Benchmark- Capstone Project Change Proposal

Benchmark- Capstone Project Change Proposal

The wellness of a population’s health using improved patient safety protocols implores healthcare workers (HCWs) especially nurses, to develop evidence-based practice interventions to reduce and prevent occurrence of adverse events like hospital acquired infections (HAIs) and medication administration errors (MAEs) among others. These adverse events lead to poor patient outcomes, increase the overall cost of care and disease burden, and lowers the quality of care delivered by healthcare professionals. Hospital acquired infections are some of the leading healthcare concerns that affect patient safety and quality of care. Many patients suffer from these infections that result into lengthened stays in hospitals, increased cost of care, and in extreme circumstances death.

Nurse practitioners and other healthcare professionals transmit infections to patients through poor hand hygiene measures and protocols (Alotaibi & Federico, 2017). As such, nurses and other providers should leverage evidence-based practice (EBP) interventions to reduce and prevent the occurrence of hospital acquired infections and guarantee quality care. The use of evidence-based practice interventions allows these providers to offer better services through increased quality, increased engagement of patients and their preferences, and leveraging clinical experience and expertise. The purpose of this evidence-based practice project proposal paper is to discuss how nurses in pediatric settings can integrate hand hygiene measures and protocols to reduce and prevent the occurrence of hospital acquired infections. These measures and protocols include handwashing using soap and water alongside hand sanitizers compared to handwashing with water and soap alone.

Problem Statement

Hospital acquired infections or nosocomial infections are newly acquired infections that patients contract during their stay in hospital settings or facilities. The transmission of the nosocomial infections happens through healthcare workers, patients, hospital equipment like catheters and interventional procedures that include catheterization. Studies demonstrate that healthcare workers who include nurse practitioners infect patients when they fail to adhere to effective hand hygiene measures like handwashing with soap or using alcohol-based sanitizers and hand rubs when handling and interacting with patient in the care process (Liana 2021). The use of evidence-based practice interventions using PICOT question is important in assisting nurses to implement better practices to reduce the susceptibility of patients acquiring nosocomial infections that have adverse effects on overall care delivery and quality. These infections lead to increased length of stay in hospitals, a rise in cost of healthcare and cause deaths, especially in critical care settings like pediatric units (Setty et al., 2019). Hand hygiene measures that include handwashing with soap and water alongside sanitizer will improve patient safety among healthcare workers. The implication is that healthcare workers will adhere to these measures in pediatric settings to reduce hospital acquired infections within six months’ period and improve quality outcomes.

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PICOT Statement

Population- Healthcare workers in pediatric settings

Intervention-Hand Hygiene using handwashing with soap and water and sanitizer

Comparison-Handwashing with soap and water alone

Outcome- Reduced Hospital acquired infections

Time- in Six months

Refined PICOT Question

The refined PICOT question for the EBP project is “Among healthcare workers in pediatric setting (P), does hand hygiene practices that include handwashing with soap and water alongside hand sanitizer (I) compared to handwashing with soap and water alone (C) reduce hospital acquired infections (O) within six months (T)?”

Organizational Culture and Readiness

The culture of an organization is essential in implementing changes and it impacts its overall vision, mission and values and employees’ perception in embracing new ways of executing tasks. A culture entails employees with strong norms and values, management and approaches to overall way of doing things.  A culture that involves employees, possesses strong values and norms, and encourages an open-door policy with decentralized approach is important in achieving set change objectives in an organization (Real et al., 2017). To effectively implement this EBP project proposal, pediatric healthcare settings and practitioners should use a decentralized organizational and leadership structure. The model is effective in enhancing motivation of subordinates and enhancing growth and increased diversification. Decentralization in healthcare organizations leads to better communication and adoption of innovative practices, ideas and strategies to improve quality of care. Through decentralization, the management leads a transformational approach to enhance agility and respond to new and best practices in care delivery.

The implementation of this EBP project proposal requires organizational culture that focuses on patient-centered care delivery. Through being patient-centered, an organization can support change programs to improve patient safety, quality and access while minimizing the occurrence of hospital acquired infections (HAIs). Increasing patient engagement and promoting inter-professional collaboration leads to a competitive advantage for healthcare organizations.

The evaluation of an organization’s readiness for change based on its culture is essential in implementing evidence-based practice projects. Readiness demonstrates the level to which organizational members are prepared to implement and embrace change, behaviorally and psychologically. Dearing (2018) opines that readiness is a psychological state of the mind that shows commitment to certain course of actions. As such, this EBP project proposal will leverage the Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool developed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) that assesses an organization’s readiness in promoting and enhancing the use of global health interventions. Through the tool, organizations identify substantive capacities and strengths that are present and the required one to attain their set objective. In this case, pediatric settings that aim to implement this EBP recommendations should demonstrate exemplary capacities in their attributes, have a superb and influential culture based on their missions, purposes and better values (De la Perrelle et al.., 2020). The capacity assessment tool looks at the various capabilities that include human resources, processes, financial resources, and systems as critical components of readiness for change implementation. Ready organizations possess sufficient strengths that include having the best skills, effective communication and adequate resources, availability of sufficient nurse workforce and effective engagement of their stakeholders.

