 |
| JLP 1 Leadership Experience - Western Governors Univeristy (Courtesy: Freepik.Com) |
I have written this post to make your life easier as I will ALL of the areas/aspects of this task detailing everything you need to know to successfully complete this task.
First of all, keep in mind that the task comes bundled with a LOT of useful resources that are the crux of your success. Overall, the task carries the following learning resources with it.
1. Instructions (very useful and explain how to go about the pointers in the rubric)
2. Elements of LLE Project (The most important resource as it guides you about how to meaningfully carry out your leadership activities in your organization).
3. JLP1 Mock Project (Every single indicator, given in the Rubric, is explained in this document)
4. Rubric (We all know what it is, right!)
5. Supporting documents (This document contains links to useful video tutorials; examples of topics you can choose from, and much more. Grab it!).
So, you need to first familiarize yourself very well with these documents. Starting with No. 5 (Supporting document) won't be a bad idea because it is the most comprehensive and holistic document that will set the ground for you.
You must keep in strict view, however, the core of this task:
It asks you to choose a problem within your workplace setting as a professional nurse; after the problem has been pointed out, you need to play a leadership role, simultaneously playing the Role of Scientist (B1), Role of Detective (B2), and Role of Manager of Healing Environment (B3) while you carry out a number of activities that are relevant to your leadership role.
You would take away a better score on the Evaluation Summary if you address all of the indicators/pointers on the Rubric disregarding the actual way in which you carried this activity in your workplace.
In case you'd like to complete this task by desktop research only, you'd have to be well-versed in your professional context, its problems, and solution(s) you've been part of. The only thing you would be needing, however, is the (C) Verification Form signed by your Manager/Supervisor.
I would now briefly discuss each of the pointers/indicators of performance given on the Rubric.
1. A1. Problem or Issue
You need to find a problem in your workplace related to practice, policy, or anything relevant. Remember the focus is on an effort for positive change in which you played a leadership role. Some examples of such problems in a health care unit can be:
- Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) - the most used and abused topic indeed
- Adopting a new procedure (instrument/machine) for better health care
- A process in which some policy change took place, e.g. record keeping for patients' meals, routines, etc.
- Acquiring a new approach to treatment, e.g. using an advance dressing, advance patient lift, etc.
2. A1a. Explanation of Problem or Issue
In this section, you need to explain the problem PRIOR to your organization's change in policy or practice, e.g., "Without the advance patient lift, the patients' wounds were very vulnerable...". The point is how good you explain and substantiate its relevance to the efforts of change, e.g. "I always took notes of the costs and relevant challenges a manual patient lift (or no lift) incurred on my organization and the patients and their families...".A2. Investigation
In this section, you are to discuss how you investigated the problem, i.e., its repercussions for the workplace, patients, and the broad social life. You HAVE to be very systematic here. You can't just say that I noted this or that.
Consider this example: "Extant literature postulates that every year xyz patients are reported to develop additional injuries due to being lifted without a patient lift", etc. So, you need to back up your investigation with your observation plus its presence (or no presence) in empirical literature.
A2a. Evidence of Problem or Issue
Now that you have explained the problem and investigated it in your professional setting by supporting it with relevant literature, you need to discuss the evidence that you found, i.e., you need to discuss the processes you carried out to collect evidence from the health care unit you work in. So, you might want to state that "I collected relevant data from the physician preference cards; second, I reviewed the hospital's policies for using the manual patient lift...; finally I conducted informal interviews of the physicians, management personnel, and relevant staff, and found the evidence that..." so on and so forth.
A3. Analysis
What is your personal analysis of the situation as a professional nurse playing the role of the Scientist, Detective, and Manager of Healing Environment? You discuss the findings here. For instance, "After all these processes, I came to a conclusion that acquiring advance patient lifts can be an effective solution to avoid injuries and additional costs...." Blah, blah, blah :-).
