Planned role change: avoiding political pitfalls.

Modern health care has placed increasing demands on health professionals to expand their roles or to create new roles in order to provide comprehensive service to clients. An understanding of various social theories is an essential background when planning and undergoing a process of transition from one role to another. The authors have applied principles from these theories to the process of role change or innovation in organizations. A problem-solving format is used to outline the process of entry to a clinical system and planning a role change. This practical guide formulates the questions to be addressed during the process and can be used by practitioners or by educators of any professional discipline.