Emily Simpson

UNE BSN 2022

Category: Collaboration

Presenting Changes

December 3, 2021 / / 4 Comments

My team members and I are awaiting feedback on our dissemination project. I am looking forward to getting this feedback to see how it can be applied to clinical practice.

The topic of our project is emphasizing the importance of accurate intake and outputs. Through the research that my group and I did, we found how important intake and output is. With extra research done with this topic, I know that I will be sure to chart accurate intake and output, including the IV fluids. Understanding the importance of accurate intake and output could also allow me to have positive effect on my colleagues. Charting IV fluids or drinks are intake numbers that can sometime be forgotten in healthcare.  Additionally, we also discovered the automated urine output devices. I had never heard of this device before, so this new information would be helpful to bring into my career, especially if the place I work at does not have this device.

              I felt that I played a positive role on the impact of the team. I usually sit in the background and just put in my part and someone else takes charge. However, I feel that with this project, I took more of a leadership role. Of course, I collaborated with all members of my team, but it felt good being able to play a leadership role in this process and I think it will help me to take charge in other situations, which I don’t normally do. This is something that I could let me future employer know about to show that I can work as a team in both the leadership position and the team member contributor position. I will let them know that I am an easy person to collaborate with and that I have past experience in quality improvement and evidence-based practice initiatives.

            The team members and I all worked really well together, and everyone played their part. Although, we had 8 members of the team, I feel that we all did an equal amount of work. I was worried about this going into beginning this project because I know that when there are multiple people working on one project, the process can be a bit difficult. With all of this being said, I am proud of what my team and I have created, and I hope that the final product is able to provide positive intervention in clinical practice.

EBP2-Draft-of-Project-1Download

Proposing Change

November 2, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Through researching our topic regarding the important of accurate intake and output charting including IV fluids and medication drips, we found that there has already been research to determine why this issue is happening. In past research, it was found that a major cause of inaccurate charting of intake and output is the lack of awareness in the importance this data. This task if commonly overlooked in a nurse’s and other health care workers job tasks. There is a device that is an automated urine output device. This is new device that nobody in my group has heard of so it was interesting to gain some insight on this device. We are all currently placed on the cardiac floor at Maine Medical Center where almost all of the patients are placed on strict intake and output measurements. Although the orders are placed, it is sometimes difficult to get it perfect. Implementing this device onto R7 at MMC would be so beneficial to the floor and patient outcomes.

Prior to this research and having clinical experience on a cardiac floor, I did not realize how important accurate intake and output was. I wondered if other students, CNAs, and nurses were aware of the importance of this documentation. Providers may base certain orders or medications on these numbers. A research study that we had found during our research said that after education, promotion of best practice, and varying audits on cardiac patients specifically, 100% of staff became compliant and 75% of patients became involved. This numbers are amazing and really show how educating both our staff and patients can provide much more accuracy into intake and output. With this study and information, I will continue to promote and advocate for more accurate charting of intake and output as I feel that it can be a forgetting about concept in patient care.

The process of creating the topic proposal for this project was a very great and easy-going experience. Each member of my team worked together to create a concise, but informative topic proposal. We got right to the point while also incorporating important data from our research that helped to support our proposal. We were unsure how we were going to all work on this project together because our group consists of 8 people which can make it difficult to all work on one project together and split the work evenly. However, my group collaborated and was able to work together efficiently and evenly. There were minimal revisions that we needed to make after the submission of our draft, just some minor spacing issues and re-wording of certain sentences. I am looking forward to working with this group on the final part of the Dissemination project!

Group-6-Project-Proposal-FINAL_clean-copyDownload

Planning Change

September 17, 2021 / / 0 Comments

This team dissemination project will be done with equalized contribution, collaboration, and professionalism. I suspect that throughout clinical this semester my group will keep our topic of nurses charting intake and output, including IV fluids and heparin drips, 100% of time, in the back of our heads when caring for patients. We chose a topic that adequately suited the floor and an ongoing goal that members of the floor are already trying to reach. We were placed on R7 which is a cardiac unit. Accurate intake and output for our patients is essential and inaccurate measurements can completely alter a plan of treatment, especially in the patient population that we are treating. Something that all members of my group has in common is our drive to keep our patients safe and care for them in the best way we can. Knowing that this project can remind both ourselves and other nurses on the floor how important accurate charting of their patient’s input and output, this project will be accomplished. We will work together to find the best way to get our message across and make a difference. Each week we will build on data and research and eventually formulate our final project. I envision that compassion, collaboration, and communication will be key in moving through the process of creating the team dissemination.

