Need Help With This Assignment?

Let Our Team of Professional Writers Write a PLAGIARISM-FREE Paper for You!

SUBMIT YOUR ASSIGNMENT

Dissertation Chapter-Discussion, Nursing, Pages: 2

Evaluation

Evaluation

Project Outcome and Evaluation Plan

The SMART, patient-focused project outcome states: “By January 31, 2025, implement a standardized narcotic waste process with 100% staff education completion and 90% compliance with two-nurse verification and documentation requirements as measured by weekly documentation audits.” The date for evaluation is scheduled to be January 31, 2025, with weekly interim assessments in between to understand the progress and make improvements. This structured timeline will, on the one hand, enable systematic data collection and analysis while, on the other, allowing real-time process improvements.

Data Collection Requirements

In the effort toward effective measurement of this outcome, two major kinds of data will be required for collection. First is a record of the completion of staff education, entailing attendance and completion of in-service training by both day and night shift nurses. It will be important to track attendance to live and recorded training sessions, the completion of competency assessments, and documentation of one-on-one coaching when required. Special attention is directed to the completeness rate follow-through for different shifts as a way of ensuring equity in training opportunities.

Second, the compliance data should be collected from the weekly documentation audits, particularly those focusing on proper completion of two-nurse verification processes, accuracy and completeness of waste documentation, timeliness of documentation submission, adherence to regulatory requirements for controlled substance disposal, documentation of any discrepancies or unusual occurrences and time stamps for waste verification and disposal.

Data Collection Methodology

The project systematically collects data from various sources. Tracking of staff education is performed via the learning management system (LMS) of the hospital for video training completed, and in-person sessions attended; the LMS generates detailed reports on individual completion status, time spent in training, and assessment scores.

Monitoring of compliance includes the weekly audit of the documentation of narcotic waste against the established criteria using a standardized checklist. The audit process includes a review of electronic medication administration records (eMAR), waste verification forms, and two-nurse signature compliance. Additionally, random spot checks are performed during different shifts to ensure consistency in documentation practices.

Ensuring Credibility

To establish credibility with stakeholders, several measures have been implemented. First, the evaluation process incorporates objective, quantifiable metrics that align with regulatory requirements from the DEA and Joint Commission standards (Environmental Health & Safety, 2024). Second, multiple data sources are utilized to cross-verify findings, including electronic records, physical documentation, and direct observation.

Third, regular reporting to key stakeholders ensures transparency and allows for ongoing feedback and adjustment. This multi-faceted approach to validation helps maintain the integrity of the evaluation process.

Limitations of the Evaluation Plan

Some of the limitations were realized in the evaluation plan. First is the probability of the Hawthorne effect, whereby the behaviour of staff will temporarily improve during known audit periods. Another limitation is that the evaluation period may not reflect seasonal workload variations that might affect compliance rates.

Furthermore, according to Hussein et al. (2021), most quality improvement initiatives in healthcare struggle to maintain consistent measurement processes for all shifts and variable patient census levels. The plan also presents limitations with regard to the long-term tracking of sustainability beyond the initial evaluation period.

Modifications and Improvements

Several changes are being made in order to strengthen the alignment of this outcome statement with its evaluation plan. First, the timeline of the evaluation has been extended to three months post-implementation in order to allow for a better assessment of sustainability. Second, the audit tool has been refined to include qualitative feedback from staff about specific barriers to compliance that are allowing for targeted improvements.

This, according to Heagney (2022), can have the benefit of accommodating quantitative and qualitative measures in measuring project success. Other changes will include the whistleblower policy that allows the staff to report concerns anonymously and a compliance dashboard for monitoring compliance issues in real-time.

References

Environmental Health & Safety. (2024). DEA controlled substances program manual. University of Oregon. https://safety.uoregon.edu/sites/default/files/manual_dea_controlled_substances_program_2023_rev.pdf

Heagney, J. (2022). Fundamentals of project management (6th ed.). AMACOM.

Hussein, M., Pavlova, M., Ghalwash, M., & Groot, W. (2021). The impact of hospital accreditation on healthcare quality: A systematic literature review. BMC Health Services Research, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-07097-6

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

Question

Getting Started

Throughout the NUR-495 course, you will actively engage in strategically planning for and managing a planned change project within the scope of your current professional role.  For this field-based project, you will identify a specific problem or need to serve as the foundation for a faculty-guided capstone experience.  Project-related experiences are integrated throughout the course, and will involve application of strategic planning and management processes.

As you consider the activities necessary to implement your capstone project, you will find many similarities between the “planning and implementation” phases of the nursing process to the “work schedule” used to guide the capstone project.  In both cases, these steps serve as an action plan to direct specific activities and tasks that will facilitate achieving a specific outcome. 

