., & Harvey, K. (2010). Leading innovation and change. Journal of Nursing Management, 18(1), 1–3.

McGonigle, D., &Mastrian, K. G. (2018). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4^thed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.

Mooney, B. L., & Boyle, A. M. (2011). 10 steps to successful EHR implementation. Medical Economics, 88(9), S4–6, S8–S11.

Murphy, J. (2011). Leading from the future: Leadership makes a difference during electronic health record implementation. Frontiers of Health Services Management, 28(1), 25–30.

Rogers, E. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5^thed.). New York: Free Press.

Skolnik, N. (2010). Electronic medical records: a practical guide for primary care. Berlin: Springer Publishers. Application: Adoption of New Technology Systems Essay