QSEN PROJECT PLANNING PAPER

QSEN Project Planning Paper Connie Rose DNP 806: Program Development, Implementation and Evaluation June 30, 2013

QSEN PROJECT PLANNING PAPER QSEN Project Planning Paper The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN), funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), was born in 2005 in response to alarming reports published by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) regarding the high number of preventable deaths and complications that occur within hospitals (Docksai & Sherwood, 2012). Armstrong (2010) relates the question all nursing faculty need to consider is What teaching/learning strategies will best prepare nursing graduates with the knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSAs) necessary to continuously improve the quality and safety of the health care systems in which they work? The QSEN project is helping nursing programs to address this question by presenting six competencies that all nursing students need to master. The competencies include patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, informatics and safety. Two accrediting bodies for nursing programs in the United States, the National League of Nursing and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, are encouraging all nursing schools to incorporate QSEN into curricula (Docksai & Sherwood, 2012). This author would like to expand the use of QSEN in the associate degree nursing program at the project facility. According to Harris, Roussel, Walters, and Dearman (2011), an executable work plan is needed for a project to be successful. The remainder of this paper will consist of a comprehensive plan of how to incorporate QSEN in all nursing courses at the project institution. The plan will begin with identifying strengths and weaknesses of the project facility and will include goal and objectives, an outline of the teaching plan, and teaching tools to be used to assist faculty in accomplishing this task.

QSEN PROJECT PLANNING PAPER Strengths and Weaknesses of Organization An analysis of the institutions strengths and weaknesses is necessary as a precursor to creating a plan. A SWOT analysis is an assessment technique that assists in the identification of positive and negative influences from within and outside of an organization (Goodrich, 2013). The Appendix contains the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis for the project institution. The analysis helps in the maximization of the faculty and institutional strengths and will alert the author to barriers that could hinder the project. According to the SWOT analysis, some weaknesses that need to be addressed at the project institution are helping the faculty to see value in working together and understanding that QSEN competencies need to be the focus of every course, and introducing faculty to teaching strategies that have been developed. Goal and Objectives The following goal and objectives have been developed based on the analysis of the faculty and institution. The objectives will encourage creativity in the faculty but will address concerns regarding lack of time to develop new material. Goal Nursing faculty at the project facility will implement at least one teaching strategy found on the QSEN website or IHI Open School in each nursing course. Objectives 1. Nursing faculty at the project institution will attend an in-service providing an overview of QSEN and available resources. 2. Nursing faculty at the project institution will voice the importance of increasing emphasis on QSEN competencies in each nursing course.

QSEN PROJECT PLANNING PAPER 3. Faculty from each nursing course will review teaching resources on the QSEN website or IHI Open School and determine which one(s) will be most appropriate for the course. 4. Faculty from all courses will share which teaching strategies were chosen to ensure all competencies have been addressed. Cost Effectiveness Expanding the use of QSEN competencies in the nursing program at the project facility should be very cost effective for the college. The QSEN website has more than 50 peer-reviewed teaching strategies ready for nurse educators to implement. All of these resources are free of charge to nursing programs (QSEN, 2013). If the project facility would like more extensive guidance in developing QSEN competencies, consultants are available at a charge to assist nursing programs. Teaching Plan I. Overview of importance of expanding use of QSEN competencies in nursing program A. B. Show The Lewis Blackman Story video to the faculty (QSEN, 2013) Discuss the IOM reports To Err is Human (1999) and Crossing the Quality Chasm (2001) C. Review the article Educating nurses: A call for radical transformation by Benner, Sutphen, Leonard, and Day (2010). D. II. Examine how QSEN competencies are currently a part of each course

Present available resources A. QSEN website

QSEN PROJECT PLANNING PAPER 1. Review competencies a. b. c. d. e. f. 2. Quality improvement Safety Evidence-based practice Teamwork and collaboration Patient/family centered care Informatics

Faculty resources a. b. Learning modules Videos

B.

Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) (2013) Open School online assignments for students reinforcing QSEN concepts

III.

Break into course faculty groups A. B. Assist faculty in accessing learning modules on QSEN website Discuss which type of learning strategy would be best for each course (e.g. learning lab, simulation, clinical setting, classroom setting)

IV.

