NSN830 Leadership in Nursing — Assessment 1: Problem Solving Task

Assessment Overview

• Assessment Title: Problem Solving Task
• Unit: NSN830 Leadership in Nursing
• Weighting: 50%
• Word Count: 1500 words (±10%; in-text citations included, reference list excluded)
• Due Date: Friday, Week 7 (Semester 1, 2026)
• Submission: Microsoft Word document via Canvas
• Grading: 7-point scale using Criterion Referenced Assessment Matrix

Task Description

You will identify an issue or concern that you have witnessed in your workplace (or select one from the scenarios below) that requires change. You will explain the concerns raised in the scenario, use literature to explore the problem, justify the change, and identify potential barriers. You will then apply Kotter’s 8-Step Model of Change (Kotter, 2012) to describe and justify your approach to addressing the concern and implementing change.

This assessment is not an essay and should not include an introduction or conclusion. Use headings to structure your response logically.

Assessment Structure and Suggested Word Counts

1. Outline the Scenario/Issue (≈250 words): Briefly describe the scenario or issue requiring change in your own words. Do not copy and paste the scenario. Critically discuss the proposed change in relation to international, national, or local health issues or innovations affecting nursing practice and leadership, using evidence.
2. Legal, Ethical, Moral, and Safety Considerations (≈300 words): Examine the legal, ethical, moral, and/or safety (clinical and cultural) considerations relevant to your scenario, using evidence to support your claims.
3. Key Stakeholders and Impact (≈150 words): Determine the key stakeholders and the potential impact the change may have on them.
4. Barriers and Evidence-Based Strategies (≈400 words): Analyse the scenario to identify two barriers you consider the highest priority. Outline two evidence-based strategies to overcome these barriers.
5. Advocating for Change Using Kotter’s Framework (≈400 words): Discuss how you plan to advocate for positive change using Kotter’s change management framework. A description of the framework is not required; focus on its application to your scenario.

Scenarios (Select One)

Scenario 1: Implementing a Voluntary Clinical Care Standard

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has introduced a new clinical care standard. This standard is not mandatory for your organisation, but implementing it would benefit patients and/or staff. As a leader in safety and quality, you would like to introduce this change. Initial planning conversations have met resistance across many levels, with comments such as, “If we do not need to do it, why should we?”

Scenario 2: Digital Post-Falls Pathway Implementation

A new post-falls pathway has been introduced as a digital solution to improve documentation and follow-up after patient falls. As a member of the falls committee, you are responsible for leading the implementation of this change on your ward. The workforce has limited experience using the digital solution, and initial feedback has been resistant, with staff stating, “The paper form works well, so why would we use the digital one?”

Scenario 3: Establishing a Graduate Nurse Transition Program

As a nurse leader, you have observed that your organisation does not have a formal graduate nurse transition program. Feedback from new graduate nurses indicates that many are considering leaving the organisation due to a lack of structured support and guidance. You recognise that implementing a structured formal transition program would support new graduates, enhance their confidence and competence, and potentially improve organisational retention rates. However, initial discussions with senior leadership have met with resistance due to concerns about the cost of the initiative.

Scenario 4: Chronic Disease Management and Telehealth Framework

You work as a senior nurse in a primary care centre in a rural town, where many patients live with chronic conditions. A new chronic disease management and telehealth follow-up framework has been developed to improve continuity of care. Implementing this new process would benefit both patients and staff. However, during early discussions, resistance has arisen among staff. Some clinicians express concerns with comments such as, “Our current approach already works fine for most patients; why change what we’re used to?”

Presentation Requirements

• Include your name, student number, unit name and code, assessment title, and word count.
• Use APA 7th edition referencing (QUT CiteWrite) with working links to references.
• Standard margins; 1.5 line spacing (minimum). Reference list spacing follows APA guidelines.
• Font: Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman, size 12.
• Headings may be used to structure your work but are not essential.
• Write in the third person.
• Any use of GenAI must be acknowledged and appropriately referenced (see guidelines below).
• Submit as a Microsoft Word document (not PDF) through the NSN830 Canvas site.

GenAI Use Guidelines

GO: GenAI Use Authorised. Ethical and responsible use of generative AI tools is permitted under the following conditions. Unauthorised use may be treated as a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy.

Acceptable AI use includes:

• Understanding assessment instructions
• Defining key terms or concepts used in the task sheet; checking assumptions
• Correcting spelling and grammar

AI must NOT be used for:

• Generating or enhancing any part of the response to the problem
• Paraphrasing or rewriting content

All GenAI use must be acknowledged and appropriately referenced.

