Experiential learning Project

The Experiential Learning Project (ELP) is the culminating academic endeavor of nursing students who earn a baccalaureate degree in nursing from Ohio University. During this seven-week course you will actually be implementing a project at your clinical practicum site. The ELP provides students with the opportunity to explore a problem or issue of particular personal or professional interest that is somehow related to one of the following nursing competencies: patient-centered care, teamwork/collaboration, evidence based practice, quality improvement, safety or informatics (QSEN: Graduate-QSEN-Competencies.

The project must demonstrate your ability to synthesize and apply the knowledge and skills acquired through this academic program to real-world nursing issues and problems. This final project will affirm your ability to think critically and creatively, to solve practical problems related to nursing practice or the facilitation of patient-centered care, to make reasoned and ethical decisions, and to communicate effectively orally and in writing.

Goals of the Experiential Learning Project (ELP):

  • Students will develop and implement an experiential learning project during the course which includes direct patient engagement and demonstrates potential to impact patient
  • Students will have the opportunity to synthesize knowledge and apply skills acquired in the nursing academic and practice settings.
  • Students will extend their academic experience into areas of nursing practice interest, working with new ideas, issues, organizations, and individuals.
  • Students will demonstrate the ability to think and act critically and creatively about nursing practice issues and will further develop their analytical and ethical leadership skills necessary to address and help solve these issues.
  • Students will refine the ability to utilize evidence-based research and demonstrate proficiency in written and communication skills.
  • Students will demonstrate achievement of the Ohio University program outcomes and the ability to extend and refine their knowledge and skill in the realization of their personal and professional goals met as a result of the capstone clinical project.

ELP Steps:

  1. Select a preceptor of your MSN preferred but a BSN is acceptable. Keep in mind this is NOT a shadowing experience with your preceptor, they will assist you in the development and implementation of your project. Although it may be best that the preceptor is working at your practicum site, it is not required. Keep in mind close relatives may not be preceptors.
    • Your preceptor must sign an agreement form; this form is to be submitted in the first week of class on Blackboard.
    • The student and preceptor must be licensed in the state the project will be
  2. You must spend 21 true hours over the 7 weeks of the course and these hours will be documented on a clinical Of these 21 hours at least 3 hours should be in working with your preceptor, such as seeking advice or updating the preceptor on your progress, a maximum of 6 hours may be logged in research on your topic—you of course may have more time spent researching but no more than 6 hours may be counted on the log, in addition you must log at

least 1-2 hours in direct patient contact along with the remainder of the hours completed in the implementation of your project, for example:

Minimum of 3 hours with preceptor

Maximum of 6 hours on research of topic

Minimum of 1-2 hours in direct patient contact

Remainder– 10-11 hours in implementation of your project Total = 21 true hours

  1. You will complete a log of these 21 hours which will be submitted in the final week of the course, signed by you and your In addition, all entries on the log are to be initialed by your preceptor, and failure to submit a completed log will result in an incomplete for the course.
  2. You will select a problem, issue or concern that is professionally or personally important to You must be able to relate your topic to one of the QSEN goals. Go to QSEN.org, then go to education- competencies- graduate QSEN competences to choose one of the following:
    • Patient-centered Care
    • Teamwork and Collaboration
    • Evidence-based Practice (EBP)
    • Quality Improvement (QI)
    • Safety
    • Informatics

NOTE for CCF (Cleveland Clinic Foundation-all facilities) students: If you are thinking of creating a new topic/project for CCF this would involve multiple levels of approval that must be obtained; for example- key stakeholders to seek approval include-(nurse manager, providers [MD’s, APRN’s], medical director, Cleveland Clinic Patient Education, and Cleveland Clinic Marketing. Obtaining approval can be a very timely process. This is not possible in this class timeframe.

     At CCF facilities you may complete a project utilizing current CCF policy/procedures/protocols already in place.  For example, if Falls continue to be an issue on your unit you may develop and present education to staff on the current policy/procedures/protocols and its importance, then develop a checklist/guide/pocket reminder for staff to use in practice to improve consistent use in practice of preventative measures.  Your direct contact with patients would be the use of this checklist/guide/pocket reminder in practice with patients. Falls is only one example; a review of any process or policy/procedure/protocol could work. CCF facilities require that all projects are approved by CCF prior to development. 

You will submit the proposal topic approved by CCF in the first week of the NRSE 4600 class, in a proposal form.

