PICOT Question
In nursing staff at VEGA Medical Center (Miami, FL), how does the implementation of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2016a) guidelines affect the accuracy of diagnosing and management of depression in the geriatric population within 10 weeks?
Week 2
During this week, the primary project implementation consideration was the review of the schedule and implementation plan. I have developed a relatively flexible schedule, although the elements that have already been completed now have fixed timeframes. The upcoming elements are still open for adjustments, although no major changes are anticipated. Apart from that, the week involved a review of the IRB form. This process does not seem to be particularly challenging. Still, it is useful because it prompts the reevaluation of rather crucial aspects of the project like recruitment and protection of participants, which have been covered in the proposal but can benefit from reconsideration. The only issue that I have encountered was investigating the local legislation, which I find relatively difficult to perform. In this respect, the official website of the Florida Legislature (2017) proved to be helpful. During this week, I contacted the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2016a) to request permission to use the guidelines for the project.
Week 3
This week, I proceeded to work on the project’s plan and tools meant for the guidelines dissemination, implementation, and result evaluation. The dissemination and implementation require a review of the change models and the planning of the leadership activities necessary to achieve the routinization of the change. As a result, this week’s discussion appears to be rather relevant: it prompted me to reexamine my leadership abilities and preferences, which I am going to employ during the implementation process. I have determined that I favor person-centered approaches with a focus on sharing leadership (Houghton, Pearce, Manz, Courtright, & Stewart, 2015), which, in my view, should be helpful during the implementation of the proposed change. Indeed, the organization-level introduction of new guidelines hinges on personal-level adoption (Pashaeypoor, Ashktorab, Rassouli, & Alavi-Majd, 2016), which highlights the significance of the nurses’ contribution to the proposed change. Thus, my leadership knowledge and experience might be viewed as a facilitating factor in the process of planning and implementing the project.
Week 4
During this week, I keep working on the IRB form and related documents and the project’s plan and implementation and evaluation tools. Also, I participated in the weekly discussion, which, once again, is applicable to the project. In particular, it helped me review the skillset I needed for the project and allowed me to reconsider its resources. I found that I am mostly prepared for the use of IT during my project except for statistical software management: I have used only SPSS for very limited purposes that mostly consisted of descriptive statistics. Since I have some experience with the software, I am likely to employ it again, but I will need some additional research on it or consultation to ensure its successful use. This factor can be viewed as a challenge, and my insufficient knowledge of software applications may be described as a barrier to be removed.
Week 5
This week involved reviewing the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2016a) guidelines to prepare the strategies for their dissemination. Thankfully, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2016a) provides multiple helpful tools, including the implementation guide and a convenient slide set. Overall, the materials of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2016a) are invaluable, but I have been reviewing them to ensure that they are appropriate for the VEGA center. This week’s discussion is mostly helpful to the project in its demonstration of the significance of evidence-based practice and quality improvement. The fact that major governmental bodies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017) focus on these aspects of nursing practice highlights the significance of my project. This fact can also be employed to motivate the participants and me.
Week 6
During this week, I focused on the project’s evaluation tools, which involved the reconsideration of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2016b) quality standards. Again, the tools that are provided by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2016b) are most helpful, which facilitates the process. Moreover, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2016a) guidelines are in line with the quality standards, which can also be viewed as a facilitating factor. Also, I reviewed the informed consent form to make some minor changes, which, in my view, can help to inform the participants better. This week’s discussion demonstrates the importance of quality improvement, introducing major healthcare associations like the American Nurses Association (n.d.). The perspective of these organizations should be of interest to the participants and can be employed to motivate them.
Week 7
During this week, I have been working on a professional poster for the project. The work on the IRB package is coming to an end, which is a major achievement. This success appears to signify the need for reflection; as a result, this week’s discussion focused on reviewing the achievements and barriers that have been encountered during the implementation of my project. I find that this process did not involve too many issues, possibly, because I focused on facilitators to a greater extent, and I have succeeded in finding them throughout the course. Still, certain barriers and challenges have been encountered, including legal considerations. In general, the IRB proposal development was an activity that required a lot of effort and time. However, the weekly updates and discussions helped me to perform it while also challenging the previously established ideas that I used to have on the project, which resulted in its improvement.
References
American Nurses Association. (n.d.). Conferences. Web.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Performance management and quality improvement. Web.
Florida Legislature. (2017). Official Internet site of the Florida legislature. Web.
Houghton, J. D., Pearce, C. L., Manz, C. C., Courtright, S., & Stewart, G. L. (2015). Sharing is caring: Toward a model of proactive caring through shared leadership. Human Resource Management Review, 25(3), 313-327. Web.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2016a). Depression in adults: Recognition and management. Web.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2016b). Depression in adults: Quality standards. Web.
Pashaeypoor, S., Ashktorab, T., Rassouli, M., & Alavi-Majd, H. (2016). Predicting the adoption of evidence-based practice using Rogers’ diffusion of innovation model. Contemporary Nurse, 52(1), 85-94. Web.