N550 Module 1 Assignment 2 Initial Teleconference

Student Names

Nursing 550 Nursing Administration Practicum I

Aspen University

Professor Name

Date

Initial Teleconference

On June 4, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., Dr. Alexandra Murr (Aspen Professor), Elizabeth Acree (student), and Jennifer Meek(preceptor), met for the initial teleconference to being Practicum 550 and the capstone project.  During this teleconference the capstone project process was discussed.  We discussed how a potential project should have a problem that needs reviewed, how the project should have measurable objectives and metrics, how the project and the objectives should be reviewed by the multidisciplinary team, the student should do a complete literature search, review, and an annotated biography, and an evaluation of the results of the study should be completed.  Dr. Murr shared that having a good timeline in place is essential to stay on task to be able to complete all steps of the project within the eight-week timeframe. In this summary of our teleconference, we will explore some of the important aspects of the practicum experience and project completion.

Project Ideas

Finding a project idea that is of interest to the student is very important.  This allows the student to work and learn about the topic during the capstone project.  There are many areas of interest and one item Dr. Murr explained was that a few topics or ideas have been very well researched.  One example includes nursing burn out.  She explained that when picking an idea, it must be a topic or problem that needs assistance within the system. She shared that one step to landing on a project topic is the have the multidisciplinary team review the project idea and weigh in. 

For this capstone project, nursing experts are the main evaluators, but it is important to have a subject matter expert from another discipline evaluate the project idea as well. She also shared that the student should keep in mind that the format of the practicums and capstone project is a very limited time.  With this a topic that can be worked on quickly and has time to show results or improvement is important. Having a great description of the idea, the problem, what research is available to study, and what the student plans to do to help improve the problem is key to starting a project.

Developing a Timeline

Capstone projects have many necessary steps and a timeline for each step is an important part of getting started.  Making a timeline that the student, preceptor and professor can follow is vital to staying on task, identifying any barriers that arise, and working to ensure the barriers and project are completed within the deadlines.  With this project there is three different deadlines that must be met and having each section mapped out in a timeline is definitely a way to keep all pieces visible for everyone involved in the project and also allows the project manager, the student in this case, to follow the work, check off the completion, and report on upcoming concerns or steps.

Measurable Objectives and Metrics

Objectives for the project are necessary and show a stepped progression of how the project will be moving forward.  Metrics are important to show that a topic or idea has a need to be investigated or improved.  If metrics are favorable, then the current processes in place do not need work.  Showing a problem exists with metrics is one of the first steps in helping finalize a project topic and the need for further research. On the other hand, having the ability to follow the metrics once a project is started and a new process is implemented shows if the new process is improving the metrics. It also helps monitor the new process over time to ensure that it is being sustained.

Analysis of Literature

Analyzing and reviewing available literature on the project topic is a large time-consuming step.  It is important to allow plenty of time to do the literature search and more to review this literature to see if it in fact helps with your project and your hypotheses. Dr. Murr shared that sometime when looking for literature on a topic it may be limited.  So, expanding your search to include areas that may be secondary or correlate with the topic at hand may help the student meet the needed quantity of literature articles.  This step of a capstone project allows the student to become a subject matter expert on the topic of interest.  An annotated biography will be developed from the literature review that will be come the evidence for the capstone project.

Implementation

Once the project idea is chosen, metrics are evaluated, and literature is reviewed a student can being the implementation of the solution.  The student will be being the implementation of the project solution with the help of the multidisciplinary team, education of staff, and monitoring of the new process.  This piece is the being of helping the health system understand the why behind the need for change, implement the new steps of change, evaluate any barriers to the change, and continue to measure the progress.  Implementation is a very important step in the capstone project and repeating the education, or training for the new process may be necessary to ensure the change is sustained.

Evaluation

The evaluation step allows the student to review the steps of the project that have been completed and make a scientific statement on the success or failures of the project.  Evaluations include reviewing the metrics before and after the new process has been completed.  It allows the student the opportunity to see if barriers still exist that may need to be discussed for further study, and it also allows the student the opportunity to weigh in on the success or failure of what occurred during the project.  Projects are important to help a health system move forward and improve.  Using the evaluation step provides a final examination of what occurred, what did not happen, and how a new project may help improve from what the system learned during this project.

Conclusion

Practicums and Capstone projects are a very important part of the Master of Nursing program.  The practice and project allow the student the ability to show the instructor what the student has learned throughout the course work, and it also allows the student a real time opportunity to work with a nursing leader to help improve their processes.  Reviewing ideas or problems, consulting with experts in the area, reviewing the metrics and objectives, researching the literature, developing a timeline to follow, and implementing the project are several steps that must be taken to complete the project.  Finally evaluating the project for multiple areas allows the student to understand the success, failures, barriers, and areas of future study.