You, as the DNP-prepared nurse, must lead a clinical initiative. It is your responsibility to identify key professionals, both in and outside of nursing, who will be members of your healthcare team. Detail the steps you will take to convene the team, develop the plan, initiate the plan, and evaluate the initiative. Include a budget for the clinical initiative as well as a timeline for implementation. The budget must break down the cost for key components of the proposal and the timeline should identify key benchmarks. How will you include all team members as integral parts of the team? What professional experience and qualities must they possess? Describe how you can best leverage each member’s strengths. What are some potential challenges? How will you navigate conflict that may arise due to differences in skills, knowledge, and attitudes? Explain how you would debrief with the team and include recommendations for improvement.
Nursing Dnp Essentials
Full Answer Section
Key Professionals (In and Outside of Nursing):- Nursing Professionals:
- Nurse Manager/Ward Sister (Maternity/Operating Theatre): Oversees daily operations, manages nursing staff, and understands existing workflows and challenges. Essential for practical implementation and staff adherence.
- Operating Theatre Nurses/Midwives: Directly involved in C-sections, understand sterile technique, instrument handling, and intraoperative patient care. Critical for implementing intraoperative bundle components.
- Maternity Ward Nurses/Midwives: Provide post-operative care, conduct wound assessments, and educate patients. Crucial for post-operative wound care and early detection of SSIs.
- Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Nurse: Specialized knowledge in epidemiology, surveillance, and best practices for infection prevention. Will guide evidence-based strategies and monitoring.
- Medical Professionals:
- Obstetrician/Gynecologist (Senior Consultant/Head of Department): Clinical lead, provides medical authority and expertise in C-section procedures, surgical techniques, and patient management. Essential for medical buy-in and practice change.
- Anesthesiologist: Manages patient stability during surgery, including pre-operative assessments that impact SSI risk (e.g., blood glucose control, oxygenation).
- Pharmacist: Expertise in antibiotic prophylaxis, drug availability, and resistance patterns. Critical for optimizing antimicrobial stewardship.
- Allied Health Professionals:
- Public Health Officer/Community Health Worker Representative: Provides insights into community health needs, patient adherence post-discharge, and cultural considerations. Important for patient education and follow-up.
- Laboratory Technologist/Microbiologist: Essential for identifying causative organisms of SSIs, conducting antibiotic sensitivity testing, and informing surveillance.
- Administrative/Support Staff:
- Hospital Administrator/Medical Superintendent: Critical for resource allocation, policy implementation, and addressing systemic barriers. Provides high-level support and approval.
- Procurement Officer: Manages supply chain, ensuring availability of necessary materials (e.g., sterile drapes, gloves, antiseptics, appropriate sutures).
- Data Entry Clerk/IT Support: Vital for data collection, management, and analysis, particularly for tracking SSI rates.
2. Steps to Convene the Team, Develop, Initiate, and Evaluate the Plan
Phase 1: Convening the Team (Weeks 1-2)- Initial Stakeholder Mapping and Outreach: Identify key decision-makers and potential team members. Conduct individual meetings with department heads (Obstetrics, Nursing, Pharmacy, Administration) to introduce the initiative's scope and secure their support and nominations for team members.
- Formal Invitation and Charter Development: Send formal invitations to identified team members, outlining the initiative's purpose, expected commitment, and initial meeting agenda. Draft a preliminary team charter outlining roles, responsibilities, communication protocols, and decision-making processes.
- Kick-off Meeting:
- Purpose: Establish a shared understanding of the problem (high C-section SSI rates), present the current evidence, and articulate the initiative's goals.
- Activities: Introductions, review of preliminary data (if available), presentation on the global and local burden of SSIs, discussion of the proposed PICO question, and initial brainstorming on potential interventions.
- Goal: Foster a sense of urgency, collective ownership, and commitment to the initiative. Begin to finalize the team charter.
- Baseline Data Collection and Analysis: Work with the IPC nurse and data entry clerk to systematically collect retrospective data on C-section SSI rates, contributing factors, current practices, and resource availability. This will establish a clear baseline and identify specific areas for intervention.
- Evidence Review and Adaptation: Conduct a thorough review of current evidence-based guidelines for SSI prevention (e.g., WHO guidelines, CDC recommendations), specifically focusing on those applicable to low-resource settings.
- Intervention Bundle Development (Multidisciplinary Workshops):
- Organize focused workshops with relevant team members (e.g., theatre nurses, obstetricians, pharmacists) to design the specific SSI prevention bundle components. This might include:
- Standardized pre-operative skin preparation.
- Optimized antibiotic prophylaxis protocols (type, timing, dosage).
- Enhanced sterile draping and instrument handling.
- Standardized wound closure techniques.
- Post-operative wound care protocols and patient education.
- Organize focused workshops with relevant team members (e.g., theatre nurses, obstetricians, pharmacists) to design the specific SSI prevention bundle components. This might include:
Sample Answer
The DNP-prepared nurse is uniquely positioned to lead complex clinical initiatives due to their advanced knowledge in evidence-based practice, leadership, and systems thinking. For an initiative focused on reducing Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) after C-sections in low-resource settings, a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach is essential.