Practicum Project Presentation Overview

Running head: practicum project plan 0

Practicum Project Plan

Name

Walden University

NURS 6600 Section 01, Capstone Synthesis Practicum

April 2, 2017

Practicum Project Plan

The Practicum Project Plan (PPP) will focus on the use of information technology Responder 5 nurse call system in addressing various problems in the emergency department. Some of the challenges to be overcome include throughput, bed availability, and overcrowding. The goal of the project is creating an evaluation tool, particularly a survey, to be used in assessing the impact relating to the new Responder 5 call system technology. The new system will be implemented in the emergency department for the staff’s perception of safety using the features of the new button, environmental services response times, the efficiency of the care and radiology processes. The new system (Responder 5) should outdo the previous nurse call system by having additional functionalities. More so, it has designated buttons meant for notifying particular individuals in responding to the duties and hence improving the workflow within the department. The purpose of the project is to formulate the findings, conclusions, and the recommendations relating to the three problems mentioned above of the emergency department. To meet the target, it will include, goal statement, project objectives, literature review, methodology, resources, evaluation, and timeline.

Implementation of the Responder 5 as the new nurse call system within the emergency department will help in overcoming the communication and response. The new call system shall have various benefits unlike the previous one. The responder 5 shall improve the workflow within the department since it allows sharing of information across multiple systems hence helping in the patients’ care. The effectiveness in the performance within the emergency department will be enhanced by the fact that the new button will ensure the nurse presses the light button upon completing to deliver services. The environmental services like cleaning will embrace real-time responses hence saving time while avoiding overcrowding. The idea of light buttons acting as communication mechanisms help to increase the speed in which services are delivered. The number of patients attended shall increase with the implementation of the new nurse call system including the Responder 5. The bed availability will be easier to access since the patient will only press a button and the available ones are displayed while conveying a signal to the nurse without necessarily having to move physically. Therefore, replacing the old nurse call with the Responder 5 will be the most crucial factor within the emergency department. The various objectives will be used to achieve this particular goal (Warm & Thomas, 2011).

Project Objectives

To achieve the overall goal of the paper, the specific objectives to consider are as listed below:

• To create an evaluation tool for determining the perceptions of staffs in realizing the safety of patients using the new panic button feature in the new call system for nurses

• The modification of the tool to allow for the assessment of the efficiency of environmental services response time and the radiology processes

• To use the acquired knowledge from class for the explanation of the process used in the creation of the tool and the evaluation of the impact of the new call system in comparison to the previous nurse call system

Literature Review

According to Klemets, Evejmo, and Kristiansen (2013), both patients and nurses need nurse call systems. Patients rely on this system when they need to be attended to, whereas nurses need the call system for the effective coordination of their work. In this light, a fundamental question to consider is whether the nurse call systems are effective in enhancing patient safety and improving the nursing processes in a healthcare facility. With the consideration that technology is rapidly advancing, an exploration of the manner in which these advancements could affect the care process warrants an assessment. For this reason, it would be essential to consider the need to assess the Responder 5 new nurse call technology, consequently evaluating the impact it has in the care delivery process.

According to Tzeng, Ronis & Yin (2012), there is an apparent relationship between the actual response time to the call lights and the patient satisfaction at the 4 US hospitals. The multihospital study has scrutinized the satisfaction of the patients with items of receiving help as soon as possible, helping to the bathroom, and the relationship that exists between the call lights and the response time. It is clear that there is faster actual response time to the call lights that contributed to the increased number of patients who get satisfied. The patients received help with immediate effect. According to the article, the survey by Senti and LeMire2 found in the Midwestern hospital concluded that the patients happened to demand quick responses whenever they needed help (Tzeng, Ronis & Yin, 2012).

According to Culley (2008), there was an apparent reduction of light frequencies with hourly rounds within the hospital when responding to patients. A quasi-experimental design used since several uncontrollable variables were using live units in the hospital. There was evident criticism provided based on observation, and information collected during the patient's rounds. After a month of rounding, there was a collection of data and the results calculated and presented to the staff. There was updated comparison information provided by the census, where frequency, as well as reason regarding using call lights, was primarily for patient satisfaction. There was impactful increased motivation on the selected units since the results started improving in various areas. The data showed improvements measured solely on the frequency of the call light use. It was also clear that all the units of the call light frequencies were close to each other (Culley, 2008).

