Download Proposal for Change Project Introduction

Running head: PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE
1
Proposal for Change Project Introduction
Joanna Shedd
Nurse Education Faculty Roles and Responsibility
ED8350
November 6, 2014
36487 Albatross Street
Beaumont, CA 92223
951-769-7850
[email protected]
Dr. Akin-Palmer
2
PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE
Proposal for Change project Introduction
The historic forces driving current and future trends in nursing as a profession include the
rapid increase in diversity, consumer knowledge through the internet, advanced technology, and
the use of high and low definition simulation to adjunct leaning in the clinical sites. Nursing
education is being called upon to effectively prepare nurses for the future of the profession, and
as more and more clinical sites are taken away from nursing students, innovative and advanced
planning must take center stage in order to fill the gap (Heller, Oros, & Durney-Crowley, 2013).
An example of an innovative technique in nursing education is the use of simulation. In
order to properly train nursing students, the education leaders must begin to modify curriculums
by adding resources like simulation in order to teach critical skills in a safe environment.
Therefore, nursing educators must function as change agents in order to shape the future of this
profession (Billings & Halstead, 2012). Not only does simulation provide excellent training
opportunities without harm to human patients, simulation can also create an opportunity to
practice interpersonal skills with other disciplines (Fero, O'Donnell, Zullo, Dabbs, Kitutu,
Samosky, & Hoffman, 2010).
The focus of this assignment will include the current issues in nursing education which is
creating the need for the proposed change, the rationale for why nursing education should add
simulation to their curriculum, how simulation can be used as a tool to enhance the socialization
of nursing students through the use of interpersonal scenarios, and how adding simulation will
align with the goals of the nursing schools mission and program goals.
Proposed Change
The proposed change includes the addition of high or low definition simulation to all
levels of the nursing program. The method of using simulation is stated by Fero et al. (2010) to
PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE
3
be a safer means of learning skills prior to caring for human patients. Therefore the use of the
technology provided for training nursing students though simulation scenarios should be
encouraged. These scenarios can provide a perfect medium for learning to provide skilled
nursing care to clients, and to fill the increasing gap of available clinical sites for nursing
students. Simulation can also be used to provide socialization between students and other
interdisciplinary teams. For example, the authors Aebersold and Tschannen (2013) provided
examples of alternating methods to acquire socialization into the nursing profession, and the use
of high and low-definition simulation was a method proven to enhance these social skills.
Simulation scenarios have been added for training nursing students as an adjunct to
learning on the units with live patients. Therefore, high or low-definition simulation entails the
imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time, and patient scenarios as
well as interdisciplinary interactions can be played out in a controlled environment. This safe
environment allows students to make mistakes without the risk of causing undue harm to human
patients (Aebersold & Tschannen, 2013).
Rationale for Proposed Change
The nursing profession is facing another nursing shortage both in practice and in
academia. This shortage of nurses in all areas of the profession creates a shortage of clinical
sites, and The National League for Nursing (NLN, 2006) identified two major trends impacting
the clinical practicum areas of nursing education. These areas include the shortage of nursing
faculty, which leads to a decrease in the available clinical sites for students. For example, there is
a critical need to graduate a higher number of nursing students. However, in order to graduate
more nursing students there must be adequate training of skills, and the lack of clinical sites will
PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE
4
require the need to replace these training arenas with simulation in order to close the gap (Nardi
& Gyurko, 2013).
Fero et al. (2010) surmised that the use of simulation can increase the critical thinking
skills of nursing students, and simulation based performance using video vignettes along with
high or low fidelity human simulation is relevant when trying to replicate the hospital
experience. In addition, high or low-fidelity simulation can provide the ability to increase clinical
performance in nursing students. For example, nursing students who had the opportunity to
practice skills like giving medications, and conducting patient assessments in the simulation
arena performed at a higher level in the clinical site. Therefore, the ability to practice clinical
skills is critical to safe patient care, and the opportunity to create simulation experiences when
clinical sites are not available, is clearly a necessary change for the future of nursing education.
Embracing the ability to incorporate the simulation technology will become more and more of a
necessity in the future (Fero et al., 2010).
According to the article by Fagan, Kilmon, and Pandey (2012), students who were
fortunate enough to receive a simulation experience, are reported to have better prepared for the
clinical experience then students who did not receive this exposure. These students are also
stated to have a higher level of safety and better prepared for patient care. The students in this
study considered this virtual reality experience beneficial for varying reasons, but across the
sample most students agreed that it was useful in their development of informational technology
and their professional growth (Fagan et al., 2012; Shedd, 2014).
