LDR 615 Describe an ethical dilemma that you experienced, or have witnessed in a change leader, when attempting to initiate change

In my police organization, I have recognized that many leaders have difficulty differentiating their friendships with employees and their professional relationship that requires them to hold the friends accountable. For example, if a new policy or directive is released for a crime reduction strategy, I’ve witnessed many leaders force employees who are not their close friends to do the mundane portions. In contrast, their friends are not held to the same standard of accountability.

When the leader attempted to hold their friends accountable as the other officers, it was clear the lines of the hierarchy did not apply. Challenges to workplace friendships when it comes to implementing change have been identified to include blurred boundaries, a distraction for work objectives, conflicting expectations, unwarranted promotions or praise, and a feeling of betrayal by the employee if not given special treatment (Nguyen, 2021).

There were personality disputes and conflicting expectations; the subordinates felt betrayed they were no longer empowered with special treatment (Nguyen, 2021). Workplace friendships are suitable for their social purposes and work productivity but can cause ethical concerns when boundaries are blurred with unclear expectations.

Finally, ways to resolve this conflict involve setting clear expectations and communication early on as stated in many posts. Another resolution technique for ethical boundaries consists of the leader possessing a core belief of their leadership philosophy and understanding who they are as a leader (Hellmich et al., 2019).

Reference

Hellmich, D., Kater, S. T., & Gonzales, S. R. (2019). A Leg to Stand On: Developing Core Beliefs and a Leadership Philosophy for Sound Ethical Decision-Making. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2019(185), 43. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/cc.20337

Nguyen, S. (2021, March 28). Workplace friendships: The Benefits and challenges. Workplace Psychology. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://workplacepsychology.net/2018/01/07/workplace-friendships-the-benefits-and-challenges/.

I enjoyed reading you post and can relate to your example; this happens in the nursing profession as well. I have worked with my fellow nurses for 20+ years and some are great friends I have had before I became their manager. At times the friend professional relationship has been tested when I needed to discipline close friends and losing friendships in the process of holding them accountable. For leaders to be successful all staff have to be held to the same standards, boundaries must be maintained, and special accommodations are equal to each employee. In nursing similar to police work I assume we work close as a team, share encounters on the job that challenge emotions, and cause moral dilemmas. The balance lies in the maintenance of boundaries, holding each other accountable to the same standards and understanding the feelings involved can get in the way (Connors, 2020). As I have seen fellow managers blur the lines with poor outcomes, I have strived to remain impartial and set these boundaries, while not easy it can be done with the understanding of caring, with respect can be successful.

Great post and great topic

Connors, C. D. (2020). Emotional intelligence for the modern leader. Rockridge Press.

Click here to ORDER an A++ paper from our Verified MASTERS and DOCTORATE WRITERS LDR 615 Describe an ethical dilemma that you experienced, or have witnessed in a change leader, when attempting to initiate change:

An ethical dilemma that I have witnessed and Leadership change is mandating the covid-19 vaccinations for healthcare providers. This has been a big issue all across the nation due to health care providers wanting the right to be autonomous over their bodies. As of earlier this year 2021 the federal government mandate is that all healthcare workers must be fully vaccinated to work at local hospitals or they will be terminated from work. Before the commission, public health sponsors have tried to resolve ethical dilemmas by offering incentives to workers such as gift cards, free meals at work, and other prizes. Even though current vaccinations have shown to be highly efficient in reducing COVID-19 and its variations to date, the virus is still spreading, particularly among uninfected people. In response to waning enthusiasm, officials across the United States have tried a variety of strategies to boost vaccination rates (Hsu, 2021).

To promote and implement vaccine uptake, officials, for example, developed incentive programs, emphasized personal responsibility, deployed mobile vaccination units, and collaborated with business and community partners. Vaccines are administered often by nurses. However, immunizations are also required! Nurses come into touch with a variety of infectious illnesses, the most known of which being influenza, due to the nature of their profession (American Nurses Association, 2019). Becoming vaccinated is a vital method to avoid getting sick at work. Vaccination, on the other hand, can safeguard the nurse’s patients as well as her family. A nurse may accidentally transmit a disease to a patient while at work, especially if the patient is very ill or fragile, such as neonates. Furthermore, if a nurse becomes unwell at work, he or she may transmit the disease to family members. The problem is ongoing and leadership is still trying to stop the situation from becoming worse.

