REFLECTION ON THE DNP PROJECT

Blog: Lessons Learned from Project Implementation and Evaluation

The project sought to address the high incidence of medication errors at the clinical site by implementing a mandatory medication safety education for all clinical staff. The incidence of medication errors at the facility had risen significantly over the past year, resulting in preventable death, injury, and serious reputational concerns. The project pursued two objectives: to reduce the incidence of medication errors by 50 percent and to consequently, increase the patient satisfaction index by 30percent by the end of the project period. Through the project, the clinical staff were educated/trained on the eight rights of medication administration, medication error management, medication sensitivity, dose calculations, and international patient safety guidelines. However, Clarke (2011) asserts that implementing a project is a waste of time if the implementer does not take time to reflect. Hence, this blog is a reflection of the lessons learned from project implementation and evaluation, including the role of leadership in driving change and the lasting impact of the change.

The project is in its seventh week and despite facing challenges such as competition from other engagements and time limitations, all activities are within schedule. The training sessions on medication administration rights, error management, and medication sensitivity have already been completed. The plan is to cover the remaining two topics and begin the final evaluation over the next two weeks. The evaluation will take place in two phases. The first phase will assess how participants knowledge and attitudes towards medication errors and medication safety change as a result of the education program. The second phase will compare the incidence of medication errors in the current year against past years to determine whether there has been a notable change. The lasting impact of the project will be a significant reduction in the incidence of medication errors resulting from improved knowledge and attitudes towards medication safety among staff. As a result of the education program, the staff will be more open to reporting medication errors whenever they occur.

One of the crucial lessons learned from implementing the project is that proper risk management is crucial for success. Since the onset, the project team foresaw that despite there being a project plan, there was the risk that some of the staff may...…an equal opportunity to give their input on how to implement the project for maximum returns. I also encouraged the change leaders to encourage inter-disciplinary teamwork when handling group projects as part of the training. Ultimately, my efforts as a leader helped drive the change as they inspired the staff to own the common vision and understand the crucial role of other professionals in ensuring the successful operation of the healthcare operation.

Through the project, I learned that continuous monitoring and evaluation is crucial for ensuring that a project achieves its intended objectives. Regular monitoring and evaluation helps identify gaps early on in implementation, which ensures that the same are addressed before they escalate. Thus, evaluation should not take place only at the end of the project. Rather, evaluations should be done regularly on an interim basis to keep the project in line with the intended objectives. Already, the weekly evaluations conducted this far have shown a change in attitudes towards medication errors among the clinical staff. The organizations management could sustain the project moving forward by organizing annual training and capacity-building sessions to keep the staff at par with changes in medication…