| Course | NURS 3021 Professional Nurses as Change Agents |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 2 |
| Paper type | Discussion post with two peer replies |
| Length | About 580 words, 4 pages |
| Format | Discussion post, APA 7 citations |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NURS 3021 Week 2
Week 2 Discussion: Initial Post
Change Agency Starts With Three Peers, Not a Signature: Moving Parent Discharge Teaching Out of the Hallway
On my pediatric unit, change agency means the influence a staff nurse builds with two or three respected peers, by trying a small version of a change and bringing the results to the unit council, before any manager is asked to approve anything. I define it narrowly on purpose. A definition built around title or authority would leave most staff nurses out of it, and a definition built around good ideas alone would leave out the work of getting colleagues to try them.
The change I have in mind is parent discharge teaching. On our unit, teaching usually happens after the discharge order is written, often in the hallway while a parent is packing and a sibling is waiting in the car. Parents are handed a medication schedule and warning signs to watch for at the moment they are least able to take them in. I cannot give a figure for how often this happens, because nobody tracks it, but most of us can name a family who called the unit the next morning confused about a dose. Parents' readiness to go home has been linked to the quality of the discharge teaching they receive (Weiss et al., 2008), which is exactly what the hallway pattern undermines.
The proposal is simple: begin discharge teaching the day before the expected discharge, in the room, and track it with one line on the shift handoff sheet, "teaching started," so the next nurse can continue it. Applying my definition, I would not start by writing a policy. I would ask two nurses the rest of the staff respect to try it with their own patients for 2 weeks and keep a note of what parents asked. Rogers' diffusion of innovations theory supports that order: people adopt a new practice largely by watching respected peers who have already tried it, and changes spread faster when people can try them in a limited way and see the results (Rogers, 2003). A review of how innovations spread in health services reached a similar conclusion about the influence of opinion leaders and the value of trialability (Greenhalgh et al., 2004). If the two nurses find it workable, the unit council hears from them, not from me alone.
Reply to Jordan
Jordan, you described change agency as something that belongs to nurse managers and educators. I would push back. If change agency depended on job title, your own example, the night nurse who noticed that telemetry leads were being reused and started labeling them with dates, would not count, and yet she changed practice on the whole unit. Her authority came from being the person who noticed and from colleagues who trusted her. Would you count what she did as change agency, or as something else? If something else, what would you call it, and would it matter to the unit?
Reply to Priya
Priya, your plan to move blood draws out of the 4 a.m. slot is a good fit for starting with peers. It also raises a barrier my own definition does not yet answer: what happens when the change depends on another department? My discharge teaching idea mostly lives inside nursing, but yours needs the phlebotomy team. Starting with a few peers works for testing nursing routines. Would you start with a phlebotomist you know well, and at what point would you need their manager's agreement rather than an individual's goodwill?
References
Greenhalgh, T., Robert, G., Macfarlane, F., Bate, P., & Kyriakidou, O. (2004). Diffusion of innovations in service organizations: Systematic review and recommendations. The Milbank Quarterly, 82(4), 581-629. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0887-378X.2004.00325.x
Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.
Weiss, M., Johnson, N. L., Malin, S., Jerofke, T., Lang, C., & Sherburne, E. (2008). Readiness for discharge in parents of hospitalized children. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 23(4), 282-295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2007.10.005
NURS 3021 Week 2 instructions, in plain terms
The second NURS 3021 thread usually asks you to define change agency and show how a staff nurse exercises it. Faculty penalize dictionary answers and reward a definition that does work in a real example. Choose a small change on your unit and show the steps of influence. Cite a change or diffusion theory in APA 7, along with one research source. Keep the NURS 3021 post to a few hundred words; replies come later that week. Data from your own unit are not required; a described observation is enough. Formal leadership roles are not needed to act as a change agent, and the post can argue that point.
