NURS 8502 Blog: Defining and Refining the Problem
NURS 8502 Blog Defining and Refining the Problem
You have now spent 3 full weeks working on an identified practice problem. You have spent time with your team and preceptor at your practicum site, and you have begun to evaluate the scope of the problem and need for change. Based on your experiences in these first 4 weeks, what is working? What is not working? What has or has not worked in the past?
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For this Discussion, you will consider your identified practice problem to help define and refine the work that you have done thus far. Consider what is working, what is not working, your stakeholders, and what has worked and has not worked in the past. Review the evidence gathered to determine how you might need to refine your identified practice problem.
To Prepare
Review the Learning Resources that address problem identification.
Analyze the work done thus far on your identified practice problem, specifically analyzing what management has done to date with the problem.
Review your practice focused question, meetings with your team and preceptor, and your identification of stakeholders.
By Day 3 of Week 4
Post a response discussing your selected practice problem. After meeting with your team, describe the following:
What is currently working?
What has not worked?
What changes might you implement?
What changes might you consider in addressing the problem?
Are these changes supported by evidence?
In your response, share what you have been working on throughout the first 4 weeks of the course, focusing specifically on defining your practice focused question, meeting with your team, and identifying stakeholders. Be specific. What leadership strategies might you use to support the problem you have identified? Explain whether you have refined your practice focused question and why.
By Day 6 of Week 4
Read a selection of your colleagues’ blog posts and respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by supporting or expanding on their work thus far with their practice focused question. Work to share additional perspectives on the issue described by your colleague.
The project aims to address nurses’ compassion fatigue (CF) and burnout (BO). The research question I proposed will focus on variables affecting nurses and how to address the issues, what variables in CF and BO with nurses, and what steps are needed to mitigate the problems. Applying a mixed-method research approach using quantitative and qualitative research methodologies to address the problem statement and how to improve patient and staff well-being (Gray & Grove, 2020). The problem question has been refined several times. The original problem question was, “Does an educational intervention geared towards compassion fatigue (CF) increase knowledge and awareness among nurses in a healthcare organization?” However, after additional research, speaking with the stakeholders, and faculty preceptor, the current problem question is “Does an educational intervention focused on compassion fatigue increase knowledge and awareness among nurses working in a hospital setting?”
What is currently working?
The urgency of the need to address the issue of BO in our organization. It has been discussed several times in the past few years, but the process in place was not working. The idea of identifying the factors and mitigating the issues. Since there is a need to have a mitigating process immediately has assisted in getting my project approved. Because there are resources available to address the problems, the project team will be developing an educational module that will educate on CF and BO, how to identify, and what resources are available.
What has not Worked?
Currently, the main issue in this project is getting the team’s schedules to align. Everyone has a busy schedule with multiple meetings and obligations. It requires meetings with the project team in separate groups. We are working on finding a day that aligns with everyone’s schedules. I have attempted to schedule several sessions; however, schedule conflicts have been. I have sent an email requesting days best for the project team and asked to meet individually.
What Changes Might you Implement?
A change that I have been planning to address each project team is understanding their schedule restrictions and what works best for them. Most of the meetings are not face-to-face, but teams meeting or zoom calls at my organization. I plan to implement a group team text to keep everyone updated on the project’s status. We will be able to attach files, discuss project phases, and communicate when needed between meetings. The goal of the meetings is to be short due to busy schedules and to the point, addressing day-to-day questions, issues, or concerns on the team’s group text.
What Changes Might you Consider in Addressing the Problem?
Work with the project team on developing the “Burnout Button.” The “Burnout Button” will be an icon on the facility home page, giving the stakeholders the ability to find the resources needed. I would like to see the burnout button changed to an application on the stakeholder’s smartphone. The application to the smartphone will allow nurses access without feeling they are obligated to access it on a company computer. Allowing nurses to maintain anonymity and encouraging self-care with easy access.
Are These Changes Supported by Evidence?
The changes discussed are supported by evidence. For this to be successful, having evidence to support the findings will influence the stakeholder’s involvement. Healthcare professionals such as nurses seek to care for others while lacking self-care. CF leads to healthcare professionals leaving their profession due to BO and fear of seeking assistance from peers, managers, and supervisors (Fukumori et al., 2020; Watts & Thorne-Odem, 2020). Reducing BO requires actions by the organization, the unit, and the personnel (Wei et al., 2020). With the evidence researched, the project can provide positive changes to reduce CF and BO. However, the need for buy-in from the stakeholders is essential. Providing knowledge and awareness through education on compassion fatigue decreases compassion fatigue in healthcare professionals and enhances job satisfaction, patient safety, and patient outcomes.
References
Fukumori, T., Miyazaki, A., Takaba, C., Taniguchi, S., & Asai, M. (2020). Traumatic events among cancer patients that lead to compassion fatigue in nurses: A qualitative study. J Pain Symptom Manage, 59(2), 254-260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2019.09.026
Gray, J.R., & Grove, S.K. (2020). Burns and Grove’s the practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence (9th ed.) Elsevier
Wei, H., Kifner, H., Dawes, M. E., Wei, T. L., & Boyd, J. M. (2020). Self-care strategies to combat burnout among pediatric critical care nurses and physicians. Critical Care Nurse, 40(2), 44-53. https://doi.org/10/4037/ccn2020621
Watts, S. A., & Thorne-Odem, S. (2020). Nursing yourself away from burnout and compassion fatigue to resilience and joy at work. Nursing Made Incredibly Easy!, 18(6), 6-8. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NME.0000717684.70292.43
Westlake, C. (2012). Practical tips for literature synthesis. Clinical nurse specialist, 26(5), 244-249. https://1-/1097/nur/0b13e18263d766