Capstone Project Topic Selection and Approval

Capstone Project Topic Selection and Approval

When I met with my mentor at my practicum site, we worked together to solve a problem that the facility was experiencing, which was nurse turnover. My practicum location is a long-term or rehabilitation care facility that is mostly occupied by geriatric patients aged 65 and up. Nurse turnover is one of the most serious issues that many organizations face due to the work environment, staffing issues, or higher pay at another facility. However, because of the poor working environment and insufficient staffing, this facility has a difficult time retaining nurses.

Setting

As previously stated, my practicum placement will be at a long-term care or rehabilitation facility. This long-term care or rehabilitation center has a capacity of 99 residents but currently has 92 residents aged 65 and up. With that said, high turnover rates in long-term care or rehabilitation center can lead to ineffective operations and poor patient outcomes (Black, 2015).

Description of the Problem

Many nurses intend to seek new employment with an employer who can provide a pleasant working environment. Many nurses at this facility have stated that they work under a great deal of stress due to a shortage of nurses and a heavier workload (Foster,2015). These nurses reported fatigue and burnout as a result of having to stay late to finish unfinished work or work extra hours to ensure patient care.

Furthermore, the nurses reported a lack of necessary equipment or resources to perform tasks, a lack of a specific role and autonomy, and no management support (Jones, 2014).

The Problem’s Impact and Significance

When nurses are unable to perform to the full extent of their practice, patient care and outcomes appear to suffer. Nurse satisfaction declines in tandem with their performance, contributing to the poor working environment (Data, 2013). This issue is significant to nursing because nursing promotes quality patient care and improves patient outcomes.

Problem-Solving Proposal

This problem’s proposed solution is to recruit and retrain nurses. The facility has created an incentive to recruit nurses by offering a sign-on bonus. A sign-on bonus, on the other hand, does not guarantee that a nurse will stay with the facility or organization to which they have committed. Another solution for reducing nurse turnover is for managers to participate in management or leadership skills training to better support and lead staff (Maas, 20145), as well as an adequate nurse-to-patient ratio to reduce nurse workload ( Sookyung, 2008).

Reference

Black, P. (2015). DEVELOPING AN ENHANCED PERSPECTIVE OF TURNOVER AND RETENTION OF NURSES AND HEALTH CARE AIDES IN LONG-TERM CARE HOMES. Perspectives: The Journal Of The Gerontological Nursing Association, 38(2), 25-30.

Sookyung, H., Bakken, S., Douglas, K., & Stone, P. W. (2008). Evidence-Based Staffing: Potential Roles for Informatics. Nursing Economic$, 26(3), 151-173.

Adams, Susan Louisa. 2016. “Influences of Turnover, Retention, and Job Embeddedness in Nursing Workforce Literature.” Online Journal Of Rural Nursing & Health Care 16, no. 2: 168-195. CINAHL Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed July 30, 2018).

Foster, S. (2015). Setting our sights on a Pathway to practice improvement. British Journal Of Nursing, 24(20), 1043. doi:10.12968/bjon.2015.24.20.1043

Nelson, I. E. (2017). Nurse Manager Perceptions of Work Overload and Strategies to Address It. Nurse Leader, 15406-408. doi:10.1016/j.mnl.2017.09.009

Maas, M. L., Specht, J. P., Buckwalter, K. C., Gittler, J., & Bechen, K. (2015). Nursing Home Staffing and Training Recommendations for Promoting Older Adults’ Quality of Care and Life Part 2. Increasing Nurse Staffing and Training. Research In Gerontological Nursing, 1(2), 134-152.

DATA BITS. Does Shift Length Affect Patient Outcomes and Nurse Satisfaction? (2013). Kentucky Nurse, 61(4), 3.

Jones, T. L., Murry, N., & Hamilton, P. (2013). Unfinished nursing care missed care, and implicitly rationed care: State of the science review. International Journal Of Nursing Studies, 52(6), 1121-1137.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

---

In collaboration with your approved course mentor, you will identify a specific evidence-based practice proposal topic for the capstone project. Consider the clinical environment in which you are currently working or have recently worked. The capstone project topic can be a clinical practice problem, an organizational issue, a quality improvement suggestion, a leadership initiative, or an educational need appropriate to your area of interest as well as your practice immersion (practicum) setting. Examples of the integration of community health, leadership, and EBP can be found on the “Educational and Community-Based Programs” page of the Healthy People 2020 website.

Write a 500-750 word description of your proposed capstone project topic. Make sure to include the following:

1. The problem, issue, suggestion, initiative, or educational need that will be the focus of the project
2. The setting or context in which the problem, issue, suggestion, initiative, or educational need can be observed.
3. A description providing a high level of detail regarding the problem, issue, suggestion, initiative, or educational need.
4. Impact of the problem, issue, suggestion, initiative, or educational need on the work environment, the quality of care provided by staff, and patient outcomes.
5. Significance of the problem, issue, suggestion, initiative, or educational need and its implications to nursing.
6. A proposed solution to the identified project topic

You are required to retrieve and assess a minimum of 8 peer-reviewed articles. Plan your time accordingly to complete this assignment.

· Explains the setting and/or context in which the nursing problem, issue, suggestion, initiative, or educational need is observed.

Explains the problem, issue,   suggestion, initiative, or educational need.

Describes the impact of the project topic on a) the work environment, b) the quality of care provision, and c)   patient outcomes.

Discusses the significance of and the implications to the nursing profession.

· Proposes a solution to the identified project topic.

· Identified   components of PICOT:

P – Population of   Focus

I – Intervention

C – Comparison

O – Outcome

(T – Time)