Resources

• Content from Modules 1 & 2 on NSN830 Canvas site
• Lecture content (available online via Canvas)
• QUT readings and library resources
• Student Success Group (Study Support tab on Canvas)
• QUT CiteWrite resources
• Studiosity
• Assessment drop-in sessions (see schedule)

Marking Criteria (Criterion Referenced Assessment Matrix)

text

Graduate Nurse Transition and Retention: Sample Answer

New graduate nurses enter the workforce during a period of considerable vulnerability, and the absence of structured support frequently accelerates turnover intentions. In an organisation lacking a formal transition program, recent hires reported feeling unprepared for clinical responsibilities and isolated from senior colleagues. The proposed change responds to mounting evidence that structured transition programs reduce attrition and strengthen clinical competence. Internationally, countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom have embedded transition frameworks into nursing workforce strategy, while within Australia the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards emphasise organisational accountability for supporting novice practitioners through safe, supervised practice environments. An integrative review published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies confirmed that formal transition programs incorporating preceptorship, didactic education, and peer support consistently improve new graduate retention and clinical confidence (Rush et al., 2019).

Transition Shock and the Cost of Inaction

The experience of transition shock offers a useful lens for understanding why new graduates consider leaving when formal support is absent. Transition shock describes the dissonance between academic expectations and clinical reality, and it manifests through anxiety, self-doubt, and physical exhaustion during the first six to twelve months of practice. Duchscher’s (2009) stages of transition theory posit that graduates move through doing, being, and knowing phases, each requiring distinct forms of organisational scaffolding. When organisations withhold that scaffolding, the financial consequences become measurable. Turnover of a single new graduate nurse has been estimated to cost between AUD 40,000 and AUD 80,000 when recruitment, orientation, and temporary staffing are accounted for (Rush et al., 2019). A dedicated transition program, by contrast, represents a fraction of that expense while building a stable, competent workforce over multiple hiring cycles. Presenting a cost-benefit analysis during the urgency-building phase of Kotter’s model can shift leadership’s perception of the initiative from an avoidable expense to a strategic investment.

Building the Guiding Coalition and Securing Stakeholder Buy-In

A question students frequently ask when tackling this assignment is how to move beyond identifying stakeholders toward genuinely mobilising them for change. Stakeholder mapping provides a practical tool. Shirey (2012) described a method for categorising stakeholders by influence and interest, then tailoring communication to each group’s priorities. Senior executives require financial projections and workforce stability data, whereas clinical educators and preceptors respond to evidence about mentoring ratios and protected teaching time. Graduate nurses themselves must be included as active participants rather than passive recipients; their lived experience data can strengthen the urgency narrative. Resistance from leadership often softens when the proposal reframes the transition program not as an additional cost centre but as a retention strategy that reduces expenditure on agency staff and repeated recruitment drives. Holding small-group forums where resistant voices are heard and addressed, rather than sidelined, aligns with Kotter’s emphasis on broad-based coalition building and helps convert sceptics into champions.

References

• Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change. Harvard Business Review Press.
• Rush, K. L., Janke, R., Duchscher, J. E., Phillips, R., & Kaur, S. (2019). Best practices of formal new graduate transition programs: An integrative review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 94, 139–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.02.010
• Shirey, M. R. (2012). Stakeholder analysis and mapping as targeted communication strategy. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 42(9), 399–403. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0b013e3182668149
• Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. (2024). Clinical care standards. https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/standards/clinical-care-standards
• Fowler, K., O’Loughlin, M., et al. (2025). Which cultural safety strategies are making a difference? Exploring hospital initiatives for First Nations peoples in Australia: A scoping review. Journal of Clinical Nursing. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.70111

Suggested Titles for This Brief

1. NSN830 assessment 1 Leadership in Nursing Problem Solving: Applying Kotter’s Model to Nursing Change
2. How to structure a nursing leadership problem solving task with scenarios and rubric
3. Complete a 1500-word problem solving task identifying a nursing practice issue, applying Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model, and analysing legal, ethical, and stakeholder considerations.
4. Prepare a structured 1500-word problem solving task for NSN830 Leadership in Nursing, addressing a workplace scenario through change management theory and evidence.
5. NSN830 Assessment 1 requires students to analyse a nursing practice concern, examine legal and ethical implications, identify stakeholders and barriers, and apply Kotter’s change framework.

Assessment 2 — Difficult Conversations / Role Play (Week 11–13)

NSN830 Assessment 2: Difficult Conversations / Role Play

This assessment has two parts. In Part 1, you will be provided with a hypothetical scenario involving a difficult conversation (for example, performance management, conflict resolution, interdepartmental interaction, or advocacy in an interprofessional group). You will role-play the scenario with a colleague or peer to address the key concerns, audio-visually record the interaction (approximately 8 minutes, no more than 10), and upload the recording to Canvas. In Part 2, you will review another student’s recording and provide constructive feedback (approximately 300 words) using a matrix and free-text format via Feedback Fruits. You must demonstrate the ability to apply leadership principles and theory, use culturally safe communication practices, support diverse cultural backgrounds, and reference relevant legislation and policies. This assessment is weighted at 50% and is due in Week 11 (Part 1) and Week 13 (Part 2).

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