Our Lady of the Lake University - Course Work on an Organizational Change

Change, whether negative or positive, is indicative of progress and development. The absence of change puts one on the same spot and no real development. Perhaps the most scaring thing about change is the adaptations and adjustments associated with it. People have a tendency of staying away from new routines because of the time and resources are taken to adjust to the new system. They are so used to their normal way of doing things that some even mistake it with the only way. Whereas some changes are voluntary, some are mandatory. There are changes that people make out of free will, and they have no sense of urgency whatsoever while some changes are forced. Circumstances mediate forced changes, and they have a direct impact on the current state of things. These changes are sudden in nature and often leave the affected ones without much choice. As a result, the changes occur and then time catches up with them. People detest and avoid change at all costs. For this reason, philosophers advise that you should always be prepared for anything to avoid the frustrations affiliated with unexpected changes (Balognese, 2012). This paper discusses a planned change process at The Good Shepherd Hospice.

Change is not always welcomed with both arms wide open. To establish the area that needed change, my organization performed detailed evaluation giving specific attention to the methods, desired results and the actual result obtained from an intervention. The macro change practice that was designed at the Good Shepherd Hospice entailed visiting patients with terminal illnesses at their homes and retirement facilities this change helped the patients minimize future visits to the organization and forestalled possible overstretching of the facility. With patients minimizing future visits, the organization can serve more people with terminal illnesses, which is beneficial to the community because if the facility were overstretched, the locals suffering from terminal illnesses might have to travel far in pursuit of care services. Before this change, Good Shepherd Hospice was not following up on the progress of the terminally ill patients it had discharged. The organization established that most people with terminal diseases are destitute and spend the remaining days of their life wishing for death. If these people were showed love and care, maybe their last days on earth wouldnt be so sad and sorrowful. Being there for them would brighten their life a little and by adding a little sunshine to their world.

This social work intervention made a great impact to these patients and their families were more than grateful of our charity work. The perspective that guided this change was the planned change model, where all stakeholders were briefed before the commencement of the change initiatives; as such, stakeholders accepted the change (Garthwait, 2016). To devise a social work intervention successfully has a lot to do with the acceptance level by the people included. The nurses at The Good Shepherd Hospice were the key stakeholders; implementing the change meant they were going to have to put more hours at work. It was very encouraging to know that the staff were there for any clarification and help I needed in undertaking my social work duties. I also learned that the goal should never be to complete a task but rather on the impact that an intervention had on the society (Dominelli, 2015). The impact was assessed in terms community satisfaction on a scale of 1-10. To increase the acceptability of social work interventions, the community members were requested to allow nurses to visit their homes especially those living with terminally ill people.

Finally, in the evaluation of commonly used interventions, a couple of methods were employed. For instance, I would conduct random interviews on services provided with the patients and their family members, and their sentiments about the responses noted down. Questionnaires would also be occasionally administered to the patients as well as the friends and family, and their concerns were taken into consideration. Satisfaction levels of the employees and community were assessed on a scale of 1 5.

References

Balognese, A. (2012). Employee resistance to organizational change. New Foundations.

Dominelli, L. (2015). The opportunities and challenges of social work interventions in disaster situations. International Social Work, 58(5), 659-672. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0020872815598353

Garthwait, C. L. (2016). The social work practicum: A guide and workbook for students. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.