NURS-FPX4010 Assessment 2 Interview and Interdisciplinary Issue Identification
INSTRUCTIONS
For this assessment, you will create a 2–4 page report on an interview you have conducted with a health care professional. You will identify an issue from the interview that could be improved with an interdisciplinary approach, and review best practices and evidence to address the issue.
INTRODUCTION
As a baccalaureate-prepared nurse, your participation and leadership in interdisciplinary teams will be vital to the health outcomes for your patients and organization. One way to approach designing an improvement project is to use the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement describes it thus:
The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle is shorthand for testing a change in the real work setting—by planning it, trying it, observing the results, and acting on what is learned. This is the scientific method adapted for action-oriented learning…Essentially, the PDSA cycle helps you test out change ideas on a smaller scale before evaluating the results and making adjustments before potentially launching into a somewhat larger scale project (n.d.).
You might also recognize that the PDSA cycle resembles the nursing process. The benefit of gaining experience with this model of project design is that it provides nurses with an opportunity to ideate and lead improvements. For this assessment, you will not be implementing all of the PDSA cycle. Instead, you are being asked to interview a health care professional of your choice to determine what kind of interdisciplinary problem he or she is experiencing or has experienced in the workplace. This interview, in Assessment 2, will inform the research that you will conduct to propose a plan for interdisciplinary collaboration in Assessment 3.
It would be an excellent choice to complete the PDSA Cycle activity prior to developing the report. The activity consists of four questions that create the opportunity to check your understanding of best practices related to each stage of the PDSA cycle. The information gained from completing this formative will promote your success with the Interview and Interdisciplinary Issue Identification report. This will take just a few minutes of your time and is not graded.
Reference
Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (n.d.). How to improve. http://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/HowtoImprove/default.aspx
Demonstration of Proficiency
• Competency 2: Explain how interdisciplinary collaboration can be used to achieve desired patient and systems outcomes.
o Summarize an interview focused on past or current issues at a health care organization.
o Describe collaboration approaches from the literature that could be relevant in establishing or improving an interdisciplinary team to address an organizational issue.
• Competency 3: Describe ways to incorporate evidence-based practice within an interdisciplinary team.
o Identify an issue from an interview for which an evidence-based interdisciplinary approach would be appropriate.
• Competency 4: Explain how change management theories and leadership strategies can enable interdisciplinary teams to achieve specific organizational goals.
o Describe change theories and a leadership strategy that could help develop an interdisciplinary solution to an organizational issue.
• Competency 5: Apply professional, scholarly, evidence-based communication strategies to impact patient, interdisciplinary team, and systems outcomes.
o Organize content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions; contains few errors in grammar/punctuation, word choice, and spelling.
o Apply APA formatting to in-text citations and references, exhibiting nearly flawless adherence to APA format.
Professional Context
This assessment will introduce the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Model to create change in an organization. By interviewing a colleague of your choice, you will begin gathering information about an interprofessional collaboration problem that your colleague is experiencing or has experienced. You will identify a change theory and leadership strategies to help solve this problem.
Scenario
This assessment is the first of three related assessments in which you will gather interview information (Assessment 2); design a proposal for interdisciplinary problem-solving, (Assessment 3); and report on how an interdisciplinary improvement plan could be implemented in a place of practice (Assessment 4). At the end of the course, your interviewee will have a proposal plan based on the PDSA cycle that he or she could present to stakeholders to address an interdisciplinary problem in the workplace.
For this assessment, you will need to interview a health care professional such as a fellow learner, nursing colleague, administrator, business partner, or another appropriate person who could provide you with sufficient information regarding an organizational problem that he or she is experiencing or has experienced, or an area where they are seeking improvements. Consult the Interview Guide [DOCX] Download Interview Guide [DOCX]for an outline of how to prepare and the types of information you will need to complete this project successfully.
Remember: this is just the first in a series of three assessments.
Instructions
For this assessment, you will report on the information that you collected in your interview, analyzing the interview data and identifying a past or current issue that would benefit from an interdisciplinary approach. This could be an issue that has not been addressed by an interdisciplinary approach or one that could benefit from improvements related to the interdisciplinary approach currently being used. You will discuss the interview strategy that you used to collect information. Your interview strategy should be supported by citations from the literature. Additionally, you will start laying the foundation for your Interdisciplinary Plan Proposal (Assessment 3) by researching potential change theories, leadership strategies, and collaboration approaches that could be relevant to issue you have identified. Please be certain to review the scoring guide to confirm specific required elements of this assessment. Note that there are differences between basic, proficient and distinguished scores.
When submitting your plan, use the Interview and Issue Identification Template [DOCX], Download Interview and Issue Identification Template [DOCX],which will help you to stay organized and concise. As you complete the template, make sure you use APA format for in-text citations for the evidence and best practices that are informing your plan, as well as for the reference list at the end.
Additionally, be sure to address the following, which corresponds to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Please study the scoring guide carefully so you understand what is needed for a distinguished score.
• Summarize an interview focused on past or current issues at a health care organization.
• Identify an issue from an interview for which an evidence-based interdisciplinary approach would be appropriate.
• Describe potential change theories and leadership strategies that could inform an interdisciplinary solution to an organizational issue.
• Describe collaboration approaches from the literature that could facilitate establishing or improving an interdisciplinary team to address an organizational issue.
• Communicate with writing that is clear, logically organized, and professional, with correct grammar and spelling, and using current APA style.
Additional Requirements
• Length of submission: Use the provided template. Most submissions will be 2–4 pages in length. Be sure to include a reference page at the end of the plan.
• Number of references: Cite a minimum of 3 sources of scholarly or professional evidence that support your central ideas. Resources should be no more than 5 years old.
• APA formatting: Make sure that in-text citations and reference list follow current APA style.