Goals of the Nursing Program and the Mission of the Parent Institution
Loma Linda University is a Private Christian school in Southern, California. The school
of Nursing was established in 1925, and was the first organized undergraduate nursing school in
PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE
5
the area. The mission statement of the school is to provide the education of professional nurses at
the undergraduate as well graduate level, who are dedicated to excellence in nursing science.
Individuals from diverse ethnic, cultural, and racial backgrounds are encouraged to embrace
opportunities for lifelong growth, and satisfaction from a career committed to health care.
Baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs, contribute to the development of expert clinicians,
educators, administrators, and researchers who benefit society by providing and improving
delivery of whole-person care (LLU, 2014)
The mission of the parent institution states: Loma Linda University is a Seventh-day
Adventist Christian health sciences institution, which seeks to further the healing and teaching
ministry of Jesus Christ "to make man whole" by educating ethical and proficient Christian
health professionals and scholars through instruction, example, and the pursuit of truth;
expanding knowledge through research in the biological, behavioral, physical, and
environmental sciences and applying this knowledge to health and disease; Providing
comprehensive, competent, progressive and compassionate health care for the whole person
through faculty, students, and alumni (LLU, 2014).
The use of simulation is in alignment with the mission statement of the school of nursing
and the parent institution. For example, the nursing school and the parent institution describe the
desire to provide education, and create rich opportunities for growth in order to contribute to the
development of expert clinicians at all levels. Additionally, the desire to promote lifelong
learning and applying this knowledge can only be achieved through actual hands on practice,
which is indicative of the experience received during the use of adjunct training opportunities in
high or low-definition simulation scenarios (Fagan et al., 2012; LLU, 2014).
Additionally, the mission and goals of Loma Linda University includes a statement
6
PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE
regarding baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs, and how contributing to the
development of expert clinicians, educators, administrators, and researchers will benefit society
by providing and improving delivery of whole-person care. This whole person care can only be
accomplished with adequate training opportunities for the students in this institution, and adding
the technology of simulation is a necessary first step in providing proficient whole person care
(Fagan et al., 2012; LLU, 2014)
Conclusion
Nurse educators are being called upon to change with the times, and in order to be
progressive as well as adjust with this ever changing profession of nursing, these nurse leaders
must be willing to have an open mind about the use of scenarios in simulation to enhance
learning. In fact, the very nature of nursing education as a profession draws individuals who are
committed to teaching the next generation with creativity, and not only using scenarios but
creating highly specialized scenarios that will enhance the training of nursing students, should be
a part of this progressive thinking (Mitchell, 2013). Nurse leaders are in the best position to be
the change agents for clinical practice and education (Lewin & Regine, 2000). Therefore, as the
clinical sites become less available for student nurses to practice the critical skills needed to
become safe practitioners, there will need to be a shift from the traditional clinical experience to
adding simulation in order to adjunct those experiences (Fagan et al., 2012).
7
PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE
References
Aebersold, M., & Tschannen, D. (2013). Simulation in nursing practice: The impact on
patient care. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 18(2), 22-26. Retrieved from
http://web.ebscohost.com.library.capella.edu/ehost/delivery?sid#2028531
Billings, D. M., & Halstead, J. A. (2012). Teaching in Nursing: A Guide for Faculty (4th Ed.).
St. Louis, MO: Elsevier/Saunders.
Fagan, M., Kilmon, C., & Pandey, V. (2012). Exploring the adoption of a virtual reality
simulation. Campus - Wide Information Systems, 29(2), 117-127.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/10650741211212368
Fero, J. L., O'Donnell, J. M., Zullo, T. G., Dabbs, A., Kitutu, J., Samosky, J. T., & Hoffman, L.
A. (2010). Critical thinking skills in nursing students: comparison of simulation-based
performance with metrics. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 66(10), 2182-2193.
doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2010.05385.x.
Heller, B., Oros, M., & Durney-Crowley, J. (2013). The future of nursing education: 10 trends to
watch. Nursing & Health Care Perspectives, 21, pages 9–13. Retrieved from
https://courseroomc.capella.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&
Lewin, R. & Regine, B. (2000). The Soul at Work. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLU, 2014). Mission, Values, Goals, and Beliefs
Statement. Retrieved from the Loma Linda University Medical Center website at
https://myllu.llu.edu/home/students/
Nardi, D. A., & Gyurko, C. C. (2013). The global nursing faculty shortage: Status and solutions
for change. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 45(3), 317-326. doi:10.1111/jnu.12030
PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE
Mitchell, G. (2013). Selecting the best theory to implement planned change. Nursing
Management, 20(1), 32-37. Retrieved from https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?
National League of Nursing. (2005). Nurse faculty shortage fact sheet. Retrieved from
http://www.nln.org/governmentaffairs/pdf/NurseFacultyShortage.pdf
Shedd, J. (2014). Annotated Bibliography. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Nursing
Education, Capella University, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
8