| Unit name | Healthcare Improvement Capstone Assessment Unit |
|---|---|
| Unit code | MEEDM0035 |
| Credit points | 40 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52) |
| Unit director | Dr. Grant |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
Completion of the two linked units ie Patient Safety & Risk Management (0 credits) and Quality Improvement in Healthcare (0 credits). |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Bristol Medical School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Health Sciences |
Why is the unit important?
This unit provides the learners with an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they have gained from the taught units throughout the academic year whilst implementing change initiatives in the workplace. They will plan, develop and implement their own improvement project using their reflections on academic concepts explored during the quality improvement, patient safety & risk Management and leadership modules.
Importantly the learner will not be assessed on the impact of their project, but rather the insights they have gained not only of the academic construct they have encountered, but also the translation of those constructs into practice.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This programme is designed for individuals with an interest in pursuing a career in promotion, design and delivery of healthcare improvement initiatives. It draws from the theoretical frameworks and practice-oriented knowledge and skills from a variety of specialist subject areas that enable students to develop an in depth understanding on strategies required to establish a culture of organisational learning focussed on continued proactive improvement of healthcare delivery. Central to this approach is breaking down of an engrained silo culture and the creation of key relationships between educational and governance infrastructures. Integral
to an organisations governance infrastructure is a well-functioning safety management system that contains elements that not only focuss on gathering information on organisational performance, identifying areas for improvement, but also elements that respond to that information and enable the organisation and its staff to continually learn and improve. Cultivating a reciprocal relationship between these information gathering elements and the response elements allows the information gathering elements to in turn
assess whether the improvement strategies developed in response has had the desired effect. This continual process allows organisations to transition to learning organisations – an organisation that continually learns and adjusts whilst delivering a service.
This unit allows students to apply their new understanding gained from their academic studies into practice whilst being mentored by an academic mentor.
An overview of content
The unit contains no taught components and is intentionally designed to run concurrently in parallel to taught units. It is anticipated that it will drive student learning, in addition to the taught units, through engagement with the literature to find solutions to the problems they encounter during the implementation of their improvement project. In addition, as the student broadens their academic knowledge of the concepts during their engagement with the taught units, they may develop new insights into the rationale why certain elements of their project worked well and others did not.
Students will be given guidance on the requirements of the capstone report during drop in sessions and will have an opportunity to receive final formative feedback from their peers and faculty.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit:
Students will have a firm grasp not only of the academic concepts that underpin implementing change in a healthcare environment, but also the knowledge and experience of translating and applying them in practice.
Learning Outcomes:
A: Knowledge and Understanding:
1. Compare and contrast quality assurance and quality improvement and describe the relationship of audit mechanisms related to clinical governance.
2. Analyse the principles and differences between quality improvement, audit and research.
3. Critique the elements required for the implementation of quality improvement and can identify most suitable tool to facilitate appropriately.
4. Explain process mapping, stakeholder analysis, goal and aim setting, implementing change and sustaining improvement.
5. Compare the differences and relations between Safety Management, Risk Management, Health and Safety and Patient Safety.
6. Understand human factors theory and its impact on safety.
7. Differentiate relationships and co-dependencies between Risk Management, Patient Safety, Quality Improvement, Education and Learning Organisations.
8. Compare and contrast QI improvement tools and methodologies.
9. Critically analyse components required to establish a culture of organisational learning in the NHS.
B: Intellectual Skills /Attributes:
1. Demonstrate a critical approach to an organisations proactive improvement of healthcare delivery.
2. Critically analyse the health sector using the focus of key relationships between educational and governance infrastructures.
3. Demonstrate criticality towards literature and theory relevant to health care improvement and organisational learning.
4. Design, implement, complete and evaluate a quality improvement project using improvement methodology.
C: Other Skills /Attributes (Practical/Professional/Transferable):
1. Investigate and analyse a patient safety event reflecting and drawing own conclusions on a change in practice.
2. Propose and develop an action plan to implement change in practice to address skill knowledge gap.
3. Consider how this sustainable change could be managed.
4. Propose, develop and implement a Quality Improvement project, demonstrating sustainable change in an area of healthcare delivery.
5. Analyse the need for continuous improvement and audit in the quality of care standard setting and quality assurance.
6. Demonstrate the values to actively support quality improvement in the clinical environment.
7. Demonstrate advocacy for clinical quality improvement.
Students will receive no formal teaching in this Capstone unit, but the unit cannot be taken without completion of the two teaching (0 credit) units entitled i) Patient Safety and Risk Management and ii) Quality Improvement in Healthcare.
This unit is intentionally designed to run concurrently in parallel to taught units. It is anticipated that this unit will drive the students learning, in addition to the taught units, in that they will engage with the literature to find solutions to the problems they encounter during the implementation of their improvement project.
In addition, as the student broadens their academic knowledge of the concepts during their engagement with the taught units, they may develop new insights into the rationale why certain elements of their project worked well and others did not.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (Formative):
There are several opportunities to receive formative assessment and feedback during the year at several stages of the implementation of your Capstone Project.
The first of these opportunities will be during the induction weeks on the “Capstone Project Pitch Day”. During this Pitch Day you will be given 10minutes to present a quick outline of your proposed Capstone Project. There are further opportunities for formative assessment and feedback during the Patient Safety &Risk management and Quality Improvement units. During both units you will submit a 3,000-word reflective analytical report on the academic principles and methodologies pertaining to the specific unit applied during the implementation of the Capstone Project. It is anticipated that these reports will form a basis for some of the content of
your Capstone Report.
Finally, following the implementation of your project, you will have the opportunity to present your project where you will be given 20 minutes to present your project with 10 minutes for questions and feedback from your peers and faculty. Apart from an opportunity to showcase your work and learning to the group, this is a valuable opportunity to receive some final formative feedback as you prepare to complete your Capstone Report for submission.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
1: Write a 8,000 word Capstone report. The report must include reflection on a workplace event or a proposed change in practice.
It must define the type of Safety or Management issue and justify its importance using the literature.
Propose and develop an action plan to implement a change in practice to address skill knowledge gap whilst considering how this sustainable change could be managed.
2: Report on the planning, delivery and implementation of the improvement project based on your reflective piece around the above workplace event or proposed change in practice. Use theoretical frameworks taught to underpin your proposal. Write your project in to a cohesive plan of action that can be justified using the educational literature and realistically implemented into your work context.
3: Critically reflect on the successes and challenges during the implementation of your project and the lessons learnt from it. Consider, based on these experiences and the academic frameworks learnt in the modules, how you would apply this to your future projects.
Through engagement with the associated teaching units students will have received formative feedback on initial drafts of the above pieces of work.
When assessment does not go to plan:
In the event of your assignment not reaching a pass at first submission, you may be given the opportunity to resubmit depending on previous unit results. In the event of a resubmission, you will be offered a one-to-one tutorial. It is aimed at supporting you to ensure you understand what you need to do to meet the required criteria with your resubmission.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. MEEDM0035).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
