Nursing practicum proposal example

Nursing practicum proposal example

Abstract

One of the strongest motivators to teach, according to Penn, Dodge, and Rosseter (2008), is that teaching provides an opportunity to influence student success and shape the future of our nursing profession. But the faculty role is more than simply teaching , as a

novice nurse educator it is imperative to have an opportunity that will provide the experience to in the teaching- learning process and

gain exposure to the culture of academic education. The following practicum proposal presents an academic learning opportunity, with a master’s prepared nurse educator, at the University of Michigan-Flint, to engage and develop the knowledge and skill needed to fulfill

the demands roles of an academic nurse educator. Also, as part of the practicum proposal, practicum goals are presented, along with supporting objectives, activities, and timeline to provide focus and guidance for a successful experience.

Keywords: Nursing educator, periopertive education, evaluation

Nursing practicum proposal example

Accordin g to the Institute of Medicine (2010), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM), 2008 kicked off a two-year endeavor to respond to the need to assess and evolve the nursing profession. As part of this report, The Future of

Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, the committee members considered many challenges that face the nursing education system

as patient needs and care environments have become more complex. In response to the IOM report , the Association of periOp

erative

Registered Nurses (AORN) (2010),

states that nursing students within their education need to

attain indispensable competencies to deliver high

–

quality care. Among some of these

competencies are leadership,

understanding

system improvement,

and team

work and

collaboration

, which are imperative to the perioperative nurse and can be role modeled for

nursing students during a clinical rotation

.

In support of the

IOM report, Castelluccio (2012)

states that presently nursing schools rarely offer perioperat

ive nursing clinical rotations, and

students are often only provided a day or two to experience how imperative safety, quality

initiatives,

care coordination, teamwork,

and collaboration

impact today’s pa

tients and health

care systems. An experienced nurse

educator may find the opportunity to extend nursing student

clinical time within the perioperative unit an environment rich with experience to build

knowledge and skill but for a novice nurse educator the

idea is exciting but overwhelming.

I have been wo

rking within healthcare for the past 15 years, kicking off my journey as a

Surgical Technologist at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. In April 1999, I accepted a

Surgical Technologist position with Genesys Regional Medical Center

(GRMC)

and ambitio

usly

started pursuing an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN). Upon completion of my nursing degree,

I transferred to a nursing position within the Emergency Room (ER) department for

approximately one and half years. Although the knowledge and skill I gained while working

within the ER provided me with great clinical experience. I soon found myself gravit

ating back

to the Operating Room (OR) as a circulating nurse and again pursuing academia for a Bachelor’s

of Science in Nursing (BSN). In addition to my roles as a staff nurse and academic student, I was

also learning the skill and art of precepting, throu

gh classroom didactic and mentorship by the

OR educator at GRMC. In 2009, I interviewed and accepted a new role as GRMC’s

Perioperative Clinical Educator. Through this new endeavor, I have had the opportunity to

influence perioperative nursing practice, p

atient safety initiatives, and engage nurses in

professional development education. Although my nursing career has

focused on building an

extensive knowledge base and skill level within the perioperative arena, the time as come to

pro

fessionally grow and

pursue the knowledge and skill needed to provide competent nursing

education.

The purpose of the following paper is to present a

scholarly practicum

p

roposal

discussing

an

academic

opportunity

that will allow me to professionally grow and develop as a

novi

ce nurse educator. This experience will allow me to engage in the

teaching

–

learning process

within various learning environments

under the guidance of a master’s

prepared

academic

nurse

educator. T

o provide

fo

cus for my professional development and learnin

g, c

ompetency

–

based

goals

,

supported

by

objectives

,

activities

and a timeline

have been

developed

and are

included

within this

proposal

. The University of Michigan

–

Flint nursing program classrooms and skills lab

will serve as the

main learning environment

for this

practicum

opportunity. In addition to the

academic setting, I will engage with my preceptor to develop a perioperative clinical curriculum

for nursing students electing to pursue clinical time within the perioperative unit at Genesys

PRACTICUM PROPOSAL

5

Regional Me

dical Center.

To assist in monitoring and measurement of

my

practicum completion

and

success

, evaluations have also been developed and are included as

part of this practicum

proposal.

Teaching

–

Learning Settings

Moscaritlo (2009)

present

s,

that

faculty is e

xpected to arrange for a teaching

–

learning

environment that is consistent with meeting academic and clinical rotation goals.

