NURS 6600: Capstone Synthesis Practicum – Discussion 3

Master of Science in Nursing

NURS 6600: Capstone Synthesis Practicum Nursing Informatics and Leadership & Management

Practicum Professional Experience Plan

Course Description

Students in this course apply the MSN curriculum experience by translating knowledge into practice through participation in professional activities and the development of a culminating project. Students apply theory, principles, and concepts related to their area of specialization in order to enhance nursing practice and promote positive social change. Note: This course requires a minimum of 144 practicum hours.*

*Note: Students enrolled in the Nursing Informatics specialization will have already completed 72 hours of a practicum experience in NURS 6431. This course provides an additional 144 practicum hours. NURS 6600: Capstone Synthesis Practicum – Discussion 3

Complete each section below.

Section 1: Quarter/Term/Year and Contact Information

Quarter/Term/Year:

Student Contact Information

Name: Chizelle T. Archie

Street Address: 2275 Wintergreen Drive

City, State, Zip: Semmes, Alabama 36575

Home Phone:

Work Phone: 251-607-5135

Cell Phone: 678-266-8180

Fax:

E-mail: chizelle.archie@waldenu.edu chizelle.archie@att.net

Preceptor Contact Information

Name: Crystal McDonald

Organization: Springhill Medical Center

Street Address: 3719 Dauphin Street

City, State, Zip: Mobile, Alabama 36608

Work Phone: 251-460-5202

Cell Phone: 251-463-7448

Fax:

E-mail: crystal.mcdonald@springhill.org

Section 2: Practicum Professional Development Objectives

Refer to the instructions in Week 1 to create practicum professional development objectives that meet the requirements for this course

Objective 1: Improve time management skills in a leadership role while managing work life balance.

Objective 2: Gain confidence and experience in my role performance in a supportive environment with preceptor, and other experienced health care professionals in leadership roles in a variety of settings.

Objective 3: Utilize effective relaxation and stress reduction techniques to allow me to complete my task that will ultimately lead to my beginning a new career as advanced beginning professional.

Section 3: Projected Timeline/Schedule

Estimate how many hours you expect to work on your practicum each week. Per the practicum guidelines, you may use half your hours for professional development and up to half for your Practicum Project (i.e., 72 hours to accomplish your practicum professional development objectives and 72 hours to complete your Practicum Project objectives, which you will establish later in this course). NURS 6600: Capstone Synthesis Practicum – Discussion 3

This timeline is intended as a planning tool; your actual schedule may differ from the projections you are making now.

I intend to complete the 144 practicum hours according to the following timeline/schedule:

Section 4 – Signatures

Student Signature (electronic): Chizelle T. Archie Date: 08/31/2017

Practicum Faculty Signature (electronic)**: Date:

** Faculty signature signifies approval of Practicum Professional Experience Plan (PPEP)

Submit your Practicum Professional Experience Plan on or before Day 7 of Week 1 for Faculty review and approval.

Once approved, you will receive a copy of the PPEP for your records. You must share an approved copy with your Preceptor. The Preceptor is not required to sign this form.

© 2013 Laureate Education, Inc. 1

Practicum Project Focus, Goals and Objectives

In the Community Living Center or CLC, there have been consistent low scores for the Quality Measure (QM) for pressure ulcers.  Specifically, there is a problem with pressure injuries to the heel areas. Lack of education of front line nursing assistants and poor handoff process is the focus of my project.  My goal is to improve the pressure ulcer prevention program in the CLC.  To do this, my objectives will be to provide the front line staff with the necessary educational offerings on pressure ulcer prevention and to work on the handoff process between shifts and team members.  Improving team dynamics will also be essential to my project.

Methodology

I will be using focus group, observation and interview methodology to collect and gather the information needed to analyze the problem on the CLC units. Focus groups, interviews and observation of handoffs will allow me to gain insight to what kind of handoff is currently being done and I will be able to analyze if the process is consistent on all three shifts.  In the pre-test meetings with the NA’s, I will be able to use the focus group to gain their insight on what needs to be changed so they feel they have the necessary information in order to do their job effectively.  Qualitative information will be obtained that will be reviewed for evidence of a trend pattern.  It will be important for me to understand what the staff thinks is the reason they don’t get the proper handoff and why they don’t constantly have the pressure interventions in place.  I will use the suggestions from the groups, interviews and my own observations to educate the NAs and revise the handoff process to a consistent and standardized one across all three shifts on all units in the CLC. NURS 6600: Capstone Synthesis Practicum – Discussion 3

Evaluation

In order to evaluate if the face-to-face training sessions with the front line nursing assistants (NAs) was effective, the nursing assistants will first be given a pre-test to measure the assessment of learning needs.  This feedback directly from the NA’s can allow me to understand if any changes need to be made in the future planned training.  An open question on the pre-test will ask for feedback and ask for suggestions/concerns on this issue.  Formative assessments can be used by the instructor and the students to guide improvements in the ongoing teaching and learning context (Carnegie Mellon, n.d.).   Formative assessments are commonly used in educational settings and can enhance teaching effectiveness (Pellegrino, 2010).  Developed in the UK, formative assessments can produce a clear picture of the child’s strengths and future needs (Black, 2010).

