Using planned change to implement a pressure sore program.

Abstract

The establishment of a hospital-wide wound care program is a monumental endeavor requiring mobilization of all available resources. The clinical nurse specialist in a community hospital acted as a change agent to facilitate the formation of a wound care task force, development of wound care protocols and the purchase of wound care products to address the problem of pressure ulcers. With the theory of planned change as a framework, the driving and resisting forces at work are depicted and unanticipated events that speeded and impeded the change process are revealed. Collaboration between nursing and other disciplines is discussed with recommendations offered to other practitioners considering implementation of a wound care program.