Capella 6030 Assessment 5

Evaluation Plan Design

Name:

Capella University

School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Capella University

NURS-FPX 6030: MSN Practicum and Capstone

Prof. Name:

Date

Evaluation Plan Design

The primary outcome of the intervention is to reduce nurse burnout, leading to improved nurse well-being and patient health outcomes. Enhancing the nurse-to-patient ratio aims to provide better care quality to patients by increasing nurse efficiency. Both nurse focus and efficacy are crucial for improving patient outcomes and overall healthcare quality (Sarıköse & Göktepe, 2021). By reducing burnout, nurses can better focus on their responsibilities, resulting in improved patient safety, reduced medication errors, and enhanced patient-centered care (Aryankhesal et al., 2019). The alternative outcomes include increased nurse satisfaction and reduced stress, leading to better hospital and patient outcomes (Smith, 2020). However, it is essential to consider potential increased salary expenses for hospitals, which may add financial burden if not adequately managed.

Evaluation of Plan

Defining Outcomes

The evaluation of the nurse-to-patient ratio intervention and its outcomes will involve conducting nurse surveys and interviewing patients or their families. Nurse surveys will be administered through questionnaires and interviews to gather their perspectives on burnout and job satisfaction. Patients or their families will be interviewed to assess their experiences and perceived quality of care.

Creation of an Evaluation Plan

Data collection will include obtaining the new nurse-to-patient ratio in hospitals and recording nurse perspectives and patient health records before and after the intervention. Hospital dashboards will be updated regularly to track the nurse-to-patient ratio. Questionnaires and forms will be utilized to gather nurse feedback, while patient experiences will be documented through interviews (O’Connor, 2021). The necessary data will be collected by incorporating regular updates in the hospital dashboard, distributing questionnaires to nurses, and disseminating forms or questionnaires among patients. The data collection tools will include a dashboard, forms, and questionnaires.

Underlying Assumption

Data analysis will involve setting benchmarks for the nurse-to-patient ratio based on predetermined standards by hospital management. After fifteen days, the dashboard data will be assessed against these benchmarks. For instance, the benchmark for the nurse-to-patient ratio could be 1:5 for the general surgical ward, 1:4 for the emergency department, and 1:2 for the critical care unit (Sharma & Rani, 2020). The comparison of nurse survey responses and patient feedback will provide insights into the degree of achievement of the desired outcomes.

Discussion Advocacy

Analysis of Nurse Role

Nurses play a vital role in leading a change and improving the care experience. They can lead a change in the health organization by adopting a leadership strategy or role (National Academies of Sciences et al., 2021). For example, they can adopt the role of a transformational leader. It is an effective technique through which a nurse leader can motivate the followers to achieve the targets of a change. A transformational leader can integrate the followers and improve their efficiency by meeting their individual needs (Moon et al., 2019). Nurses can improve care quality and experience by collaborating in an interprofessional team. They play a significant role in the collaboration as they are the providers having the highest interaction with patients. Effective communication, safety huddles, and leadership roles by nurses help them improve patient care (Sigmon, 2020).

Effects of the Plan on Nursing and Interprofessional Collaboration

Improving the nurse-to-patient ratio will improve the efficiency of nurses and reduce nurse burnout (Khatatbeh et al., 2021). That will improve nurse performance and role as they will be able to work with more focus without any work burden. The improved ratio will also be helpful in collaboration related to improving outcomes. Due to an adequate ratio, the tasks and workload will be divided such that leaders and nurses will carry out their parts efficaciously. Improved nurse-to-patient ratio is linked with better patient outcomes, including enhanced patient safety, fewer chances of readmissions, reduced nurse burden, and burnout, improved working efficiency, and increased patient satisfaction (McHugh et al., 2021). All these gains highlight the benefits of the hospital associated with the proposed intervention plan.

Areas of Uncertainty and Knowledge Gaps

The effects of the improved nurse-to-patient ratio also depend on the nurse’s management ad division of workload among nurses. The area of uncertainty here is about the management ability of a nurse manager and how he/she would allocate tasks to nurses after improving the staff ratio. Second, the literature on the risks of skills and available staff is not enough for nurse managers which could make staffing decisions difficult for them (Paulsen, 2018).

Future Steps

Improvement in the Current Project

The current project can be improved further by adding cultural competency to the intervention. For example, patients with different cultural backgrounds should be assigned nurses accordingly. For the target population (Nurses of Minnesota Hospitals), education on cultural competency can create a reaching impact. This will help the hospital management improve health outcomes in terms of cultural sensitivity and language barriers (Chae et al., 2020). The intervention plan can better take advantage of online forms and dashboard metrics of the hospital to improve outcomes. These technologies will help gather data for the evaluation of the project in a precise manner that would help the management identify the areas that require more improvement for better outcomes. Another emerging technology, the electronic health record (HER) system, and coding technology can be used to improve the project. These technologies help management and providers gather real-time data on patient progress, readmission, discharge, and other aspects. Noting these elements before and after the intervention can help management better evaluate the initiative. Among different existing models, the providers can take advantage of the team nursing (TN) model. The model will integrate nurses led by a transformational leader. Thus, the team will be able to work under a shared vision and leadership that will motivate them to achieve the desired outcomes and patient safety (Beckett et al., 2021).

