Defining a Project and Deciding to Do a Project
This project deals with evaluating the effectiveness of the SimMan use in nursing education. SimMan is a human patient simulator developed by Laerdal Medical Corp. It consists of computer software and a mannequin which presents “a lifelike adult or pediatric body that includes cardiovascular, pulmonary, and other systems that respond automatically to a user’s interventions and to the environment” (Soper, Swanström, Eubanks, 2008, p. 61).
SimMan also has “preprogrammed verbal responses, his chest rises and falls, and he demonstrates a variety of physiologic conditions including trismus, tongue edema and decreased cervical range of motion” (Jatm, Kramar, & Županič, 2007, p. 717). This simulator allows making simulation scenarios more realistic and contributes greatly into educating medical students (Nehring & Lashley, 2009). The decision to do namely this project is based on the fact that little research has been done to prove the effectiveness of the SimMan and, correspondingly, to justify the costs which the implementation of the simulation involves (Waters, 2007). The project will be performed in five major phases: initiation, planning, execution, control, and closing (Houston and Bove, 2007).
Getting Project Approval
First of all, the project will have to be approved by the project coordinator who will decide whether the project pays the cost and whether its implementation is possible. If the project is improved by the coordinator, it will be submitted to the National Institute of Health for further approval. The National Institute of Health funds health programs this is why getting the approval of this institution is critical for the future implementation of the project.
Project Objective
The objective of this project is to demonstrate the improvement of the students’ knowledge and, in particular, practical skills acquired after the SimMan use during the classes. Apart from this, the use of the human patient simulation is expected to improve the students’ computer skills and facilitate their acquisition of computer programs. This project is going to show that the students’ confidence in their actions grows with the fear during the performance of medical procedures getting eliminated. The group of students taking part in the project will learn to perform surgical and needle cricothyrotomy, as well as chest tube insertion, the procedures which, as a rule, require the presence of one or two instructors in case they are performed by a student for the first time on a patient (Greek, 2004).
Building the Project Team
The project team is going to include the following people:
- ten students of the same level of knowledge (preferably sophomores)
- three instructors
- one person specializing in the use of human patient simulators who will teach the students using the basic computer software needed to work with the SimMan
The students will be selected randomly on the basis of their first year examination results. The instructors will guide and assess the students in the course of the project implementation.
Project Plan Overview
The project is going to consist of the following stages:
- selecting the students who will participate in the project
- evaluating the students’ knowledge and skills before the implementation of the project (including the computer skills)
- basic introduction of how to use the new technology (due to some of them being not familiar with the computers) (Hebda, & Czar, 2009)
- replacing the students unable to take part in the project
- getting approval for carrying out the project
- scheduling the classes
- conducting the classes
- assessing the results and stating whether the objectives have been met
The project will also include timelines, projected costs, risk assessment, and future recommendations.
Project Performance Plan
The implementation of the plan is going to take place in five major stages. The first stage is lecturing the students on medical procedures mentioned above. This may include special visual aids (possibly video recordings). The second stage is lecturing the students on the use of the human patient simulator (SimMan). These two stages will outline the scope for the following practical classes.
First, the students will try to practice on the old simulators (non-computerized) and their readiness for the practice on real patients will be evaluated. Then, SimMan will be used at the classes with the results being recorded correspondingly. After the completion of the project, the results will be carefully evaluated and contrasted. This will show whether the use of the simulator was successful. Comparing the time spent for teaching the students the procedures in question also seems logical. Hypothetically, the classes with the use of the simulator will take less time.
Work Breakdown Structure
The structure of the project is quite simple, though all the details need to be thought through carefully. There are three primary elements of the project, namely, instructors, students, and resources with the success of the project depending on the performance of each element. The instructors are required to perform a number of tasks and activities with respect to five major stages of the project. They have to design timelines and schedule the activities in accordance with them.
Students, in their turn, have to regularly attend the classes in order to build their knowledge in both medicine and informatics since using the information technologies in nursing helps to make the healthcare system effective and efficient (Yoder-Wise, 2003). Finally, the project manager should guarantee the students’ and instructors’ access to resources, as well as fast-processing computer equipment to store and assess necessary data (Lundy, 2005).
Resource Plan
The resources needed for the implementation of the project are people and equipment. The simulation testing is going to require a project team consisting of four instructors (three for lecturing, carrying out practical classes, and assessing the students and one specializing in the use of a particular human patient simulator), ten students, and a project manager. Apart from this, the project will demand certain facilities.
