Scope Statement
Mission Statement
The main purpose of the project is to increase patient wellbeing through the fashioning of modernized sepsis collaboration between healthcare professionals. Information technology and its role within a clinical setting has gradually heightened over the years, allowing both nurses, doctors, and even patients, unparalleled health care opportunities (Wyatt & Stephens, 2017). The establishment of a computerized sepsis procedure, thus, not only continues an existing trend in nursing informatics but also creates favorable circumstances for the professional growth of healthcare specialists and supportive conditions for patients’ health.
Measureable Project Objectives
For a successful evaluation of the project results, it is necessary to outline coherent and quantifiable targets. The metrics below were summarized by use of the proposed by Sipes (2016) activity aides, which are comprised of “the five “W” questions of who, what, where, when, why and an “H,” how” (p. 42). This 5 W’s and 1 H approach allowed efficiently outlining and objectifying previously undocumented project objectives, further developing the scope of the plan.
The plan will be used by and directly affect the working routine of healthcare professionals, aiding them through a reduction of paperwork creation and retrieval time in life-threatening cases. An increase in patient healthcare quality will additionally be made possible through the fashioning of a digital sepsis protocol that will facilitate communication during patient treatment between doctors, nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals.
The computerization project will be carried out within Northwell Health with affected stakeholders’ input allowing for an efficient staff-and-patient orienteered approach to a reduction in the paper trail (DuBois, Koch, Hanlon, Nyatuga, & Kerr, 2015). The duration of the undertaking will be defined per the learning outcome deadlines and with the guidance of the project manager. The cause for the project stems from the lack of a modernized sepsis protocol, as well as from the wish of a quality increase in patient well-being and staff employment satisfaction. Through the creation of accessible software and its implementation through teamwork in Northwell Health, the project will be brought to fruition.
Justification of Project
The primary goal of the project lies in the bettering of health care quality provided through the identification of complication-inducing practices within the hospital system. The time spent by nurses on paper-based documentation has been identified as detrimental to their opportunity to interact directly with the patients and subsequently aiding them in the recovery process (Clynch & Kellett, 2015). Since the treatment process includes both creation and retrieval of paperwork, the establishment of an equally available to all involved healthcare professionals computerized sepsis protocol aligns with the benefits of shared medical data (Wyatt & Stephens, 2017).
An additional advantage of digital protocol practice lies in its perceived low cost and error reducing capabilities (Forrester et al., 2014). Therefore, the project becomes not only practically sound through its benefit to patients and staff but is also supported by additional low-cost and mistake-declining advantages, efficiently tackling numerous healthcare system issues and proving its fundamentality.
Implementation Strategy
After the appropriate literature research and development of the required knowledge, the project will be put into action through group collaboration. The needed status meetings and communication lines will be established between the relevant groups, keeping in mind the need for stakeholder feedback (Sipes, 2016). This collaboration will allow for an efficient course of development for the project, with the decided group leads playing linking and overseeing roles within their respective groups.
Project Resources
The needed assets of project implementation may be divided into human and technical ones. Human resources will be required to develop software, arrange and execute appropriate staff training, as well as participate in the administration of much-needed leadership and reporting roles. Technical resources are rooted in the project requirement for the proper tools and materials to be provided to software developers, the creation of staff-available protocol platforms, and the installation of databases required for information storage.
Completion Date
The deadline of the project will be outlined through thorough consideration and discussion with the project manager, keeping in mind the pre-set due dates within the learning agreement.
Measures of Success
The project relies on two interlinked values of success evaluation, of which one is the percentage of the organization-wide successful computer-based changeover. The second prospective measurement is that of comparative sepsis treatment times before and after project implementation, which are proposed to be evaluated in time per assisted patient. These measures allow not only assessing the degree of project success but also help trace the extent of its completion following the due dates.
Assumptions
From the apperceived knowledge, it is possible to assume the positive impact of computerization on the current state of sepsis protocol. A presumed effect should be a decrease in time spent on paperwork, taking into consideration the reception of appropriate staff training beforehand (Clynch & Kellett, 2015). Circumstances of extra time, through its transfer from paper-based protocol to a faster documentation method, should affect patient health and employee job satisfaction positively.
Constraints
The scope of the project is not aimed at healthcare regulatory overhaul, despite its presentation of bureaucratic benefit; it is only transferring protocol methods to a more modernized system. SPONSOR predetermines the value of the presented computerization, providing the appropriate budget limit and through this affecting the project’s fulfillment. The project manager, following the above constraints, helps determine the proper project achievement timeframe and enacts the necessary changes in accord with any possible adjustment of the factors above.
Practicum Project Charter
Budget Information
SPONSOR will provide the budget for the project, aiding in its implementation and gradual development throughout the plan’s fulfillment. Budget planning, communication, and coordination through monitoring and evaluative practices should remain an active concern throughout the project implementation process (Cherry, 2017). Through budget allocation, it is possible to distribute the received amount between the costs of software development, data storage databases, technical equipment, and staff training.
Measureable Project Objectives
The end-users and stakeholders of the project remain health care professionals, and they will be the ones providing feedback throughout its development. The project will be aimed at developing a computer-based sepsis protocol to be implemented at Northwell Health in a period identified with the help of the lead project manager. The need for such a project arises from a lack of modernized sepsis protocol at Northwell Health, which puts patients suffering life-threatening conditions at risk due to increased documentation times. The project will be achieved via group collaboration in staff training and software development, which will permit the transfer of paper-based documentation to a computer medium.
Approach
The project will be achieved through the division of stakeholders into developmental groups that will collaborate and communicate with each other the necessary feedback and information. Appropriate leadership and team building will allow for efficient goal attainment, and group division will make sure that each team member has a clear understanding of the set goal (DuBois et al., 2015). Continuous stakeholder feedback, therefore, allows for proper project development and goal re-orienteering based on the relevant needs of healthcare professionals.
Roles and Responsibilities
- Software and database development group.
- Technical (feedback) group.
- Staff training group.
- Budget allocation and overall project management group.
Comments (from each of the stakeholders listed in the Roles and Responsibilities)
- Software and database development group.
- Technical (feedback) group.
- Staff training group.
- Budget allocation and overall project management group.
References
Cherry, B. (2017). Budgeting basics for nurses. In B. Cherry & S. Jacob (Eds.), Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management (7th ed.) (pp. 315-327). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Clynch, N., & Kellett, J. (2015). Medical documentation: Part of the solution, or part of the problem? A narrative review of the literature on the time spent on and value of medical documentation. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 84(4), 221-228. Web.
DuBois, M., Koch, J., Hanlon, J., Nyatuga, B., & Kerr, N. (2015). Leadership styles of effective project managers: Techniques and traits to lead high performance teams. Journal of Economic Development, Management, IT, Finance & Marketing, 7(1), 30-46.
Forrester, S., Hepp, Z., Roth, J., Wirtz, H., & Devine, E. (2014). Cost-effectiveness of a computerized provider order entry system in improving medication safety ambulatory care. Value in Health, 17(4), 340-349. Web.
Sipes, C. (2016). Project management for the advanced practice nurse. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.
Wyatt, T., & Stephens, T. (2017). Information technology in the clinical setting. In B. Cherry & S. Jacob (Eds.), Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management (7th ed.) (pp. 266-278). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.