Impact of Internal Factors on Development and Approval of Curriculum

APA format 2 pages long 3 references 1 from walden university library

Due 3/20/19 at 7pm

 Impact of Internal Factors on Development and Approval of Curriculum

Impact of Internal Factors

     As a bone marrow transplant (BMT) coordinator, education of our patients and their caregivers is our most important role.  When we prepare a patient for their admission for their BMT, we plan a family conference that includes discussing and signing consents as well as going over general restrictions that will be required when the patient is discharged.  As the number of autologous transplants increased for Multiple Myeloma (MM) patients, we found we had less and less time to go over educational materials.  About two years ago, we decided to develop a MM school to help rectify this problem.  This would be a once a month class (in the beginning) and patients and their caregivers would attend.

Internal Factors

     We pitched it to administration as a need justified by the increasing patient population as well as the idea that a better prepared patient and caregiver could equate to a decreased length of stay (LOS) as an inpatient.  As our first internal factor, decreasing inpatient LOS is and had been a goal of the hospital related to initiatives by CMS (CMS.gov, 2017).  We were given the go-ahead by administration.

     The second internal factor that affected if we could start the school was related to resources (Keating & DeBoor, 2018).  Having a conference room with AV equipment available once a month could be a struggle since there was always issues with lack of space.  We were able to find an appropriate room at an odd time that would be big enough for 20 or more patients and caregivers.  Having enough coordinators to teach the class was our third internal factor (Keating & DeBoor, 2018).  There were two coordinators who were willing to teach the class and I was the back-up.

     The actual curriculum was a power point presentation adapted from our BMT patient manual.  Having the visual aid was important to us to encourage interest in the material and retention of the information by the patient and caregiver (Shabiralyani et al., 2015).  We presented it to our MM physicians for input and critique and it was enthusiastically accepted.  Having the class would help the physicians – they would not have to go over basic instructions and could focus on the more complicated information.

Summary

     Internal factors that impact starting a program can be daunting.  But if the need is justified without negative implications, it can be approved quicker than may be expected.  In the case of MM school, it would be good for the patients and caregivers, good for administration and their goal, and good for the providers in giving them more time to discuss other issues with their patients.

Note:  MM school is going strong with good attendance.  It is now twice a month, with the second class being offered on Saturdays.  The curriculum is revised annually with input from patients, caregivers, social workers, and the inpatient staff.  We are now working on a poster presentation of how it was started and how well it has worked for a future nursing conference.

References

CMS.gov (2017).  Outcome Measures.  Retrieved from https://www.cms.gov/medicare/Quality-

     Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/HospitalQualityInits/outcomeMeasures.html

Keating, S.B. & DeBoor, S.S. (Ed.). (2018).  Curriculum, Development, and Evaluation in

 Nursing (4th Ed.).  New York, NY:  Springer.