High-technology equipment is necessary for training the students because later they will have to use it during their future jobs (Rice, 2005). The students will also need touch-screen monitors that go in a set with the stimulator, SimMan, which is an integral part of the project. The project implementation will also require software programs designed specially for the SimMan and different medical facilities which the students will use for performing medical procedures.
Project Schedule
The project schedule of this project is based on five major stages. The project schedule is expected to have “the critical milestones and deadlines highlighted, including those tasks or activities that must be completed before another task may begin” (Silvers, 2004, p. 50).
The schedule for the project in question consists of such elements as activities (with respect to initiation, planning, execution, control, and closing stages) and duration of these activities including start date and end date. Generally, project schedules are created with the help of the network diagram or a Gantt chart (Satzinger, Jackson, & Burd, 2008). In case with this project, Gantt chart is the most convenient to use because it allows identifying which tasks overlap and controlling their duration (Marmel, 2006), thus, facilitating their performance and helping to schedule the activities properly.
Project Budget
The budget for this project has been developed basing on labor and resources which it required. As soon as the main tasks have been identified, the amount of time which these tasks demanded was multiplied by labor rates with the labor budget being calculated (Lewis, 2005). Total expenses for personnel recruitment are about $1,600 for the entire period of time. Project expenses with regards to resources have been also calculated. The total sum for project expenses is $31,500. Thus, in general, the project is going to take around $33,000. These are preliminary calculations and the sum which the project is going to require in reality may be bigger.
Procurement Plan
The procurement of the resources which this plan demands is going to be performed in several steps. The first step is formal bid. This concerns both labor and product resources. Another step is purchase procedures. The SimMan simulator has to be ordered prior to the practical classes (desirably a month) and delivered no later than within two weeks. This is why ordering the product should take place right after getting approval for the project. The methods of delivery, as well as timeframes, should be discussed with the suppliers in advance.
Risk Management
The Risk Management Plan outlines main risk which the implementation of the project may face. It should include such components as Risk Identification, Risk Quantification, Risk Response, and Risk Control (Farkas, 2009). There are three main risks for this project. Firstly, the knowledge of the students selected for the project may be insufficient. Secondly, the simulator may be unavailable. And, thirdly, the simulator may get broken. These risks are of medium, low, and critical categories, respectively. They can be managed and controlled this is why they are not of great threat to the project.
Communications Plan
A Communication Plan for this project presents a “written strategy for getting the right information to the right people at the right time” (Verzuh, 2005, p. 62). This plan outlines other plans within this project (Project Plan, Resource Plan, Project Schedule, Work Breakdown Structure, Risk Management Plan, and Project Budget) which should be shaped in a form of the documents. It provides explanations for each of the plans, identifies the recipient(s) of the plans, and states how often each of the documents is expected to be reviewed.
Quality Management
The quality of the project can be achieved through distributing tasks according to the roles in implementing the project. These roles are project manager and team members (which are further subdivided into instructors and student group leaders). Each of these groups has definite responsibilities and quality objectives to fulfill. Apart from these, they are using different tools for measuring the project quality (for instance, observations and testing for project manager, assessments and keeping records for the instructors, and writing reports on the students’ progress for the student group leaders).
Project Control
The implementation of this project should be controlled by the Project Manager. Apart from presenting the concept of the project and getting approval for its implementation, the Project Manager is expected to guide the whole process of the SimMan simulator application in the classroom. His/her main tasks consist in labor force management (hiring the instructors, assigning payments, etc), controlling the budget of the project, evaluating reports on the project implementation, approving/disapproving the changes introduced into the project plans, and the like responsibilities.
Project Closeout
The project close-out will be marked by submitting the evaluation report which is going to state whether the project objectives have been met. It will also include disbursing of all the resources used in the course of the project and completing project records. If all the plans which this project consists of are carefully followed, the results will be satisfactory and the project will show that the use of the SimMan simulator can indeed be beneficial in nursing education.
Reference List
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Hebda, T., & Czar, P. (2009). Handbook of Informatics for Nurses & Healthcare Professionals (4th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Jarm, T., Kramar, P., & Županič, A. (2007). 11th Mediterranean Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing 2007. London: Springer.
Lewis, J.P. (2005). Project planning, scheduling, and control: a hands-on guide to bringing projects in on time and on budget. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional.
Lundy, K.S. (2005). Community health nursing: caring for the public’s health. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
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Waters, J. (2007). A model patient; Noelle’s real health issues test medical skills. The Washington Times, p. B01.
Yoder-Wise, P.S. (2003). Leading and managing in nursing. Amsterdam: Elsevier Health Sciences.