Portfolio Prompt: Remember to save the final assessment to your ePortfolio so that you may refer to it as you complete the final Capstone course.
Scoring Guide
Use the scoring guide to understand how your assessment will be evaluated.
View Scoring Guide
RESOURCES
Use the resources linked below to help complete this assessment.
• Byrne, D. (2017). Data collection: How do I collect data using interviews? Project Planner, 1–11.
o This resource provides an overview of interview methods and tips to collect the type of data you are seeking.
• Knight, R. (2016). How to get the most out of an informational interview. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 2–7.
o This article provides tips on how to best use interview time to get necessary information.
Evidence-Based Practice
• Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing & Health Sciences.
o This guide from the Capella University Library addresses basic EBP principles and collects resources and links for learning about EBP in greater depth.
• Building competencies for nursing practice: Closing the QSEN-to-practice gap. (2020). ANA-New York Nurse, 4(4), 8–10.
o This article describes an educational experience for nursing students and new nurse graduates in researching and applying QSEN standards to practice.
• Duffy, J. R., Culp, S., Marchessault, P., & Olmsted, K. (2020). Longitudinal comparison of hospital nurses’ values, knowledge, and implementation of evidence-based practice. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 51(5), 209–214.
o This article evaluates whether an EBP educational program sustained the nurses’ value and knowledge and application of EBP in care delivery.
Plan-Do-Study-Act Model
• Backhouse, A., & Ogunlayi, F. (2020). Quality improvement into practice. BMJ: British Medical Journal (Online), 368.
• McNicholas, C., Lennox, L., Woodcock, T., Bell, D., & Reed, J. E. (2019). Evolving quality improvement support strategies to improve plan–do–study–act cycle fidelity: A retrospective mixed-methods study. BMJ Quality & Safety, 28(5), 356–365.
o This article summarizes support strategies to improve the PDSA cycle fidelity.
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (n.d.). How to improve. http://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/HowtoImprove/default.aspx
o This website provides an overview of the PDSA cycle and resources related to using it to drive improvement and change.
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (n.d.). QI games: Learn how to use the PDSA cycles by spinning coins [Video]. http://www.ihi.org/education/IHIOpenSchool/resources/Pages/AudioandVideo/QI-Games-Learn-How-to-Use-PDSA-Cycles-by-Spinning-Coins.aspx
o This video walks you through a simplified PDSA cycle.
Collaboration, Interprofessional, and Leadership Models
Collaboration and Leadership
• Dyess, S. M., Sherman, R. O., Pratt, B. A., & Chiang-Hanisko, L. (2016). Growing nurse leaders: Their perspectives on nursing leadership and today’s practice environment. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 21(1), 1–11. http://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-21-2016/No1-Jan-2016/Articles-Previous-Topics/Growing-Nurse-Leaders.html
o This study presents findings related to the current development of new nurse leaders, and the perspective of new and developing nurse leaders.
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (n.d.). Transforming care at the bedside: Empowering better nursing care [Video] | Transcript. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CtXFdITU8w
o Run time: 4:48.
o This video shows a leadership and change project at a hospital.
Interprofessional Collaboration
• Varagona, L., Nandan, M., Hooks, D., Porter, K. J., Maguire, M. B., Slater-Moody, J. (2017). A model to guide the evolution of a multiprofessional group into an interprofessional team. The Journal of Faculty Development, 31(2), 49–56.
o This article focuses on an educational context but provides a good example of ways to bring a group together into an interprofessional team.
• Ellenbecker, C., & Edward, J. (2016). Conducting nursing research to advance and inform health policy. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 17(4), 208–217.
o This article discusses how nurses should conduct research to have an impact on health care policies.
• Schot, E., Tummers, L., & Noordegraaf, M. (2020). Working on working together: A systematic review on how healthcare professionals contribute to interprofessional collaboration. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 34(3), 332–342.
o This article presents metadata on strategies to promote interprofessional collaboration
____________________________
Improving Interprofessional Collaboration through Evidence-Based Models
Healthcare systems face numerous complex challenges that require coordinated, collaborative efforts across disciplines to address effectively. One such issue that could benefit from an interdisciplinary approach is navigating today’s volatile practice environments, as identified through interviews with new nurse leaders by Dyess et al. (2016). Their study offered insightful perspectives on the difficulties of maintaining consistency and clear communication within healthcare teams. Developing interprofessional collaboration structures grounded in evidence-based models may help overcome such barriers.
The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle is a well-established quality improvement framework that can guide the establishment and evaluation of collaborative initiatives (Backhouse & Ogunlayi, 2020; McNicholas et al., 2020). Its iterative process of planning, implementing, observing outcomes, and refining strategies based on learnings allows for continuous improvement. Implementing PDSA cycles when developing new interprofessional teams could help address issues, test solutions, and refine approaches to better meet the needs of all stakeholders over time (Institute for Healthcare Improvement, n.d.).
Several models also provide useful guidance for transitioning groups of healthcare professionals into cohesive, collaborative teams. Varagona et al. (2017) outline a stepwise approach involving establishing shared purpose and values, defining team member roles and responsibilities, developing communication structures, and fostering mutual understanding and trust between disciplines. Similarly, the Transforming Care at the Bedside video exemplifies how empowering frontline staff, fostering leadership support, and implementing change projects can strengthen interprofessional collaboration (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, n.d.).
Continuing to explore evidence-based strategies is important to establish sustainable collaborative practices. Gathering input from multiple disciplines and perspectives will help ensure proposed solutions account for all stakeholders’ needs. With application of models like PDSA cycles and the Varagona framework, interprofessional teams may be better equipped to address complex issues like practice environment volatility. Further research evaluating such approaches could add to the body of evidence on effectively developing collaborative team-based care models.
