Abstract
This study is based on scientific literature in the fields of health, management, sociology and psychology. It notes that the implementation of changes in healthcare (from major conceptual changes to changes at the level of a particular workplace) usually results in objections of part of health personnel.
The study is structured into six parts. The first part describes the difficulties associated with defining the term resistance to change; it also provides an overview of different types of resistance to change.
The second part illustrates the general concept of resistance to change by means of examples from the area of health care. It also introduces conceptual changes to the healthcare system, changes in IT use, changes in nursing, and organizational changes within an institution.
The third part is devoted to three theoretical models: the three-dimensional model of change (Pettigrew), the cyclical concept of the four phases of change (Lawrence), and the psychological model of experiencing change by an individual (a modification of Kübler-Ross five stage model). The fourth part gives an overview of factors that (according to the results of the previous research) contribute to the resistance of health personnel to change.
The fifth part focuses on methods used to diagnose the resistance to change and presents basic information about ten questionnaires used for this purpose. The sixth and final part points out that the critical attitudes of health personnel to change do not fully overlap with total negation of change.
Not only are workers' attitudes and behaviour rather ambivalent and tend to change over time but they may also have a positive function: they maintain the stability of the system; prevent superficial, ill-conceived changes and uncritically accepted innovations. If management listens to workers' opinions, they can initiate a thorough debate and can provide stimuli to improve the original form of change.
Seriously conceived resistance to change can change the change for the better.