Leadership
Collaboration, Communication, Change Management, and Policy
Considerations
In a 5-7 page written assessment, define the patient, family, or population health problem that will be the focus of
your capstone project. Assess the problem from a leadership, collaboration, communication, change management,
and policy perspective. Plan to spend approximately 2 direct practicum hours meeting with a patient, family, or
group of your choice to explore the problem and, if desired, consulting with subject matter and industry experts.
Document the time spent (your practicum hours) with these individuals or group in the Core Elms Volunteer
Experience Form.
Introduction
Nurses in all professional roles work to effect positive patient outcomes and improve organizational processes.
Professional nurses are leaders in problem identification, planning, and strategy implementation—skills that directly
affect patient care or organizational effectiveness.
Too often, change agents jump to a conclusion that an intervention will promote the envisioned improvement.
Instead, the ideal approach is to determine which interventions are appropriate, based on an assessment and review
of credible evidence. Interventions could be patient-facing or involve a change in policy and process. In this
assessment, you’ll identify and make the case for your practicum focus area, then explore it in depth from a
leadership, collaboration, communication, change management, and policy perspective.
This assessment lays the foundation for the work that will carry you through your capstone experience and guide the
practicum hours needed to complete the work in this course. In addition, it will enable you to do the following:
Develop a problem statement for a patient, family, or population that’s relevant to your practice.
Begin building a body of evidence that will inform your approach to your practicum.
Focus on the influence of leadership, collaboration, communication, change management, and policy on the
problem.
Preparation
In this assessment, you’ll assess the patient, family, or population health problem that will be the focus of your
capstone project. Plan to spend approximately 2 hours working with a patient, family, or group of your choice to
explore the problem from a leadership, collaboration, communication, change management, and policy perspective.
During this time, you may also choose to consult with subject matter and industry experts about the problem (for
example, directors of quality or patient safety, nurse managers/directors, physicians, and epidemiologists).
To prepare for the assessment, complete the following:
Identify the patient, family, or group you want to work with during your practicum The patient you select can
be a friend or a family member. You’ll work with this patient, family, or group throughout your capstone
project, focusing on a specific health care problem.
Begin surveying the scholarly and professional literature to establish your evidence and research base, inform
your assessment, and meet scholarly expectations for supporting evidence.