Dr. Maggie
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Project Management for Masters in Nursing Online Students
Whether you are a clinical nurse leader, an executive nurse
leader, or a nurse educator, project
management skills are essential. Staying
organized is the best way to manage a project and several tools exist to help
with this essential organization. At the website: http://www.ganttproject.biz/ you
will find free Gantt chart software along with a great 15 minute tutorial on
how to start a project. Just be sure to save the software file as a PDF if
you have to submit the report to anyone, so they do not need to download the
software in order to read the report.
Another simple method of project management is the
use of an MS Word table to develop a Responsibility Assignment
Matrix (also called the RAM). This matches deliverables (or completed tasks)
with the people who are responsible for them.
For every piece of the project, the matrix (table) shows who needs to
contribute what, and when, for the project to be completed in a timely manner.
A project management tool is a mechanism to help keep leaders and their staff
on time and on task for successful project completion.
Go to the website: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_60.htm and take the
project management skills assessment to see where your strengths lie and where
you may need to spend more time developing your project management skills.
Dr. Maggie
Monday, November 11, 2013
Theory and Practice: Masters in Nursing Online Learning
Theory
and Practice: Masters in Nursing Online Learning
As an advanced degree nurse with your MSN, you will be
expected to "operationalize" evidence based practice. Whether a clinical nurse leader, or an
executive nurse leader, basing actions on evidence in the literature will help
lead change. Evidence presented from
scholarly sources provides “ammunition” for promoting staffing practices, and
patient care all leading to improved health outcomes.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Masters in Nursing Online Program Course Evaluations
The
term is ending and an email comes reminding you to
“complete a course evaluation”. All you
can think of is, “I barely have time to finish the course, much less complete
an evaluation!” Well, think of completing the course evaluation as “paying it
forward”. That’s right, completing a
course evaluation is a way to help make changes for those who take the course
in subsequent terms. Online course
evaluations are anonymous, so providing both positive and negative feedback is
essential.
Most online nursing course evaluations have two components:
course content/materials and faculty evaluations. All accredited masters in nursing online
programs, must provide course evaluations and demonstrate use of the feedback
to improve courses and teaching. Be sure
to phrase any comments for improvement with a positive tone. For example, stating that learning would have
been improved with increased faculty discussion participation (vs. the faculty
were never in discussions) has a positive tone.
If several class members are frustrated with a lack of
faculty participation, or slow grading of assignments (over one week to return
graded work) it is important that all those students provide feedback on the
course evaluation. If only one student
expresses concern about faculty, the information appears to be that of a single
disgruntled student. Whereas several
class members reporting the same type of course evaluation feedback, establishes
a trend or pattern. Repeated feedback is
cause for change in a course or faculty behavior, so be sure to use your
“voice” and complete those end of term course evaluations.
Dr. Maggie
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