Summative assessments will be then used to evaluate the NA’s assessment of their learning following the pressure ulcer training.  This will be done through a post-test to evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional program.  Individual feedback will be given to each NA to show them how they have improved after getting the training.  Feedback provides the student with clarity and self-esteem that can validate the worth of the training (Duers & Brown, 2009).

In order to evaluate the improvement of the handoff process, audits of care plan interventions will be completed to check to see if there is improvement once the handoff process has been revised.  The goal is that the handoff process is standardized and all information regarding high risk residents has been handed-off to the front line staff, ensuring the correct prevention interventions are in place.

For the evaluation of my overall project goal of improving the QM scores for pressure ulcers in the CLC, I plan to use a summative evaluation based upon the benchmarks of other CLCs. The measure of success can be evaluated by a summative assessment of comparing scores from one quarter to another as well as by comparing and using benchmarks (Carnegie Mellon, n.d.).  This can be done through the SAIL data which ranks your scores against each CLC in the VA.  Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning (SAIL) is a system for summarizing performance within Veterans Health Administration (VHA) CLC’s (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2017).   An improvement in the SAIL score of pressure ulcers in the next quarter would validate the success of my project.

References

Black, P. (2010). Formative assessment.  In P. Peterson, E. Baker, & B. McGraw (Eds), International encyclopedia of education (3rd ed, pp. 359-364). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.  Retrieved from Walden Library Databases.

Carnegie Mellon. (n.d.).  The whys and hows of assessment.  Retrieved from : http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/howto/basics/formative-summative.html

Duers, L.E., & Brown, N. (2009).  An exploration of student nurses’ experiences of formative assessment.  Nurse Education Today, 29(6), 654-659.  Retrieved from Walden Library Databases.

Pellegrino, J.W. (2010).  Technology and formative assessments.  In P. Peterson, E. Baker, & B. McGraw (Eds), International encyclopedia of education (3rd ed, pp. 42-47). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.  Retrieved from Walden Library Databases.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2017).  Quality of Care.  Retrieved from https://www.va.gov/QUALITYOFCARE/measure-up/Strategic_Analytics_for_Improvement_and_Learning_SAIL.asp

Post #2

The term egalitarianism describe the “social organization of peoples who have been empirically observed to practice a cultural ethos which encourages sharing, peaceful cooperation, and equality, while discouraging property accumulation, status-seeking, conflict, and authoritarianism” (Townsend, n.d.). In essence, a fancy synonym for kumbaya. The journal article I selected discusses how business must continue to look at corporate governance through the lens of theorist John Rawls (1999), but with a more rational approach

Neron (2015) makes the claim that an egalitarian marketplace can be just as dangerous as a hierarchical marketplace. “Business” since it term was coined, has long been faced with the charge that it fosters inequality. Many critic would argue that the current status of income distribution is unfair and unethical and that it must be changed. However, Neron (2015) concludes that a relationship approach egalitarianism is the best approach because it moves our society away from the hunter-gatherer mindset, and takes us into a marketplace where everyone contributes and receives equally based on outputs within the system in place. More so, since it can be difficult to explain to the masses why doctors make the same as sanitation workers. Both deal in health and safety and require certain skills, but one requires a higher level of critical analysis and decision-making. Additionally, not everyone can thrive in an egalitarian setting (Neron, 2015).

I do agree with Neron’s (2015) conclusion. In an egalitarianism company, managers don’t have large offices with expensive furnishings. Instead, they work in efficient spaces that are identical to those that other workers use. Tony Hsieh, the CEO for Zappos, is famous for this type of workplace environment and it works. However, these companies also face problems as workers attempt to adapt to an egalitarian structure, especially if they come from backgrounds in traditional, hierarchical companies.

Neron, P. Y. (2015). Rethinking the very idea of egalitarian markets and corporations: Why relationships might matter more than distribution. Business Ethics Quarterly, 25(1), 93-124.

Rawls, John. 1999. A theory of justice. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.

Townsend, C. (n.d.). Egalitarianism, the evolution of. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/29417676/Egalitarianism_the_evolution_of