Bring faculty back together A. Have each course group present teaching strategy that will be used in their course B. C. Determine how the courses can build from one another Make sure all QSEN competencies have been covered in the curriculum

QSEN PROJECT PLANNING PAPER Teaching Tools A variety of teaching tools will be used to present the material for the project. A power point presentation will guide the project. The Lewis Blackman Story video (QSEN 2013) will be embedded in the power point along with discussion questions following the presentation of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports (1999, 2001) and Benners et al. (2010) Educating nurses: A call for radical transformation. A handout of these reports and article will be given to each faculty member to review. The most important part of the presentation will be convincing the faculty of the value of QSEN competencies in educating students and preparing graduates for jobs. A few faculty members may require help in setting up computer exercises on Blackboard or in their presentations to use during class. This can be accomplished during the breakout sessions. After faculty members are back together, a chart can be created listing the teaching strategies used for each course along with the covered QSEN competencies. The chart will allow all to see the progression of QSEN throughout the curriculum. Other Considerations The faculty members at the project institution are very comfortable working together. Most have been part of the faculty for the past 10 years. Even the newest faculty members have been in the Health Division for four years. It will be important to identify the opinion leaders within the nursing faculty and get their input before the in-service. This will help the project to progress more smoothly. The success of the project will be easily measured. The faculty will either utilize the available resources from QSEN and IHI Open School in their course or they will not. It will also be helpful to determine if the addition of activities reinforcing QSEN competencies in each course improves the quality

QSEN PROJECT PLANNING PAPER of nurse graduating from the nursing program at the project facility. This measurement is much more difficult to determine. First, quality needs to be defined. A literature review needs to be completed to establish whether other nursing programs have attempted to measure characteristics of graduate nursing students that align with the definition of quality. Tools that are reliable and valid are necessary. If no instruments are available then the researcher will need to design tools to measure quality. Summary Accrediting bodies for nursing programs in the United States encourage the use of QSEN competencies. The author developed a comprehensive teaching plan to expand the use of QSEN competencies in the nursing program based on the SWOT analysis of the faculty and project institution. Getting input from the opinion leaders of the faculty before the teaching session is crucial to the success of the project. The project will be deemed successful if one or more QSEN teaching strategies is incorporated in all nursing courses at the project institution.

QSEN PROJECT PLANNING PAPER References Armstrong, G. (2010). Quality and safety education for nurses (QSEN) update. Retrieved from http://www.bon.texas.gov/nursingeducation/edudocs/NCSBN-LeaderFall2010.pdf Docksai, R. & Sherwood, G. (2012). QSEN: Training nurses to be innovative leaders. Retrieved from http://www.nursing-school-degrees.com/Nursing-ArticlesInterviews/qsen.html Goodrich, R. (2013, March 29). SWOT analysis: Examples, templates and definition. Business News Daily. Retrieved from http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4245swot-analysis.html. Harris, J., Roussel, L., Walters, S., & Dearman, C. (2011). Project planning and management, Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett. IHI (2013). Open school. Retrieved from http://www.ihi.org/offerings/IHIOpenSchool/overview/Pages/default.aspx IOM (1999). To error is human: Building a safer health system. Retrieved from http://www.iom.edu/~/media/files/report%20files/1999/to-err-ishuman/to%20err%20is%20human%201999%20%20report%20brief.pdf IOM (2001). Crossing the quality chasm: A new health system for the 21st Century. Retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10027&page=R1 QSEN Institute (2013). Teaching strategies. Retrieved from http://qsen.org/teachingstrategies/

QSEN PROJECT PLANNING PAPER Appendix SWOT Analysis of Project Institution

Internal Strengths The threads of our nursing program incorporate QSEN Nursing faculty at my facility value QSEN Some faculty members are very creative and could create wonderful ways to incorporate QSEN in our program Most faculty members are supportive and would try to implement changes if they are not too labor intensive Faculty have a good rapport with many hospitals in the area so information on quality improvement initiatives can be obtained There is a wide age range within our faculty which will help in generating ideas and looking at things from a different perspective College has vision and is open to being on the cutting edge Hospitals consistently provide positive feedback regarding the abilities of our students The Dean is supportive of expanding QSEN in the nursing program External Opportunities Hospitals want all employees to be familiar with QSEN The Ohio Board of Nursing mandates that QSEN is incorporated in all nursing programs Our students being very familiar with QSEN would increase their marketability to hospitals Having students who are competent in QSEN will improve reputation of nursing program

Weaknesses The nursing program is an associate degree program versus a baccalaureate program Faculty are busy and may not have time to develop new ways to incorporate QSEN in our nursing program Faculty may feel that QSEN can be the focus of the last course in the nursing program and not see the importance of incorporating it in every course throughout the program

Threats If the nursing program does not strengthen students knowledge and application of QSEN, the quality of care provided by students could decrease If the quality of care provided by students goes down, the students would not be as marketable The reputation of the nursing program in the community could be negatively affected if the quality of care given by students decreases.

QSEN PROJECT PLANNING PAPER

Some faculty members have a difficult time with the change process Faculty suffer from the silo phenomenon Hospitals tend to prefer BSN graduates as compared to associate degree nurses

10