  1. Complete all experiential learning project
    • Week 1-2: Submit project proposal, preceptor agreement, license verifications, Qualtrics survey, COVID 19 documents, sex offender and OIG status.
    • Week 3: Experiential Learning Project QSEN, Topic, Goals, and Objectives
    • Week 4: Experiential Learning Project Action Plan outline
    • Week 5: Experiential Learning Project Research
    • Week 6: Experiential Learning Project Discussion Board
    • Week 7: Experiential Learning Project Culminating Paper (this will include a second solution to your topic-a “next steps” plan, or a new idea related to your project)

ELP· Expectations

Your Experiential Learning Project will require you to become a change agent at your clinical practicum site as listed on your preceptor agreement. Your practicum site may be your place of work or anywhere nurses are employed. You will select a problem, issue or concern that is professionally or personally important to you and you will implement this project during your 7- week class. This problem could be a problem in your current place of work or community. Some ideas that come to mind are issues related to patient-centered care, mandatory immunizations, human trafficking, patient education, prevention of patient falls, prevention of pressure ulcers, the list is endless. Keep in mind to focus on a project which is doable in your 7-week timeline, there are many projects which are needed but for this course you have a limited time frame to implement your project. Projects that require more time to implement such as improving staffing ratios or implementing an electronic health record are really outside of the timeline for this course and would not satisfy the direct clinical requirement of at least 1-2 hours working directly with the patients. After you have selected your problem, it must be linked to one of the QSEN competencies: patient-centered care, teamwork/collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, safety, or informatics. You will use the QSEN competency to develop a plan of action to change the problem.

The best approach to accomplish change must include a thoughtful analysis of the problem. The first step in this analysis is to identify the problem and then answer several questions that are useful in framing the problem:

  1. What is the scope, duration, and history of the problem?
  2. Who does it affect?
  3. What data is available to describe the problem?
  4. What are the implications of the problem?
  5. What health care organization supports your project topic?
  6. What are the gaps in the existing data?
  7. What types of additional research might be useful?

After you have framed the problem, it is necessary to develop a plan that characterizes strategies for action. Strategies are the methods and guidelines used to create a plan to achieve desired goals and objectives. Well-planned strategies can make the difference between success and failure. Strategies for success include:

  1. Looking at the big picture. It’s human nature to view our world from a personal perspective. However, looking at the big picture requires us to step back and look at a larger This will give more credibility to you plan.
  2. Do your homework (be prepared for questions):
    1. Clarify your position on the problem and possible
    2. Gather data, search for clinical policies, standards of care, professional organization support, etc.
    3. Prepare documents to describe and support your
    4. Assess the power dynamics of those you are presenting
    5. Assess your own power base and ability to maneuver in any
    6. Plan a strategy and assess the strengths and
    7. Prepare for questions, push back and even
    8. Line up
    9. Know your opposition and their
  3. Identifying Individuals or groups that are directly influenced by the problem or solution are the stakeholders. In some cases, the stakeholders are obvious; however, in some cases stakeholders can be developed.
  4. Identifying resources. A successful change agent will identify all available resources. Resources include money, time, connections, and intangible resources (creative ideas).

Overall Scope of the ELP Project

Keep in mind this is a 7-week course, your project must be implemented in this time frame, keep the scale of the project doable, you will choose a global objective, this objective is what you will actually implement, in other words your project goal for the course.

A Second Solution

Your plan of action, in addition to the strategies listed above, must also present two proposed solutions. You will discuss this second solution in your final paper in week seven of the course. Typically, there is more than one solution to an identified problem, and each option differs with regards to cost, practicality, and duration. By identifying and analyzing possible solutions you will gain further understanding of the problem and what is possible for an organization, workplace, governmental agency, or professional organization to undertake. Included in your solutions should be a mode for implementation, evaluation, and sustainability of each solution.

Each of the approaches to make successful changes discussed above will be included in one or more of the Experiential Learning Project assignments:

  • Week 3: Experiential Learning Project Mentor Agreement, project topic, and objectives
  • Week 4: Experiential Learning Project Action Plan outline
  • Week 5: Experiential Learning Project Mid-term Report
  • Week 6: Experiential Learning Project Discussion Board
  • Week 7: Experiential Learning Project Culminating Paper

 

Each assignment will have individual instructions and grading rubrics. In order to obtain optimal points, it is imperative that you read the syllabus, this document, the individual assignment instructions and the grading rubric in their entirety before completing and submitting your assignments. And, as always, if you do not understand the instructions please ask.

Lastly, you can think of this project as being similar to the Nursing Process; Assess, Diagnose, Plan, Implement and Evaluate. You will be assessing your selected problem by addressing the questions that are useful in framing a problem. By selecting your QSEN competency, determining your stakeholders and resources you can diagnose the problem. The next three steps, planning, implementing, and evaluating will all be addressed in your plan of action. It is often difficult for nurses to step outside of their comfort zone. It is time for you to demonstrate your ability to synthesize and apply the knowledge and skills acquired through this academic program to real- world nursing issues and their problems!

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