Sample Essay On Project Implementation: Facilitators And Challenges

The support of the correctional facility’s chief nurse, nurse educator, and senior nurses has spurred project implementation. It validates what is often stated in the literature that getting the go signal from leaders or management as well as their commitment to resolving the issue at hand is essential to implementation (Slimmer, 2012). That the chief nurse welcomed the initiative, is following up on progress, and can be approached when there are hiccups encountered are indications of such support.
Some senior nurses who know the facility, the correctional nursing role, and the organization best have also been the most open to the project, and they became my sources of insider information. This reminded me how the input of nurses in direct care should not be ignored during project planning (Suplee & Gardner, 2009). They helped tailor the project into one that fit their particular context and needs thus ensuring a relevant and appropriate solution to reducing turnover. Their knowledge and experience as well as their support lent legitimacy to the initiative and promoted buy in by the other members of the staff. Their enthusiasm is also infectious and continues to be one of my motivations.
On my part, good time management is also a facilitator. Sticking to my timeline and daily schedule of activities - although flexibility is necessary when unexpected events take place - has reduced my anxiety on my ability to complete the project on time. It has also allowed me to meet priorities in my work and family life which were major concerns I had at the beginning. Moreover, achieving work-life balance has increased my confidence in my own abilities and personal satisfaction with how everything is going. Time management is allowing me to optimize my learning through the project because allotting time to do things reduces family and social pressures that can be distracting.
There are challenges as well. One is adapting to unexpected events. Despite the project being accepted and supported, it is not top priority in the sense that when an emergency meeting is called by the chief nurse and the staff are required to attend but a meeting related to the project is also scheduled at the same time, adjustments would need to be made to the project timeline. The meeting would need to be rescheduled which would also call for adjustments in subsequent activities. This is not always straightforward. In addition, the mentorship training curriculum and materials also became the third priority of the nurse educator down from second because of an added workload which caused two weeks delay in several activities.
Another challenge is the lack of buy-in from some of the junior staff that is well documented in the literature (Borkowski, 2009). That senior management did not approve the addition of three more staff nursing positions seemed to have contributed to low morale. While the staff members are committed to providing adequate and effective care in the most humane manner, they felt that the punitive culture in the correctional facility continues with sufficient nursing care for health promotion, disease prevention, and acute care not a top priority. Demoralization contributed to low expressed commitment to alternative solutions such as mentorship. While skills in nursing advocacy for culture change were needed, it was not within the scope of the project. Dealing with demoralization required building awareness of the feasibility and necessity of the project and how it will help ease staffing problems.
Last, another challenge was documenting the minutes of meetings. Minutes are important because as instruments, they capture the ideas presented, concerns voiced out, and decisions made by the team (Smith, 2013). Presiding and documenting at the same time slowed down the flow of meetings and were distracting but developing and printing attendance forms and taking short notes of key words during the meeting and then writing up the minutes immediately after helped me in keeping accurate and complete records. Minutes helped in monitoring tasks, activities, and project progress.

References

Borkowski, N. (2009). Organizational behavior in healthcare (2nd ed.). Massachusetts, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Slimmer, L. (2012). A teaching mentorship program to facilitate excellence in teaching and learning. Journal of Professional Nursing, 28(3), 182-185. doi:10.1016/j.profnurs.2011.11.006.
Smith, L. (2013). Documenting the minutes at professional meetings. Nursing Management, 44(3), 48-51. doi: 10.1097/01.NUMA.0000427898.70872.21.
Suplee, P. D., & Gardner, M. (2009). Fostering a smooth transition to the faculty role. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 40(11), 514-520. doi:10.3928/00220124-20091023-09.