The classroom

didactic and skills lab experience will take place at the University of Michigan’s

–

Flint campus

located in Flint, Mi

c

higan. The didactic session will be

conducted within a traditional classroom

setting attended by 40 beginner

–

level nursing students. The

skills lab will take

place within one

of three rooms specifically designed with six patient care cubicles. Each cubical is equipped with

patient care equipment and supplies such as a hospital bed, blood pressure cuff, otoscope,

suction, and oxygen flow meter.

The University o

f Michigan

–

Flint is a four

–

year public university located in downtown

Flint, Michigan. The Flint campus, established in 1956, is one of three University of Michigan

sites. U of M

–

Flint embraces the significance of “doing” as basic to each learner’s educati

on,

personal,

and professional growth. Faculty leaders at the Flint campus cover over 100 areas of

studies that focus on development of research and service learning that ties course curriculum

with today’s societal issues (University of Michigan

–

Flint, 20

12).

Student learning for the perioperative clinical rotation with take place within multiple

learning environments such as classroom, simulation lab, and clinical site. Although all three

environments are different in space and resources they will all b

e conducted at Genesys Regional

Medical Center in Grand Blanc, Michigan (GRMC). Genesys R

egional Medical Center is a 425

–

be

d teaching facility that includes 23 operating room theaters. The perioperative area provide

s

PRACTICUM PROPOSAL

6

patient

care

as needed 24 hours a day

and seven

days a week, employing approximately 125

nurses whom ca

re for an average of a least 50

–

scheduled surgical patients Monday

thru Friday

and emergencies

during the weekend.

The three phases of the perioperative area (preoperative,

in

traoperative, an

d postoperative

) will provide an outstanding opportunity for nursing students to

engage and learn how imperative quality, safety, teamwork, and collaboration are a patient

undergoing an invasive procedure. In addition to the clinical environment, the simul

ation lab and

classroom environment at GMRC will provide the nursing students with

the space and resources,

such as literature, computer access, and equipment to gain knowledge and hands

–

on opportunity

to build

basic

knowledge

around perioperative nursing.

Goals and Objectives

According to Poindexter (2008), new nurse educators transforming into their new roles

often discover they are not as prepared as they would hope to be. Being an experienced or expert

nurse is not sufficient to assume the novice role o

f a nurse educator. To better transition into the

nurse educator role, nurses with experience need to be prepared with essential qualifications and

the competencies developed by the National League for Nursing (Poindexter, 2008). Utilizing

these core compe

tencies and academic preparation enhances the nurse educator’s ability to

transform nursing students into practicing registered nurses ready to deliver high

–

quality care, as

requested by the IOM report.

In order to

prepare for the specialty role of a nurs

e educator the follo

wing goals and

objectives,

as

presented in A

ppendix A

, have been identified in order to fulfill the expectations

of engaging and completing a practicum experience as a gra

duate nurse educator.

As presented

by the National League for Nur

sing (NLN) (2007), nurse educators are actively

involved in

numerous roles and f

unctions, each of which mirror

s the core competencies for academic

PRACTICUM PROPOSAL

9

creative challenge comes from determining

the many ways students can demonstrate their

achievement of objectives.

Preceptor

My preceptor for this practicum experience will be Libby Bell, MSN, RN, Lecturer III.

Libby obtained her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree from Wayne State Univ

ersity

in 1982 and returned back to college to obtain her Master’s in Nursing Science degree with an

education track from Oakland University in 2001. Libby accepted a clinical instructor position

with the University of Michigan

–

Flint (U of M

–

Flint) nursing

program in 2002 while continuing

her staff position as a cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) nurse. In the role as a clinical instructor

Libby Bell (2012), has instructed multiple clinical rotations from community settings, medical

–

surgical rotations, and

critical care sessions. Presently, Libby continues to practice as clinical

instructor but has also accepted a position as an adjunct instructor. As an adjunct lecturer, Libby

is responsible for class didactic and lab instruction for the introductory nursin

g course, Nursing

202.

As my preceptor, Libby will assist me in achieving my practicum goals through her

ability to engage in various academic nurse educator roles. By engaging as a facilitator of

learning, Libby will guide my opportunities to develop stu

dent knowledge and skill through

implementing educational theory and teaching strategies. While assisting me in creating collegial

working relationships with students and faculty colleagues, Libby will also be role modeling the

values and behaviors expecte

d of professional fulfilling the role as an academic nurse educator.

According to the NLN (2007), an academic nurse educator is a facilitator of learner development

and socialization by engaging in effective counseling and guidance planning that assist lea

rners

in meeting their professional goals.

