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Strategic Planning

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Strategic Planning

Definition of the Problem

Prescription drug abuse in healthcare settings represents a significant patient safety issue, with surveys showing 10% of healthcare workers have problematic substance use (Bernstein et al., 2020). The problem becomes evident in the form of poorly developed prescription monitoring systems, lack of adequate staff training on the risks of dependency on certain drugs, and poor measures toward handling or dealing with drug management. These factors lead to poor quality patient care, high costs of doing business and risks to health care workers and patients. A stressful work environment in health facilities, coupled with easy access to medications and lack of surveillance, has sustained conditions that permit the misuse of prescription drugs: Strategic Planning.

Development of Solution Options

The desirable future state would be the establishment of a comprehensive system of prescription drug control and abuse prevention. Three main activities are foreseen in this regard: instituting strict prescription practices with controls for checks and documentation; initiating an extensive staff education program regarding drug dependency and the development of strategies for its prevention; and designing a more advanced monitoring system that comprises computerized tracking and a reporting format that reports situations of suspected abuse. These activities also align with evidence-based practice, as identified by Hodkinson et al. (2020), who noted that effective surveillance systems help in preventing medication-related harm.

Feasibility of Planned Change

Physical Resources

The health facility already has most of the physical resources required, such as the current electronic health record systems that can be updated to improve prescription monitoring. It also has training rooms and information technology infrastructure required for training programs. The only significant physical resource required is the new monitoring software that can easily be implemented alongside current systems.

Time Resources

The proposed eight-week implementation timeline is realistic, considering the project scope. Based on Heagney’s (2022) project management principles, the timeline will allow for staff training and system setup (weeks 1-2), protocol implementation and initial monitoring (weeks 3-4), assessment and adjustment of interventions (weeks 5-6), and data collection and evaluation (weeks 7-8)

Financial Resources

The project requires moderate financial investment for staff training programs, monitoring system upgrades, educational materials development, and quality assessment tools. These costs are offset by potential savings from reduced medication losses, lower liability risks, improved operational efficiency, and better resource utilization.

Stakeholder Involvement

Key stakeholders have been identified and their roles defined:

This stakeholder engagement strategy meets the recommendations of Yoder-Wise (2018) for effective change management and ensures that all parties are appropriately involved and supported during the implementation.

Problem Statement

Prescription drug abuse in health care settings is a major concern for patient safety and operational efficiency, as nearly 10% of health care staff may have substance use problems; this may be compounded by weak monitoring systems, inadequate education about the risk of drug dependency, and ineffective enforcement policies. As such, an intervention package would include all means aimed at reducing prescription drug abuse by 30% within a period of eight weeks through the implementation of enhanced monitoring systems, staff education programs, and management’s strengthened control measures. The improvement in prescription drug management and patient safety requires an integrated effort of healthcare providers and management through regulatory authorities for sustainability.

References

Bernstein, S. L., Weiss, J., & Curry, L. (2020). Visualizing implementation: contextual and organizational support mapping of stakeholders (COSMOS). Implementation Science Communications, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-020-00030-8

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

Hodkinson, A., Tyler, N., Ashcroft, D. M., Keers, R. N., Khan, K., Phipps, D., Abuzour, A., Bower, P., Avery, A., Campbell, S., & Panagioti, M. (2020). Preventable medication harm across health care settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Medicine, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-020-01774-9

Yoder-Wise, P. S. (2018). Leading and managing in nursing (7th ed.). Elsevier.

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Question

Getting Started

In NUR-415, you learned that strategic planning is a systematic process, by which opportunities for change are identified and appropriate procedures to actualize those changes are designed, implemented, and evaluated.  In today’s turbulent and complex healthcare environment, strategic planning is a vital and fundamental tool for the achievement of an organization’s goals and desired outcomes.  Strategic planning and effective project management guide the operational activities of an organization and result in strong and efficient use of resources.

In this analytical exercise, you will develop a problem statement, carefully constructing it so that it accurately states the problem your planned change project will address.  Aspects of this exercise include exploring potential outcomes you wish to accomplish through the planned change and the feasibility of the planned change.  In Discussion 1.4, you will develop the background of the problem incorporating support of the planned change with current scholarly literature, the project outcome, the activities and timeline, and the evaluation plan.  This exercise will assist you in refining information about your capstone project that you will post in Discussion 1.4.

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

Resources

Background Information

Developing a planned change project is an ongoing process, which first requires an accurate internal and external assessment of the situation that needs the change.  The background of the situation for desired change is thoroughly explored and the need for the change supported by evidence-based literature.  A problem statement and realistic desired outcomes flow from the assessment.  It is important to avoid confusing the identified problem with the symptoms of the need.

The astute project manager remembers that the manner in which a problem is defined, guides the development of the strategies for resolution.  In an effective change project, the planned change is feasible.  To determine feasibility, the project manager analyzes all factors, weighing strengths and barriers.  If the weight of the barriers outweighs the strength of the change facilitating factors, the feasibility of the project must be reconsidered.

Strategic Planning

Strategic Planning

Instructions

  1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
  2. Review Chapters 18 and 30 in the textbook, Leading and Managing in Nursing.
  3. Read Chapters 1 to 5 in the textbook, Fundamentals of Project Management.
  4. Download and view the Capstone Project Overview.pptx and How To Write a Problem Statement.pptx PowerPoint presentations.
  5. Review your Strategic Plan assignment from the NUR-415 course (Attached), or if necessary address another change initiative for your capstone project, critically consider and select a topic.  Your project must be patient-focused and include a goal to improve patient outcomes.  Your assessment of the problem and feasibility of a solution must include direct input from patients or recipients of care (survey results, comments, interviews, patient data, etc).  Review Chapter 22 in the textbook, Leading and Managing in Nursing regarding patient-centered care.
  6. Navigate to the threaded discussion and post your discussion response according to the following instructions.
    1. Utilizing the topic from your NUR-415 strategic plan or another change initiative you selected that meets the criteria listed above, include the following headings to compose your discussion:
      1. Definition of the Problem: Present a detailed description of the elements of the problem.
      2. Development of Solution Options: Identify the desired future state/conditions that would ideally solve the problem.  Include the actions that would be required to achieve the desired change.
      3. Feasibility of Planned Change: Evaluate the feasibility of your planned change by addressing physical resources, time resources, financial resources, and stakeholder involvement.  Refer to Figure 1.4 on p. 15 in the textbook, Fundamentals of Project Management (Heagney, 2016) and address the questions listed under “Plan the Project.”
      4. Problem Statement: In two to three concise sentences, list the problem statement you have developed from this analytical exercise.
  7. Post your discussion by the third day of the workshop for faculty review and approval.  Be sure to await feedback and approval from your instructor regarding your capstone project; modify your plan as recommended by your instructor before proceeding to Discussion 1.4.
    1. Review your classmate’s postings. No further discussion or interaction with peers is required in this forum.

Assessment Criteria

Assessed Item Points  
Well-developed problem statement reflective of a faculty approved, feasible capstone project. 20
Total Points 20

Client’s Notes:

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