Fahey et al. (2013), discussed the expanding potential of the radio-frequency nurse call systems to the measure of nursing time in the patient rooms. The sampling techniques were seen to vary with the observation methods. Although direct observation was subjective, it was used in documenting the activities like validation of the RFID tracking. The observation time ranged from seventy-two to eight hundred hours and involving one to thirty observers. Mixed methods had been used regarding the representative survey for the existing nurse call system in evaluating the utility form. It is seen to have assured the nursing time that was spent in the patient rooms varied.

According to Digby, Bloomer & Howard (2011), there was improving the call bell response times. Digby and the colleagues were able to study the effects of raising the awareness of the call bell response relating to how quickly the staff attended the patients and the patients’ satisfaction. The aim of the study was ensuring and comparing the call bell response times in the two wards in a particular geriatric evaluation as well as management facility. It was prior and after the introduction of the suite of interventions that aimed at reducing the patient falls. There was a collection of data on call response times over two periods. The results showed that the raising staff awareness, and prioritizing of the call bell response improved the response to the patient calls. Activations of the call bell never decreased despite the slight decline in the falls. It is evident that strong leadership is paramount from the nurse managers to emphasize and stress the need of prompting the call bell response (Digby, Bloomer & Howard, 2011). The Responder 5 nurse call system should also be subjected to strong leadership to ensure it executes all of its functionalities.

According to Meade, Bursell & Ketelsen (2006), there is a clear description of the Effects of nursing rounds on the patients’ call light use, safety, and satisfaction. There were nursing actions performed at the intervals associated with statistically appropriate decreased patient use regarding the call light and reduction of the patient falls with increased patient satisfaction. Incorporation of certain actions into the nursing rounds conducted either hourly or even once every two hours reducing the frequency relating to the use of the patients’ call light. There was the increasing satisfaction of the nursing care as well as reduced falls.

Methodology and the Required Resources

The design methodology to be adopted for the project follows the need to evaluate the impact that the implementation of the Responder 5 new nurse-call technology could have on the staff perception, efficiency of environmental services response time and the radiology processes, and its comparison with previously used call system. For this reason, it would be vital to develop a tool that would assist in the evaluation process. To fulfill this objective, the most suitable method to consider will be the survey method, which is a provision that calls for the development of a survey tool. The survey tool will contain questions for the nurses, who will cover questions regarding the initial objective that focuses on the environmental services response times. Conversely, the survey tool will contain questions regarding the efficiency of the radiology process, which follows the provision that doctors might order x-rays, cat scans, or MRIs, depending on the needs of the patient.

Based on the identified provisions, the questionnaire will follow the technology acceptance model (TAM), which will assist in assessing the acceptability of the new system by the users. The other element to include in the questionnaire includes the identification of comparable characteristics between the new call system and the old one, after which the respondents, nurses included, would be asked to rate the differences in their efficiencies based on the identified characteristics.

Health care personnel like nurses, doctors, and informatics department will be needed. The hardware for the Responder 5 include the VoIP console, corridor light, enhanced single patient station, duty station, staff station, bed status station, code station, cancel station, and pull cord station with the call button model. Other technical resources include PC console, reports manager, staff assignment, database, real-time location interface, telephony interface, and hospital nurse call essentials.

The Formative Evaluation Process

Using the formative evaluation process, I will have to monitor how the developed objectives for the project are fulfilled. The initial elements to consider in the development include analyzing the learning materials to come up with the variables to be included in the questionnaire. These variables have to focus on understanding and meeting the objectives of the project. The formative evaluation will assist in monitoring my progress, consequently enable me to identify some of the existing deficiencies to allow for appropriate interventions. For this reason, I will conduct the formative evaluation by identifying the objectives for the project, then consult with the instructor to determine the appropriateness of the objectives in fulfilling instructional goals.