The organizational readiness also evaluates the process and systems that require improvement to effectively implement the requisite changes (Vax et al., 2021). For instance, the improvement that pediatric care settings require include their patient handling process, the need for healthcare workers to adhere to hand hygiene measures and protocols, and delivery of patient-centered quality care. The organization will need quality improvement and collaborative approaches to enhance implementation. These organizations will also require quality data assessment tools for better and accurate analysis of their respective data (Dearing, 2018). The readiness will also include engagement of stakeholders and integration of information and communication technologies to ensure that all components to implement the project proposal are present. Using selected technologies, the project team and practitioners will pursue outcomes based on patient needs through enhanced alerts, reminders, and notifications on the need to comply with set hand hygiene protocols and measures that include effective handwashing and use of hand sanitizers to reduce hospital acquired infections in the pediatric settings.

Review the feedback on the change proposal professional presentation and make required adjustments to the presentation. Present your evidence-based intervention and change proposal to an interprofessional audience of leaders and stakeholders. Be prepared to answer questions and accept feedback.

After presenting your capstone project change proposal, write a 250-350 word summary of the presentation. Include a description of the changes that were suggested by your preceptor before your presentation and how you incorporated that feedback. Describe how this interprofessional collaboration improved the effectiveness of your presentation. Include a description of the feedback and questions from your audience after your presentation, and how this experience will affect your professional practice in the future.

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

You are not required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.

Preceptor comments: You did a good job. You should have more than two references, however.

Intervention

COVID 19 is a major challenge in the health sector.

The elderly, above 60 years are at risk of severe COVID 19.

Health sector requires improvements to reduce vulnerability of the elderly against COVID 19.

Intervention involves isolation of the elderly and civic education.

The elderly will receive specialized care to improve immunity during isolation.

Isolation will reduce contact.

The outbreak of COVID 19 was a major test to the health sector in its preparedness to handle pandemics. One of the most affected populations is that of the elderly population, those above the age of 60 years. Due to the reduce immunity system, this population is at risk of severe COVID 19. This EBP proposal proposes the design of isolation rooms for the elderly in the hospital with specialized care as a way of reducing contact as well as giving specialized care to improve immunity.

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Evidence Based Literature

Humanistic response is key in dealing with patients.

Clean and isolated environment is key when dealing with a pandemic (Sher & Akhtar, 2018).

Over 22% of US population is aged above 60 years (Daoust, 2020).

Over 50% of those who died from COVID 19 in US are elderly (Daoust, 2020).

Health is a function of the environment.

The elderly may lack knowledge of COVID 19.

Civic education helps reduce risk of contracting diseases.

When dealing with patients, application of humanistic response is crucial. Patients need access to clean and isolated environment when there is a pandemic o reduce the risk of contracting severe disease. With over 22% of the US population being made of those above 60 years, the majority of those who died due to COVID 19 are above the age of 60. It is thus important to have a good and safe environment for this population as well as have specialized care.

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Objectives

To incorporate evidence –based practice in handling the elderly population.

Using evidence-based practice to reduce mortality among the elderly above 60 years.

Create a plan for isolation of the elderly.

Create a plan for civic education among the elderly.

Encourage voluntary testing and isolation.

The objective of this project is to come up with an evidence-based approach that can be used to protect the elderly from COVID 19. The proposal creates a plan for isolation of the elderly and civic education for the population above 60 years to sensitize them on how they can keep themselves safe from COVID 19.

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Required Resources

Human personnel will be required to implement the proposed evidence-based solution.

Nurses will be used to train the elderly.

Training material will be required.

Material should be easy to understand by the audience.

Isolation ward will be required.

Ward will be used to isolate the elderly.

Isolation should be accessible to avoid social distancing while keeping physical distance.

Several resources will be key in implementing the proposal. These include human personnel who will train and take care of the target population. The nurses will also require user friendly training material to help in training. There will be a need to have isolation points where the affected patients can kept.

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Measurable Outcomes

Success of the proposal will be evaluated based on response of the elderly population.

The turn-up to test for COVID 19 will be the first measurable outcome.

Increase in number of people testing will show a positive response to the change.

The rate of recovery of those isolated will be monitored.

Recovery within two weeks or less will show a positive outcome for the proposal.

The main measurable outcomes in the proposal will be the turn-up of the elderly to test for COVID 19 and the rate of recovery of the patients. The recovery period for non-severe COVID 19 is two weeks and it is prolonged for severe cases. Thus, a faster rate of recovery would show a positive outcome of the proposal.

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Evaluation

Several activities will be involved.

Identification of errors during implementation will be done.

The errors identified will be resolved.

The outcome will be compared to available literature.

Further research will be employed.

Response from patients on their experience will be taken to improve the process.

The process of evaluation will involve identification of any errors which may be realized in the process of implementing the proposal. Any errors identified will be resolved immediately. Evaluation will also involve the evaluation of the outcomes and comparing with the available data which is relevant.

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References

Daoust, J. F. (2020). Older adults and responses to COVID-19 in 27 Countries. PloS one, 15(7), e0235590. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235590

Check Out Also: Comparison of Nursing Specialties

Sher, A. N. A., & Akhtar, A. (2018). Clinical application of nightingale’s theory. Journal of Clinical Research & Bioethics, 9(4), 1-3. https://www.walshmedicalmedia.com/open-access/clinical-application-of-nightingales-theory-2155-9627-1000329.pdf

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ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.

Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.

One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.

I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.

In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.

Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).

Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).

Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.

I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.

As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.

It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.

Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.

Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?

Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.

Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.

If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.

I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.

As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:

Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.

Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.