In terms of communication, I believe we have already started on a strong note. We have a group message that we can communicate ideas in. Also, it is helpful that we have the same class schedule and are in the same clinical group so that we can additionally meet in person to work on this project. We all know what needs to be done in this project and understand that collaboration will be the most efficient way to complete this project. Something that I would like to bring up with my group is creating a Google Doc that we will all have access too. This will help in the flow of the proposal because we will be able to see everyone’s work and adjust accordingly. Open communication throughout the creating of this collaborative project will be essential in working on it. I believe my group will hold each other accountable by working on the same Google Doc. It will allow us to see how much each member of the group is contributing.

In the unanticipated event that there is a conflict within group members, I believe it is easiest to address it head on. Confrontation can be a difficult task but if it is done in the right way, it is not so bad. I would approach the situation in a kind, professional manner and just talk to the individual the way that I would want to be talked to. If the group member does not put in the effort to try to fix the conflict, I would reach out to Dr. Kramlich to let her know the issue and how I have already tried to address it with the individual and they did not respond in a positive manner.

Benefits of this project is that it is actually going to be implemented into the hospital unit that we are on. It will force to put in that extra effort to create an informative, strong project. Additionally, a benefit of this project is that we are working with individuals who will be working on the same floor as us. The other group member will be able to see how essential it is that we help to push this topic. Barriers of this project could be the lack of time that we have to work together in person. We all live in different places so it might be hard to work on it in person. Another barrier could be lack of research that we are able to find. We could overcome the potential barriers by establishing a clear outline of the project together during class and assigning which parts everyone will do. Establishing a clear outline with guidelines to follow will keep everyone on the same page while minimizing the amount of time needed to work together in person. With the potential lack of research in our topic, we could resolve this by asking our clinical instructor for any data regarding this matter from their floor. This is a goal that the floor has been working on accomplishing, so they may have some data to support it.

This project will be extremely useful in my future nursing practice. It will be helpful in anyone nursing practice. Accurate input and outputs can sometimes be overlooked with the fast paced environment of nurses. However, the accuracy of this charting can make or break an individuals stay at the hospital because it can alter treatment plans or under- or overestimate fluid imbalances.  Creating a research based presentation on a common but forgotten topic, it will help us be better practicing nurses but also allow us to educate both our classmates and future colleagues on the matter.

Final Reflection

May 6, 2021 / / 0 Comments

With this research essay, I realized what it meant to use evidence-based practice in practice. It does not mean just looking at a research study and using that to influence practice. There is a lot more that goes into using evidence based practice. In order for evidence based practice to be used in practice, there is a lot of work that must be done prior to it. The research studies must be verified as reliable and there should be at least 3 articles to back up the hypothesis. I feel that through this process, I learned how to be a leader in research, while also working collaboratively with a team. Through working with a team, I will move forward working with individuals who are motivated and passionate about the research that they are performing. Moving forward, I will appreciate and understand the value of evidence based practice significantly more than I did before. I am aware of how important it is in order to make change for the better. I will bring the skills learned during this research with me as I progress in my nursing career. I am excited that I have shifted to more of an evidence based mindset in terms of nursing because it has already opened my eyes to the importance of research and allows me to care for my patients the best way possible.