Underlying Assumption

The underlying assumption for project improvement is the use of new technology and the advancement of the healthcare system according to emerging patient needs. Advanced technology brings challenges with it, but they can be improved using different strategies like training and collaboration with the information technology department (Beer & Mulder, 2020).

Reflection on Leading Change and Management

Impact on My Ability

This capstone project has significantly improved my project management and leadership skills, particularly in healthcare settings. It has deepened my understanding of the importance of transformational leadership in driving change initiatives. Through this experience, I have learned how to effectively lead and manage change projects in my future practice, with a focus on enhancing team collaboration, communication, and shared decision-making to achieve common goals.

Reflection on Personal Practice

The knowledge and insights gained from this project can be seamlessly integrated into my nursing practice. I can advocate for the importance of improving the nurse-to-patient ratio in healthcare settings and collaborate with management to implement this change. As a nurse leader, I can play a vital role in ensuring the well-being of nurses and the quality of patient care. This intervention has the potential to positively impact not only nurse burnout but also patient outcomes, ultimately leading to improved hospital services.

Integration of Resources

Conclusion

The expected outcome of improving the nurse-to-patient ratio is to reduce nurse burnout which will further improve patient outcomes. The intervention can be evaluated through surveys and the use of different tools. The intervention plan can improve nurse performance and collaboration while they can adopt leadership roles for better outcomes. The current project can be improved further by adding cultural competency. The work done in this capstone project will help me practice leadership roles and management of projects in my future practice.

References

Aryankhesal, A., Mohammadibakhsh, R., Hamidi, Y., Alidoost, S., Behzadifar, M., Sohrabi, R., & Farhadi, Z. (2019). Interventions on reducing burnout in physicians and nurses: A systematic review. Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 33(77), 77. https://doi.org/10.34171/mjiri.33.77

Beckett, C. D., Zadvinskis, I. M., Dean, J., Iseler, J., Powell, J. M., & Buck‐Maxwell, B. (2021). An integrative review of team nursing and delegation: Implications for nurse staffing during COVID‐19. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 18(4), 251–260. https://doi.org/10.1111/wvn.12523

Beer, P., & Mulder, R. H. (2020). The effects of technological developments on work and their implications for continuous vocational education and training: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychology, 11(918). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00918

Chae, D., Kim, J., Kim, S., Lee, J., & Park, S. (2020). Effectiveness of cultural competence educational interventions on health professionals and patient outcomes: A systematic review. Japan Journal of Nursing Science, 17(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/jjns.12326

Denford, S., Lakshman, R., Callaghan, M., & Abraham, C. (2018). Improving public health evaluation: A qualitative investigation of practitioners’ needs. BMC Public Health, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5075-8

Khatatbeh, H., Pakai, A., Al‐Dwaikat, T., Onchonga, D., Amer, F., Prémusz, V., & Oláh, A. (2021). Nurses’ burnout and quality of life: A systematic review and critical analysis of measures used. Nursing Open, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.936

McHugh, M., Aiken, L., Sloane, D., Windsor, C., Douglas, C., & Yates, P. (2021). Effects of nurse-to-patient ratio legislation on nurse staffing and patient mortality, readmissions, and length of stay: A prospective study in a panel of hospitals. The Lancet, 397(10288), 1905–1913. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00768-6

Moon, S. E., Van Dam, P. J., & Kitsos, A. (2019). Measuring transformational leadership in establishing nursing care excellence. Healthcare, 7(4), 132. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare7040132

National Academies of Sciences, E., Medicine, N. A. of, Nursing 2020–2030, C. on the F. of, Flaubert, J. L., Menestrel, S. L., Williams, D. R., & Wakefield, M. K. (2021). Nurses leading change. In www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. National Academies Press (US). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK573918/

O’Connor, S. (2021). Designing and using surveys in nursing research: A contemporary discussion. Clinical Nursing Research, 31(4), 105477382110647. https://doi.org/10.1177/10547738211064739

Paulsen, R. A. (2018). Taking nurse staffing research to the unit level. Nursing Management (Springhouse), 49(7), 42–48. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.numa.0000538915.53159.b5

Sarıköse, S., & Göktepe, N. (2021). Effects of nurses’ individual, professional and work environment characteristics on job performance. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 31(5-6). https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.15921

Sharma, S., & Rani, R. (2020). Nurse-to-patient ratio and nurse staffing norms for hospitals in India: A critical analysis of national benchmarks. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 9(6), 2631. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_248_20

Sigmon, L. (2020). American nurse: The official journal of the American Nurses Association (ANA). American Nurse. https://www.myamericannurse.com/interprofessional-collaboration-made-easy/

Smith, A. (2020). Reduce stress among nurses through gamification – A study of finding stress factors among nurses and suggesting gamification reduce stress. Adam Smith Kth Royal Institute of Technology School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1536745/FULLTEXT01.pdf

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