In the case of your capstone project, the work schedule you developed in Workshop Three serves as a dynamic plan to communicate the activities and tasks that are necessary to perform to successfully achieve your project outcome.  During Workshops Four and Five, you identified challenges to the capstone project and related contingency plans, while considering the financial impact and sustainability of the initiative within your organization over time.

This week, you will consider the evaluative phase of the planned change process.  Although each student’s project may be in varying stages of implementation, you will examine the stated methods of evaluation, and determine any necessary modifications as a result of evaluative findings.

Upon successful completion of the course material, you will be able to:

  • Determine alignment between the project outcome and corresponding plan for evaluation.
  • Appraise the progress made toward achievement of the stated capstone project outcome.
  • Implement the activities of your strategic plan necessary to complete the capstone project.

Resources

Background Information

As discussed in Workshop One, the planned change process is rather iterative in nature, with dynamics that are organic rather than static.  For this reason, we tend to think of a planned change project as a work in continual process.  With each workshop, you will polish and fine-tune aspects of your plan as part of the learning process. 

Each facet of the planned change process will be unpacked, examined, and critically applied to your capstone project.  As you advance in the course, each workshop will bring an opportunity to carefully reflect upon and streamline your work.  When the capstone course ends, your final project documentation will accurately articulate the planned change process that you have created and managed.

In the previous workshops, you considered a variety of factors that impact the change process, established a problem statement, plan for evaluation, and detailed a work schedule to guide the capstone project.  You examined potential threats and challenges to the capstone project, and assessed its financial impact and sustainability.

In Workshop Six, you will evaluate the planned change process.  Specifically, you will consider your chosen evaluation methods and appraise their congruence with your stated project outcome.  Additionally, you will determine modifications to the plan that may be needed as a result of your findings.

When considering project evaluation, it is important to clarify the difference between process evaluation and outcome evaluation.  Although process evaluation is important, for the purpose of this learning activity, you will focus on outcome evaluation.

Evaluation

Evaluation

Effective evaluation begins with correctly identifying your project’s intended outcome or goal.  When the outcome statement is accurately defined, it will clearly indicate how the successful achievement of the outcome will be made evident.  Once you know how to recognize the successful achievement of the outcome, you can then determine the type of information needed to measure that achievement.  The type of information you need and how to gather that information are essential elements of your evaluation plan.

Please note: Eight hours of workshop time is allocated to your efforts in this assignment; this work directly pertains to your 7.3 Capstone Project Presentation where you highlight your accomplishments.

Instructions

  1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
  2. Read the section titled “Project Evaluation” in Chapter 10 of your textbook, Fundamentals of Project Management.
  3. Go to the My Environmental Education Evaluation Resource Assistant (MEERA) web page Evaluation: What it is and why’d do it? and read the critical concepts included in the background information.
  4. Revisit the capstone work you completed in the previous workshops, as well as the instructor feedback that you received.  Specifically, consider your project outcome statement and the corresponding plan for summative evaluation.
  5. Navigate to the threaded discussion and respond to the following:
    1. Briefly state your SMART, patient-focused project outcome, your corresponding plan for evaluation, and date for evaluation.
    2. What type of data or information must you gather to determine the degree to which your SMART, patient-focused capstone project outcome has been achieved?
      1. For instance: In our example, the information necessary to determine project outcome achievement is the incidence of CAUTI on the unit before and after the project was initiated.
    3. What data collection method will you use to gather the information you need to determine whether the project achieves your desired outcome?
      1. For instance: In our example, the data collection method would be tracking/monitoring the CAUTI incidence on the unit.  Collaboration with the unit manager may be necessary to obtain this data.
    4. How can you ensure your evaluation results are credible to stakeholders and others in your organization?
    5. What limitations can you identify about your evaluation plan?
    6. Are there any aspects of your SMART, patient-focused capstone outcome statement or corresponding evaluation plan that need further clarification, modification, or streamlining?  If so, please share along with your plan to improve alignment between these two aspects of your strategic plan.
  6. Your initial post is due by the end of the fourth day of the workshop.
  7. Read and respond to at least two of your classmates’ postings by the end of the workshop.  You are encouraged to respond to instructor follow-up questions directed to you.
  8. Your responses to classmates should also:
    1. Be well developed by providing clear answers with evidence of critical thinking.
    2. Your observations should add greater depth to the discussion by introducing new ideas.
    3. Provide clarification to classmates’ questions and provide insight into the discussion.
    4. Be posted on two different dates during the workshop.