The Summative Evaluation Process

On the other hand, I will use the summative instructional process to assess whether the objectives I had set out to achieve are met. After the implementation of the project, it will be possible to use the findings obtained to test the validity regarding whether nurse call systems have an effect on the identified environmental systems response times and the efficiency of the radiology process. For this reason, the summative evaluation process will help in measuring the improvement towards the realization of the project objectives, consequently assisting in determining the usefulness of the project to evaluate the just newly implemented call system.

Timeline

From the timeline shown in the appendix, the project shall take approximately three months, with the last three week of March 2017 being the construction of the survey tool. In the month of April 2017, there will be the utilization of the survey tool to measure its effectiveness. The last month (May) of the project shall be the evaluation of the results as illustrated in the timeline in the appendix (Armstrong, 2013).

Findings

• The previous nurse call system did not cater for the large population of the patients within little time.

• There was overcrowding in the emergency department in the healthcare organization.

• There was no quick response method to know of the availability of the bed.

• The speed of the services delivery was quite small.

• Loss of time regarding the environmental services response time

• Staff did not enjoy the trust for safety using the button.

Recommendations

• There should be the implementation of the Responder 5 as a new nurse call system to enhance the increase in the number of patients attended hourly.

• There should be new panic buttons in the Responder 5 to ensure the patient reaches the nurse in time hence improving the level of safety by the staff.

• The bed status station to have a button to be pressed to alert the nurse by the patient hence quick response time.

• The emergency rooms should have the Responder 5 to ensure communication is done on real time basis before and after using the room.

Conclusion

The justification of carrying out this project emanates from the need to determine whether nurse call systems have an impact on the satisfaction of a hospital-based patient or on care activities. The objectives that this project seeks to fulfill include the creation of an evaluation tool for determining the perceptions of staffs in realizing the safety of patients using the new panic button feature in the new call system for nurses. The other objective is to modify the questionnaire to allow for the assessment of the efficiency of environmental services response time and the radiology processes. The final objective involves evaluating the impact of the new call system in comparison to the previous nurse call system. Meeting these objectives will assist in answering the questions regarding whether the response time to call light alarms and the care provided, as well as the satisfaction of patients, are correlated.

Appendix

References

Armstrong, P. (2013). Bloom's taxonomy. Retrieved from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/teaching-guides/pedagogical/blooms-taxonomy/

Culley, T. (2008). Reduce call light frequency with hourly rounds. Nursing Management, 39(3), 50-52. doi:10.1097/01.NUMA.0000313098.19766.d0.

Digby, R., Bloomer, M., & Howard, T. (2011). Improving call bell response times. Nursing Older People, 23(6), 22-27. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21850860

Fahey, L., Dunn Lopez, K., Storfjell, J., & Keenan, G. (2013). Expanding Potential of Radiofrequency Nurse Call Systems to Measure Nursing Time in Patient Rooms. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 43(5), 302-307. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/nna.0b013e31828eebe1

Klemets, J., Evjemoa, T., & Kristiansena, L. (2013). Designing for Redundancy: Nurses Experiences with the Wireless Nurse Call System. Open Access by IOS Press. Meade, C., Bursell, A., & Ketelsen, L. (2006). Effects of nursing rounds on patients' call light use, satisfaction, and safety: scheduling regular nursing rounds to deal with patients' more mundane and common problems can return the call light to its rightful status as a lifeline. American Journal of Nursing, 106(9), 58-71. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23920570

Meade, C., Bursell, A., & Ketelsen, L. (2006). Effects of nursing rounds on patients' call light use, satisfaction, and safety: scheduling regular nursing rounds to deal with patients' more mundane and common problems can return the call light to its rightful status as a lifeline. American Journal of Nursing, 106(9), 58-71. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16954767

Tzeng, H., Ronis, D., & Yin, C. (2012). Relationship of Actual Response Time to Call Lights and Patient Satisfaction at 4 US Hospitals. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 27(2), E1-E8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/ncq.0b013e31823e827a

Warm, D., & Thomas, B. (2011). A review of the effectiveness of the clinical informatics role. Nursing Standard, 25(44), 35–38. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7748/ns.25.44.35.s47