LDR 615 Describe an ethical dilemma that you experienced, or have witnessed in a change leader, when attempting to initiate change

American Nurses Association. (2019). Vaccines/Nurses. ANA. https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/work-environment/health-safety/immunize/vaccines/

Hsu, A. (2021). Nurses Are In Short Supply. Employers Worry Vaccine Mandate Could Make It Worse. NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/23/1039228806/nurses-are-in-short-supply-employers-worry-vaccine-mandate-could-make-it-worse

Currently the hospital I work for is going through a nursing shortage in all departments. The hospital does not have enough nursing educators in the hospital to keep with the demands of providing the nursing staff with nursing competencies and nursing education. The hospital has been trying to find ways to ensure that the nursing staff obtains the required competencies and education that is needed and legally required by the nursing and medical staff. Different staff members were being used to conduct the education for all the employees but that was an ethical dilemma because education should not be conducted by the same individuals that are also being tested for the same skills, processes, or procedures. The change agent assigned to this task was not effectively communicating with leadership and the stakeholders on all the employees that were behind on their competency skills and informing leadership that random employees were being used to conduct the competencies for their colleagues. After many obstacles and hurdles the change agent was changed and another was assigned to the task. The new change agent was able to partner up with Elsevier. The stakeholders were informed that Elsevier will be covering all computer competencies and that the organization chose Elsevier because they are the world leader in the healthcare arena. Elsevier was chosen to their educational knowledge in the industry with 140 years. They have assisted the healthcare industry improve patient outcomes by providing information and analytics that help clinical researchers and medical staff (Elsevier, n.d.). Elsevier’s role will be to provide all yearly competencies and education to existing and new nursing employees. In addition, Elsevier would keep record of all employees’ competencies and education for compliance purposes. Nurses would need to register their credentials and create a login and password to access Elsevier. This organizational change would create a positive change to the organization by providing their nurses with the resources needed when nurses require assistance with procedures and processes. Having Elsevier as an assessable source for education always makes it convenient and handy for nurses that work out in the field especially when there is a great shortage in nurse educators. When faced with ethical dilemmas it is important to have a framework in place. Having a framework in place can guide leaders to make better decisions allowing for the project to move forward.

Placing a new change agent to manage the process and following a framework allowed the change agent to identify, understand and act quickly on a critical nursing issue. Because there was a framework in place and frequent communication the stakeholders were able to come together, influence, support, encourage, implement, and make the necessary changes to fulfill a necessary need. According to Kurt Lewin’s 1947 Change in Management Model the following three stage theory of change must take place which is unfreeze, change, and freeze. The first step is unfreezing which he considers one of the most important steps to understanding the necessary change and moving towards making the change. The more the individuals realize the necessary change the more motivated and excited the individuals become towards change. The second step is change or transition which can be one of the hardest parts of change. This step is where the organization is going through the process of understanding and working towards the change. This is where it is crucial that the organizations support, and involvement be present to ensure that everyone is working towards the same direction to achieve the same goal. The third step is freezing or creating stability to the changes made. This is where the individuals except the new change and becomes part of the everyday norm (DeNisco, 2016).

References

Elsevier. (n.d.). Elsevier at a glance. https://www.elsevier.com/about/this-is-elsevier

DeNisco, Susan M., and Anne m. Barker, editors. Advanced Practice Nursing: Essential Knowledge for the Profession. Third ed., Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2016.

Ethics in the nursing profession it one of the core essentials to our profession, the ANA code of ethics is designed to offer guidance of “doing no harm” in care of our patients and each other. Ethics in leadership is not a new concept and yet managing ethical dilemmas is a very difficult task. The most recent ethical dilemma if have faced as a nursing leader is related to COVID-19 and the vaccine mandate placed in my State of Washington. As the manager of my nursing unit my role was to enforce the change mandate by my organization and the state of Washington. As I instituted this change from the organization my personal beliefs as well as others were involved, and emotions were high. Ethics are based largely on beliefs and emotions as well as ensuring there is ensuring the greater good is protected (Brown & Miller, 2006). As a manager having to institute this change my ethical dilemma was to remain unbiased and not foreshadow personal decisions and beliefs of others by my own. The ANA code of ethics provides guidance of this ethical dilemma to ensure my communication followed this rule of values, obligations duties and responsibilities of the nurses were respected, as well as a leader to maintain professional unbiased commitment to society (Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements, 2020). I had one of my fellow nurse’s state “if you just gave you opinion, I would feel more comfortable”. This was a difficult no-win situation that would not suffice any means effective communication, utilizing the ANA code of ethics helped me to formulate my professional response that respected her boundaries and each personal situation.