A3a. Areas Contributing to Problem or Issue
This is closely connected to the pointer/indicator above and expands on the analysis you discussed above. The only thing is it requires you to pinpoint the particular areas/causes to the problem. So you want to say that "I found the physicians were not well-aware of the additional injuries, and the nursing staff were not trained...", and so on.
A4. Proposed Solution or Innovation
Very simple. Here you discuss the solution you've found to this problem. So you can refer to extant literature. You recommend: "Use of advance patient lifts, health care staff's training, and improved policy". Aren't these the usual causes of a problem in an organization? :-p
A4a. Justification of Proposed Solution or Innovation
Now, this is something tricky. How would you ensure the solution is justified? Once again, dive deep into extant literature, quote aggressively some of the latest findings about advance patient lifts and the many benefits they can bring in terms of improved patient care and cost-effectiveness for your hospital.
A5. Implementation Resources
What resources would you use to implement these changes, i.e. improved policy, staff's training, and better patient lifts? You might need the approval of the management and cooperation from some of your colleagues to at least do the pilot project with, say, a couple of advance patient lifts, right?
A5a. Cost Benefit Analysis
Now, this one is rather technical. Here you are to explain in statistical terms the benefits that this change can offer to your unit in terms of overall costs. Once again, available literature will come to your rescue. You can present some statistical comparisons from literature in the tabular form highlighting the costs with and/or without advance patient lifts. Some of the important indicators can be
- Costs per Patient
- Reimbursement per Patient
- Financial Loss or Profit per Patient, and so on.
Here you talk about the step-by-step process of change in policy and practice that you've already planned and are now ready to implement. Once again, we're talking about information in the tabular form highlighting the Time and Event (Jan. - Acquisition of the lifts; Feb. - Training; March - Initial analysis, etc.) and the Relevant Stakeholders (Nurses, physicians, and the management).
A7. Identification of Key Stakeholders and/or Partners
Here a detailed discussion of all the relevant stakeholders is required, i.e. how did you interact with the management, the funding agency (if any), and the staff, and who really are they?
A7a. Importance of Key Stakeholders and/or Partners
What significance do these stakeholders have for your proposal of change? May be, "I presented the cost-benefit analysis to the Management and senior physicians who showed a readiness for this change", etc.
A7b. Engagement with Key Stakeholders and/or Partners
How did you engage them in the change effort? "I asked the finance department, nursing staff, and the physician to keep a record of the patients treated with the help of the lifts...".
A7c. Success
How would you ensure your initiative meets the level of success you envisioned earlier? Be creative; throw some words; be verbose a bit - yes! For example, "Success of this change effort would depend on the dedication of the relevant stakeholders and a systematic analysis of the patients' care treated with the help of the lifts in the pilot project (experimental group), etc.
A8. Implementation
Now, let the examiner know that if the pilot project succeeds, how you would ensure it is implemented over the entire unit or hospital. May be: "First the cardiac floor would be equipped with these lifts; later, it would be gradually installed in all the units", etc. Sounds good?
A8a. Evaluation for Success of Implementation
Repeat the same old tricks you've used above: Statistical data, records, journals, interviews, etc. would be carried out and analyzed on a regular basis.
B1. Role of Scientist
Now, tell your examiner about the role of a scientist you played in this love-story. You collected data, analyzed interviews, etc., right?
B2. Role of Detective
The Sherlock Holmes in you woke up as you witnessed Mr. A whose post-op wound was disturbed because that nurse shifted him to the bed very coarsely, right? Add more such details here.
B3. Role of Manager of Healing Environment
This should come pretty straight. The entire effort you're putting here is actually your role as a manager of healing environment: Better health care to patients is the prime goal of a professional in health care sector.
C. Verification Form
Attach the verification form signed by your manager/supervisor, and you're good to go.
D. Sources
Do not, however, forget to develop an attractive list of references/sources in APA format.
-------
I hope that my effort proves vital for your understanding in completing this seemingly complex but easy task on the way to your degree.
If you need further assistance in this task, please feel free to reach me. I would be more than happy to respond. My email: meokhan2/at/gmail/dot/com