Appraisal and Synthesis

April 12, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Through evidence appraisal and synthesis, I was able to evaluate my study with a deeper look. The article investigated whether a meconium alcohol metabolite (ethyl glucuronide, EtG) was associated with cognitive development, ADHD-related behavior and neurophysiological markers of attention and executive control of children at primary-school age. Evidence from the study supported our PICOT question that prenatal alcohol consumptions will have an effect on cognitive function of school aged children. Findings included the groups with higher EtG levels has lower IQ scores than the other groups and a positive correlation between higher EtG levels and ADHD related behaviors. The evidence from this study supports my assumptions that I had when beginning this research. This article and its findings can be used in my future nursing practice. Although, I am unsure as to what specialty of nursing that I would like to go in, I do have interest in labor and delivery. With this information, I can provide evidence-based education to my patients regarding alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Having evidence to back up my education would help to show reliability and establish a trusting relationship with the patient.

My group members and I all arrived to the same conclusions with our articles that support the idea the prenatal alcohol consumptions will have an effect on cognitive function of school aged children. The collaboration process during this section was a bit rusty. My group consists of 5 people and only 4 of us were able to find articles that were approved use during this paper. To make the work more even, the group member without an article offered to help if needed. There was a miscommunication among the individual without the article and an individual whom she was helping with their appraisal which caused the critical appraisal for that article to not be submitted. We figured this out after the submission of the annotated bibliography. This was a careless error that was then smoothed over. It is definitely a wake up call to triple check everything and make a collaborative game plan from here on out so that something like this will not happen.

From Inquiry to Discovery (steps 0-2)

March 22, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Since developing a PICOT question, my team and I have been smooth sailing. We agreed on a topic that we were all interest in. That topic is the effects of maternal alcohol consumption on learning disabilities in school aged children. As we began to look for articles, we had trouble finding them as out PICOT was a bit too broad. After discussing with each other and bouncing ideas off of our professor we decided to change our PICOT a bit, with it being more broad. Our new PICOT focused on the effects that prenatal alcohol consumption has on cognitive abilities in school aged children. With this slight change in our PICOT, my group has a lot more success in finding articles that were relevant to our research. Working together on this process and tackling the challenges together has helped us get a grasp of what we need to do for this paper. We have been dividing the work evenly and trusting each other. It is important that we keep an open line of communication with the whole group. With that being said, my group has created a group message text that we will use to talk about what we will each for the assignments. We will even sometimes do a group Facetime call or Zoom to talk about the content of the assignments to compare and discuss.  I am lucky to be working with group and excited to get into the bulk of this project!

Planning the Journey

January 29, 2021 / / 0 Comments

I see my team being able to collaborate to form an exceptional final paper. When beginning to choose a topic, I think it will take some time for each of us to research topics that could interest us. Once, we each find a couple of topics that we want to learn more about, we will then bounce the ideas off each other. The key to agreeing on a topic is open mindedness of all team members.  This will have to carry over throughout the whole paper. Everyone should be open to hearing the ideas of others, while also being accountable for their assigned part.

The communication plan will begin right from the start. This communication is essential to build a good foundation for our paper. We will assign different parts of the paper to each team member. Although we will all have our own parts, we will be able to work as a team if someone needs help. I think that within the group we should have due dates for when we want certain parts done yet. It is also essential that we look at the sections of our other group members and give some feedback.  

The plan for conflict management should simply be just addressing the situation. It should be addressed earlier rather than later so that it does not get worse and affect our grade. If we face the situation head on and go directly to the individual who is not putting in their best effort, then it will be easier to solve. Being able to address this situation both efficiently and respectfully, then the team is more apt to have a successful paper.

Although I do not anticipate any barriers with my team, one that could occur would be people of the group not doing their job and not responding to any critiques made my other team members. Another barrier could be the flow of the paper because we all have different writing techniques so it could create a choppy sounding paper. Benefits of working as a group is the amount of work that everyone would have to do would decrease. Also, it will be interesting to get different points of view and input from each person of the group.

This project will be useful in my future nursing practice. Collaborative work is the core of health care. In my practice, I will be a part of an interprofessional health care team. This team will consist of people who all have different roles, but their main goal is focused around the patient. Similarly, during this paper we will all have different parts of the project to do but our main goal is to create a scholarly essay for our final paper. The ability to work with others in critical in the nursing world, so working on this project with a team will help me practice doing that. I will take skills that I learn throughout creating the final paper with me throughout my nursing career.  

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