Brown, S., & Miller, W. R. (2006). Transformational change. In Judeo-christian perspectives on psychology: Human nature, motivation, and change (pp. 167–183). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10859-009

Code of Ethics for Nurses With Interpretive Statements. (2020). https://www.nursingworld.org/coe-view-only. Retrieved March 5, 2021, from https://www.nursingworld.org/coe-view-only

During the peak of the pandemic there were many ethical dilemma’s that front line nurses experienced. some included end of life situations, reuse of PPE, and higher patient ratios then nurses were used to. I remember at first when the pandemic started there were so many unknowns. I remember in the first few weeks alot of the staff after watching what was happening in Italy started to wear N95 throughout their shift with all patients. At that time COVID it was not clear how COVID was spread but we were not recommended to wear masks unless the patient was on isolations. We were also told to inform the staff that they are not allowed to wear masks in the hallways and with all patients this included all level of staff and to report any consistent violators. I remember speaking to a physician who was wearing an N95 and a face shield in the hallway and stopped them to inform him that it was against our policy to wear PPE unless in an isolation room. The physician was upset and said he had a right to wear what he wanted in order to protect himself. He stated he worked at another hospital that was allowing it. This presented an ethical issue because one might say what is the harm in the physician wearing extra PPE if that is what made them feel secure. That being said I also understand there are reasons for not allowing it to be a free for all(for example cross contamination, overuse of supplies etc.). Fast forward to a week after that when there were now patients coming in for what we thought was not COVID and then a few days later were showing COVID symptoms ended up testing positive and there were alot of staff exposures at that time. We were then told to go tell everyone to wear a mask with all patients within 6 feet greater then 10 minutes. Even though I know it was a pandemic and there are so many unknowns, I feel others feelings and thoughts should always be listened to because you never know what that person has to offer. They may have new information/ideas that may help with the change. Afterall there is no rule book for ethics. In some organizations leaders have been allowed to put their own self interests ahead of the interests of many which has lead to bad consequences(Ellis, 2012). Leadership and change should always have a clear and transparent system of ethics and accountability(By et al., 2012).

By, R., Burnes, B., & Oswick, C.(2012). Change management: leadership, values, & ethics. Journal of Change Management, 12(1), 1-5.

Ellis, R.(2012). May i have your attention please? A review of change blindness. Organizational Development Journal, 30(5), 54-62.

I have witnessed ethical dilemmas and leadership changes while attempting to make a change within my current organization. A few years ago we had a leadership that created unrealistic goals and harassed middle management especially females while trying to initiate change to create a more positive work culture. This behavior hindered the change as it created a hostile environment and a loss of respect. “We are still living in an era where organizational leaders are allowed to, and even rewarded for putting their own egos and self-interests ahead of the interests of the many, often with disastrous results and consequences.” (By, Burnes, & Oswick, 2012) Overtime this behavior was observed by others that ultimately had to make a decision and that was decision was to let go of this person that took her authority to an extreme level that caused more damage to an already struggling organization. As a change leader you must take into consideration the organization and its people. “The danger of not only allowing, but encouraging unethical leadership and change can be reduced where there is openness about and alignment of values and objectives, transparency in decision-making and truly independent external scrutiny.” (By, Burnes, & Oswick, 2012) The change leader must evaluate the ethical values of the leaders to ensure they are compatible with the interest of the organizational change and the stakeholders that are part of the change. It is key for leaders to understand what is ethical and unethical. “However, this ‘economic morality’ will only prevail if all organizational stakeholders are able and prepared to ensure that ethical rather than unethical behaviour is pursued by leaders, and this can only be achieved if those of us in the change field do our part to identify ethical and unethical approaches to such change.” (By, Burnes, & Oswick, 2012)

By, R., Burnes, B., & Oswick, C. (2012). Change Management: Leadership, Values and Ethics. Journal of Change Management, 12(1), 1–5. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/14697017.2011.652371

LDR 615 Describe an ethical dilemma that you experienced, or have witnessed in a change leader, when attempting to initiate change