PRACTICUM PROPOSAL

10

My

Role

I believe my role during this practicum experience will be that of a novice educator. Since

my experience within the academic educator role has been very limited, consisting of

observation and very

little student interaction. The transition from clinical

practice to an

academic setting will require, for myself

,

building of knowledge and skill for the

teaching

learning process and teacher

–

student interaction. As explained by

McArthur

–

Rouse (2008)

acc

ording to Benner’s novice to expert theory,

the novice practitioner has limited experience

with the opportunitie

s in which they are to perform.

The faculty role is more tha

n just teaching

and

the

novice educator

may find it overwhelming to figure out “what

to teach and how to teach

it”

(McArthur

–

Rouse, 2008)

. Penn, Wilson, and Rosseter (2008), recognize that it is imperative

for novice teachers to learn not only interpersonal and communication skill but also course

development skills that include determinin

g what a particular level of student needs to know,

deciding between “nice

–

to

–

know” and “need

–

to

–

know” content, and thoughtful organizing the

information to elevate student learning.

Activities and Timeline

In order to monitor and maintain progress to

ward meeting the scholarly practicum experience

completion date of December 10, 2012, the practicum proposal planning guide

, as present

in

Appendix A, provides a high level overview

of

all timelines related to actives needed to

complete

the

project objecti

ves. The first objective 1.1 includes activities that will focus on

reviewing the University of Michigan

–

Flint’s nu

rsing program mission, vision, faculty handbook,

and program policies. Also, a review of

the Introductory to Nursing 202

class syllabus and

PRACTICUM PROPOSAL

11

learning material

will also

be conducted. Once all materials, policies, and materials have been

gathered a review should be completed by September 8, 2012.

Additional activities will also

focus on

collecting and reviewing literature to build my

knowledge of teaching strategies that promote student

–

centered learning and address different

learn

ing styles

. Once the literature and research materials have been collected and reviewed an

annotated bibliography will be complied and organized to discuss w

ith my preceptor by

September 30, 2012. Other activities wi

ll be to engage in the

teaching

–

learning

environment to

practice skilled oral, written, and electronic communication with faculty and students. This

activity will be ong

oing throughout the entire

fall semester

ending December 10, 2012

.

Objective 1.2 activities will inc

lude attending and engaging in

a

nurse educator development

opportunity

to develop a boarder knowledge and skill base

as a facilitator of learning

.

In addition

to the education v

enue thi

s occasion will open possibilities in

develop

ing

relationships and

networking with other nurse educators.

This activity will take place in Cincinnati, Ohio

and will

be completed by August 30, 2012.

The milestone of objective 2.1 will be met w

hen the activities of conducting a literature

search and review to identify student nurse clinical

rotation expe

ctations within a perioperative

unit

–

learning

environment. Additional activities to support objective 2.1 will involve developing

learning objec

tives for nursing student selecting to complete a perioperative clinical

rotation.

Objective 2.1 will be completed by September 15, 2012. Objective 2.2 activities will focus on

identifying appropriate learning activities and teaching strategies to engage s

tudents in learning

basic perioperative nursing practice. Also activities will need to be implemented around selecting

an appropriate preceptor for the Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN) students. The projected

PRACTICUM PROPOSAL

12

date for

meeting objective 2.2 and imp

lementing the perioperative clinical rotation is October 1,

2012.

The last objective 2.3 activities will include conducting a literature search and review of

evaluation tools utilized for student learning assessment and pr

ogram feedback. Once eva

luation

methods have been implemented and data gathered. A detailed and organized report of collected

evaluation information will be prepared in order for my practicum preceptor

to review and

provide constructive feedback for areas of program improvement a

nd success. This detailed

report and preceptor meeting will accomplish the last project timeline of December 1, 2012.

Evaluation

Evaluation is the process of collecting and interpreting data to identify areas of success and

areas in need of improveme

nt. The National League for Nu

rsing (NLN, 2007) identifies

part

of

the nurse educator’s role, to utilize multiple strategies to assess and evaluate student learning and

program outcomes. According to Oermann and Gaberson (2009), nurse educators are

account

able for the quality of teaching provided to learners, outcomes achieved, and overall

effectiveness of educational programs.

A preceptor

–

student evaluation tool

, as presented in Appendix B,

will also be initiated

as a formal form to document communica

tion and feedback related to the achie

vement of the

identified practicum

goals and objectives. Berry and Thomas (2011) note, feedback is the

process of comparing identified objectives with current progress toward meeting the overall

stated goals. This feed

back provides opportunity to identify adjustments in activities in order to

progress for project success. Objectives that are S

.

M

.

A

.

R

.

T (specific, measureable, achievable,

realistic, and time

–

bound), according to Heathfield

(2012), are likely to be accomplished.

Objective written in a S

.

M

.

A

.

R

.

T

format emerge as short

–

term goals that engage focus,