Thursday, September 12, 2013

Post-mortem of Vital signs assessment lab


As part of the radiologic technology program my students need to learn how to assess patient vitals.  This includes; blood pressure, pulse and respirations.   A lab to correspond with the vital signs lecture was needed to be implemented.

What contributed to the project’s success or failure?

 I would not go so far as calling the vitals lab a failure because everyone learned how to assess patient vitals.  However, the lab definitely was not as smooth or efficient as I would have liked.  The biggest problem occurred because of the location I chose for the vitals (specifically the blood pressure) assessments to take place.  I was allowed to use a room in a nursing education center that is equipped with walls full of sphygmomanometers and blood pressure cuffs.  I was so happy to be allowed to use their great equipment that I did not think through the actual scenario with 20 students in the same room trying to listen carefully through a stethoscope for a blood pressure sound that they are not familiar with.  Needless to say it ended up being too noisy in the space.  I would have also recruited at least one other instructor to be able to circulate the lab with me to help answer questions.

Which parts of the PM process would have made the project more successful?

 Breaking down the steps needed to have a successful lab creating a WBS or Work Breakdown Structure would have saved headaches. According to Greer; you need to meet with all of your stakeholders and conduct a brainstorming session in order to document, in “high resolution,” everything you are going to be building (p.13).  I feel like if I would have thought this through more systematically as well as brought in stakeholders (other educators) this would have been a much more efficient lab.  Thinking ahead about how it would be difficult to hear with that many students in the room would have saved time and stress.  Another part would be bringing in stakeholders/students to get their input on how they feel the best way to learn vitals assessments.  Brainstorming and documenting a plan prior may have eliminated issues.

 

KWK

Reference:

Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.

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