How the NURS 3021 Week 2 example is put together
The first post runs near five hundred words, the two replies near two hundred apiece. The definition occupies the opening sentence, narrow on purpose: change agency here means gathering two or three respected peers, trying a small version of the change, and bringing results to the unit council. The middle paragraphs apply that definition to discharge teaching, describing the current pattern without figures the author cannot source and proposing that teaching start the day before discharge, tracked on the shift handoff sheet. Rogers' diffusion of innovations supplies the reasoning for starting with peers rather than policy. The first reply challenges a colleague who equated change agency with job title. The second reply adds a barrier the author's own definition does not yet answer.
Reading the NURS 3021 Week 2 rubric
Definitional prompts invite a dictionary answer, and a dictionary answer is what loses the most here. Many sections put their heaviest credit on whether the definition is the author's own and whether it is applied to a specific setting, so a post quoting a textbook definition and stopping has done the reading without doing the week. Evidence use is judged by fit: a theory cited because it explains the proposed route scores differently from one cited because it appeared in the module. Graders also look for the limit of a claim, since a definition presented as universal cannot be argued with. Replies tend to be credited for contribution, and a reply that restates the colleague's point in new words earns presence and little else. Timeliness of replies is scored in several sections as well.
Common NURS 3021 Week 2 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Change agency posts lose the most when they paste a definition and stop. Show the definition working through one change. Another common gap is jumping straight to the manager's approval, which skips the peer work that makes change stick. Describe the first trial with colleagues. Writers also choose a change too large for one nurse. Keep it to one routine. Avoid citing a theory without using its terms, such as early adopters. Explain why discharge teaching in the hallway is a problem for families. In replies, test the classmate's definition against your example. Close with the first step you could take next shift. Writers also forget the families, whose experience is the reason for the change. Say what they gain.
Get a NURS 3021 Week 2 example written to your instructions
Paste in the Week 2 discussion question, the rubric and any reply requirements, and the desk drafts a NURS 3021 change agency post with its definition, test case and both replies. First one free, returned in 24 to 48 hours. A section that names a required change theory gets a sample built around that theory instead of Rogers.
More NURS 3021 papers and BSN samples
- NURS 3021 Week 1: Professional Stance Post
- NURS 3021 Week 3: Change Agent Goal Statement
- NURS 3021 Week 4: Change Theory Discussion
- NURS 3021 Week 5: Practice Problem Analysis
- NURS 3021 Week 6: Unit Change Proposal
- NURS 3021 Week 7: Stakeholder Buy-In Analysis
- NURS 3021 Week 8: Barrier Rebuttal Thread
- NURS 3021 Week 9: Sustaining Change Reflection
- NURS 3021 Week 10: Integrated Change Synthesis
- NURS 3021 Week 11: Final Proposal and Reflection
- NURS 3025 Week 2: Health History
- NURS 4300 Week 2: Capstone PICOT Question
- NURS 3030 Week 2: Caseload Disparity Post
- NURS 4212 Week 2: Epidemiology Measures Thread
NURS 3021 Week 2 questions, answered
Can change agency be argued without a formal leadership role?
That is the claim the example defends. It treats change agency as influence rather than authority, gathered by recruiting respected peers and running a small trial before asking for approval. The post also concedes the point where a title does matter, when a change needs a new form or a schedule adjustment, which keeps the argument from overreaching and gives replies something to test.
Does the post need data from my own unit?
No, and the example avoids it. Unit figures are rarely something a staff nurse can cite, and an uncited number reads as a guess. The post describes the discharge pattern in plain operational terms, when teaching happens and who is present, then leans on published work for the argument. That keeps the claim checkable while leaving your unit's internal records where they belong.
Why is Rogers cited instead of a change model like Lewin?
Because the post argues about who carries a change, not about its stages. Diffusion of innovations is known for the idea that respected early adopters pull a group along, which fits a definition built on peer influence. Lewin and Kotter describe phases, and the course usually reaches them a week or two later. The example uses the source that explains its own claim.
Where can I find a free NURS 3021 Week 2 sample paper?
The three-peers change agency post is on this page with the narrow definition, the discharge teaching example, Rogers's diffusion terms and replies to Jordan and Priya.
Which change does the NURS 3021 Week 2 post use?
Moving parent discharge teaching on a pediatric unit out of the hallway and into the room.