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,