Practicum Professional Development Objectives Progress.

The overall goal of my practicum project is to improve the Pressure Injury Program in the Community Living Center (CLC). To do this I have set a few objectives. The first was to educate the front line staff on pressure ulcer/injury prevention. I have completed the pre-test focus groups and the actual trainings start this week. Another objective was to improve the handoff process. Focus groups, observations and interviews are continuing in week 6 of my project. Both objectives are on target based upon my established timeline.

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Personal Development

My involvement in these specific practicum actives has contributed to my professional development. To achieve the first objectives of educating front line staff, it was necessary for me to use my communication and facilitation skills in focus groups and during the pre-test meetings. In a few of these group meetings, I needed to utilize conflict management skills when arguments arose over lack of performance on the part of some team members. The conflict strategy I used was compromising. Compromising allows each party to give up something so that a win-win outcome is the result (Marquis & Huston, 2015). In working towards a change in the handoff process, once again my communication skills were necessary as well as my change agent skills. It was necessary for me to get the staff to understand how the current process is failing and that they are an essential part of the solution.

Achieving Objectives

In order to achieve the first objective of educating the front line staff on pressure injury prevention, I will need to continue to present the trainings in week 6 and 7. This will ensure I can meet my timeline goal of collecting the post-tests in week 8. The hand-off process changes will need to be listed by week 7 so they can be implemented by week 9. I will continue to hold the meetings and gather the suggestions during this time.

Challenges

So far, the biggest challenge for me is the ability to get every front line staff to the meetings and to complete the trainings. Because of scheduled sick leave and vacations, some staff may not be able to participate in my project until their return. The challenge for me is to get the highest percent of participation as possible. The challenge for me in the handoff process is lack of employee engagement. I have found so far, that the charge nurses didn’t seem to want to offer any solutions. It’s as they were just waiting for someone to tell them how to do it. I had a hard time explaining in the first few meetings that they were the ones to come up with the solution for a better handoff. The importance of being involved as an active member of the planning team was explained. I plan to address these challenges by continuing to meet with staff and present the justification for the project and why I need everyone to participate. I plan to use the Appreciative Inquiry Process in our problem solving meetings. In this approach to problem solving, participants work towards the ideal handoff process during the design phase of the process (Manion, 2011).

I did have an unexpected opportunity during my front line focus groups. A group from the National Office of Nursing Services (ONS) made a scheduled visit to discuss and review our evidence based practice at our facility. Separate meetings were held on quality improvement and I was able to participate in the one for skin care. It was a great opportunity to explain my project and how it should help improve quality in the CLC.

Preceptor Role & Function

During the first half of my practicum project, I have been able to meet and update my preceptor a few times per week. I have learned that her role and function as my preceptor isn’t just to guide me to keep on track with my goals and objectives, but to encourage me. I have found that my preceptor offers me suggestions to improve the way I am meeting the objectives, but at the same time, she is giving me the freedom to do it my way. I have found that her encouragement during my weekly updates gives me the motivation to continue to push forward to finishing this class and earning my degree. She has also encouraged me to be a mentor after I finish my degree and help other students with their projects. One key goal of being a preceptor is to always create a positive and rich learning environment (Ulrich, 2010). My preceptor is always finding unplanned events in my workday to use as an example to add value to my project. I look forward to working with my preceptor for the duration of my project.

References

Manion, J. (2011). From Management to Leadership (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint.

Marquis, B.L., & Huston, C.J. (2015). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and Application (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.

Ulrich, B.T. (2010). The Preceptor Role. Nursing Informatics. Retrieved from: http://nursinginformatics-umdnj.com/toolkit/images/Preceptor_role.pdf