Milestone #1 Reflection:
On 2/6/2019 I pitched my project idea to Dr. Correia. We met virtually, I pitched my project using storytelling as my presentation platform.
The pitch I gave to Dr. Correia was successful. I used the knowledge I acquired through participation in the MLT program in my pitch. I described the client and her initial request for education. I outlined my plan for the needs analysis and the learner try-out. Following this, I listed the initial learning goals and described the instructional design model I planned to use to create the learning platform. The research I have completed that supports the use of the planned platform to meet the learners’ needs was also reviewed.
I was excited that Dr. Correia approved the idea for my practicum project because this is a problem I have been wanting to address for some time. The Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital (The James) is a Magnet Recognized hospital. This designation recognizes a hospital’s commitment to the promotion of nursing excellence. One of the ways nursing excellence is demonstrated is through involvement in professional development activities. The James demonstrates it’s support for their nurses’ professional development through pay raises for Clinical Ladder participation and specialty certification. Participation in a journal club is a professional development activity that can be applied to clinical ladder and certification application and maintenance. The ambulatory nurses of The James work on oncology disease line specific units in different locations. Due to the needs of their clinics, the nurses are often unable to leave their units to meet. They also work varying hours making it difficult for them to find a common time to meet either in-person or via an asynchronous meeting application. The creation of an online learning platform that instructs the nurses on how to participate in an online journal club and how to apply journal club participation to clinical ladder and specialty certification is needed. The platform will also serve to house the online journal club providing the opportunity to build a community of nurses sharing their knowledge and experiences to enhance the knowledge of the group.
The pitch I made could have been improved. At the time of the pitch I had never tried to create or use an online journal club. Due to this lack of experience, I was unable to answer some of Dr. Correia’s questions about creation and implementation of the website. I should have practiced with the platform more prior to my meeting with Dr. Correia. I also did not come to the meeting prepared to share the survey questions I wrote to send to the nurses to confirm the goals of the project.
Dr. Correia stated that the planned website can not just be a platform for a journal club but must also be a learning tool. We discussed accomplishing this by adding tutorials. Some of the tutorials we discussed adding are on how to choose an appropriate article and how to use journal club as part of professional development. It was also decided that I should send Dr. Correia a copy of any correspondence I plan on sending to the club participants forty-eight hours ahead of time. I planned on addressing this feedback by determining what tutorials would be most valuable to the nurses and adding those to the site. I also planned to send her the draft of the survey questions.