This is part 14 of the Nursing Research Challenge.
The Article: Otten, R. and Chen, T. (2011). Change, chaos, adaptation: The effects of leadership on a work group. Creative Nursing, 17(1): 30-35.
Big Idea: This article views a major change within a nursing unit – a tenured and well-respected nurse manager leaving to take another role within the same institution – from an outsider’s perspective, that of a nursing student who chronicled the event via her critical thinking journal. Through her journal excerpts and extensive literature on disruptions within leadership and groups, we are able to view such changes, chaos, and stabilization through an organizational lens.
Survey Says!: As the beloved nurse manager left the unit, or the change occurred, the unit went into a state of chaos. Morale dropped and many team members pursued other positions. However, as with all change, the underlying order of the chaos emerged and leaders rose to the occasion, dividing the managerial positions as a new manager was hired. While the new manager had a different leadership style, the student noted that a small group of original team members remained on the unit and soon began educating and socializing new nurses to the unit, and the situation stabilized. The new nurse manager, a servant leader as described by the authors, had an increased level of emotional understanding during this change, leading to higher levels of trust among the team, or work group, which further facilitated stabilization of the chaos throughout the change.
Quotable: “When a change in leadership is the stimulus for chaos, giving nurses on a unit permission to work through the change and discover the means to adapt and grow as a team is a complex task” (p. 34).
So What?: This article shows how managers and leaders help groups adapt and conform to the complexities of change. It is a basic overview of concepts associated with the chaos theory and the Roy Adaptation Model. What I found most interesting, though, is the use of and excerpts from the student’s critical thinking journal to frame the unit’s change and stabilization. It is a lovely technique, and it offered the student the opportunity to professionally publish her undergraduate work, which is also a testament to the nurse leader and mentor.
T Chen
December 13, 2011 1:03 amHi Nursetopia,
I ran across this in a google search for my article and it pretty much brightened my day. I’m in the midst of finals right now and it was nice to know that someone actually read our paper and even wrote about it. It also reminded me of what a wonderful experience it was to be mentored by Dr. Otten through my prelicensure coursework and also to see my journals and the “special paper” she asked me to write during my leadership rotation. She asked permission from my instructor to write on Chaos Theory instead of the final paper everyone else was writing. I think my instructor forgot that I had this special assignment because she gave me barely a B and I heard her tell someone, “what was Tiffany thinking?!? This is not what she was supposed to write about”. At that point, I think I was just about ready to take the NCLEX so I didn’t care about my grade on the paper but getting the article published…made it all worth it. I agree that it showed a lot of foresight on the part of my professor to recognize the opportunity and to advance both of our professional careers because of it. It also made me feel like all those journals weren’t just busy work. Anyway, thank you for reading it and for posting about it. Happy holidays!
Nursetopia
December 13, 2011 6:42 amI am so glad the post brightened your day! I know it’s easy for me to say, however, don’t worry about that grade. You have a published paper, and that’s very impressive. I hope you continue to write and develop your skill. Nursing needs more publishers and researchers. I’m still growing in my writing, as well, but let me know if I can help you in any way. All the best to you!