John P. Kotter (1998) suggests several strategies in order to facilitate change within an organization. The most notable section of his article relates to eight steps that can be taken to implement change and transform an organization. These range from the beginning stages of identifying and establishing the urgency of change, through identifying opposition and obstacles to maintaining existing changes and optimizing future opportunities for change.
             The medical profession, as a public service provider whose quality can result in life or death, should be subject to continuous change in order to optimize this service. An area that can benefit substantially from optimization is the nursing profession. Residency programs have been required for physicians, but not specifically for nurses. The benefits of these programs for physicians have been obvious. This has however not been the case for the nursing profession. Only recently have residency programs been implemented for them. Obviously, fewer errors with patients will occur when such residency programs are implemented. In general, this will provide the public with greater confidence in hospitals housing such resident nurses. Concomitantly, nurses going through residency programs have reported greater confidence in their own skills and in turn projecting an image of professionalism to the public.
             In suggesting such a program for an academic medical center, the leaders of such institutions can be addressed according to the eight steps of change offered by Kotter. When following these steps, the necessary changes can be implemented not only with confidence, but also with success. Nurses will become more confident, and the public will have greater trust of their local medical service providers. In general, this system will benefit both the industry and the users relying on it. Specifically, the leaders of medical establishments can offer their services with greater conf...