Learning and Leading With Themes: A Focus on Planned Change and Conflict in the Work Environment

Purpose:
The overall goal is to improve nursing and patient outcomes by providing an emotionally and physically safe work environment facilitated by professional nurses with excellent leadership skills, specifically focusing on planned change and conflict.

Relevance/Significance:
To obtain the goal of improved nursing and patient outcomes, nurses must first recognize the importance of a work environment that is safe in all aspects. This learning begins during their nursing education and continues throughout their professional roles. With the complexity of the work environment and meeting all of the daily demands and working with others presents challenges at times, that require excellent leadership skills among multigenerational nurses.

Strategy and Implementation:
Organizations and educational programs wishing to improve the leadership skills of their employees and/or students can integrate themes into professional development programs. Most people have been exposed to themed learning since early childhood. There are many themes that are related to universally, such as the outdoors with gardens, flowers and trees, which is the theme utilized in this sample session for teaching leadership skills that address planned change and conflict. This learning experience has been delivered in the nursing classroom setting as well as the professional healthcare setting. It is appropriate for pre-licensure students to administrative personnel. A PowerPoint slide show with minimal slides and mostly visual content provides a backdrop for learners to become actively engaged and to share their own experiences with others as it relates to planned change and/or conflict and how the situations are handled along with areas for improvement.

Evaluation:
The goal for students and professional nurses to relax, learn, and be actively engaged in the teaching sessions was successfully met with 100% positive end-of-program survey outcomes. In a previous poster presentation on this topic, numerous attendees at a national conference requested this session be offered as an oral presentation at a future conference so they may learn more about it.

Implications for Practice:
Learning is a lifelong process as is working with a variety of personalities in the workplace setting. Possessing excellent leadership skills is beneficial not only to co-workers but especially for the patients and their families and significant others.