Understanding what kind of expected results one should expect in their upcoming practicum project is crucial for its successful launch, implementation, completion, and post-analysis. According to Garcia-Dia (2019), this is one of the ways of how “the team can determine if it is worth continuing the project” (p. 93). The practicum project at the Atrium Hospital has several different goals, with three key and most significant ones. These include successfully migrating data from an old software to a new one, training medical facility staff to interact with EPIC systems programs, and knowledge gaining of project management within a healthcare setting. Therefore, when discussing the topic of expected results, it can be divided into two categories, anticipated results about the Atrium Hospital functioning and those related to acquired professional knowledge and skills by the innovation team.
Among the expected outcomes of the first category, the improved performance of the Atrium Hospital is one of the paramount. Another one is the successful and effective training of the staff and administration of the health care facility on how to operate the new EPIC software. The smooth migration of medical data, especially those collected and stored via IV pumps, is also a major anticipated result. It is also those expectations that can be called external or objective because they can be measured and proven.
As mentioned above, the second category of expected outcomes consists of those related to personal development as a management professional in the health industry. Simply put, it is about the positive impact that “actual experience in public health practice” leaves on students (Staff Writers, 2022, para. 2). These include novel acquired theoretical knowledge and better organizational, implementation, innovation and communication skills. Improvements in data collection methods, analytical approach, and research conducting are considered here as expected outcomes as well.
The completion criteria for this project may initially seem vague, both as independent metrics and in relation to the announced estimated project deliverables. They consist of the goals that the Atrium Hospital wants to achieve, the various software innovations that need to be implemented, and the training and knowledge that medical workers and managers should receive. However, all of them must be taken into account since these criteria are interrelated and interdependent metrics. Organizational goals determine which employees will make up the hospital staff, as well as the qualifications and competencies of superiors determine the path that the organization must follow. Their knowledge also determines what technical and digital innovations will be implemented in the system and how effectively they will be applied. The vision of organizational leaders must be included so that the project team understands “what they did correctly and the areas where they can improve” (Indeed Editorial Team, 2022, para. 10). Both deliverables and the interdependence of indicative factors explain a wide pool of criteria.
The list of tasks and deliverables is wide, as projects that involve the transition of personnel to new software and data migration in such a high-tech industry as healthcare are very time-consuming processes. Selected completion criteria cover all announced tasks, from identifying needs to developing educational materials. It can be said that they were developed taking into account the scale of the project for updating the software at the Atrium Hospital; yet these remain within the specific, thematic framework of project management in nursing.
References
Garcia-Dia, M. J. (Ed.). (2019). Project management in nursing informatics. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.
Indeed Editorial Team. (2022). Project management in healthcare: Definition and stages. Web.
Staff Writers. (2022). 5 benefits of completing a public health practicum. Web.