Preventing Readmissions. Free Essay Example

Part A

One of the issues affecting most hospitals is the problem of readmissions. Most patients suffering from chronic illnesses are usually readmitted to the facility after only a short period of discharge. With this in mind, this teaching project aims at preventing hospital readmissions through organization and collaboration with the Redstone care hospital staff.

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Audience Description

The program aims to reach out to the staff at the Redstone care center. The staff included are both male and female aged between 21 years-70 years from different ethnic groups. The basic knowledge needed for the continuation of the program consists of the ability to solve problems and make relevant decisions since this will provide the base for improving and developing their skills.

Needs Assessment

Based on a broad assessment of the staff's learning needs, the following skills will be taught; attentiveness to the patient's needs and logical reasoning, problem-solving skills, communication, as well as analytical skills. The staff will further be trained on other skills such as monitoring and interpreting telemonitoring device readings, which will extensively be used to track and monitor patients (Schulz & Eden, 2016).

The staff will be issued with the learning style inventory below and will be requested to answer as honestly as possible.

Learning Styles Often Sometimes Seldom

I can remember best about a subject when visual learning materials are used I remember best about a topic when listening to the trainer. I prefer taking notes for later visual review. I prefer the use of the actual practice in class I like explanations done by the use of diagrams and other visual directions. The best way for me to remember a concept is to picture it in my head. Setting

The physical location of the teaching environment is within the Redstone hospital facility for easy access by all staff who are included in the training. Resources available to the staff include laptops, writing materials, necessary instruments such as the stethoscope, sphygmomanometer, among other equipment. The main barrier that may affect learning consists of the busy schedule of the staff who are devoted to serving the patients first.

The Learning Needs

The importance of this educational encounter is to equip the staff at Redstone Hospital with the relevant skills to continue with home-based care for chronically ill patients not under any palliative care after discharge and ultimately reduce hospital readmissions. Through this training, the staff at Redstone will be able to remotely serve more patients with less burn-out as compared to when patients are physically at the hospital. Additionally, this training will enable the staff to provide more personalized care to critically ill patients who must be admitted. Should a staff miss out on the training, he/she is likely to miss out on critical knowledge that would play a vital role in managing patients' conditions after discharge, and without this staff training, the hospital is likely to experience a higher rate of patient readmission.

Part B: Action Plan

Course Objectives

-The objectives of this training are to equip hospital staff with the right skills needed to improve patients' quality of life and ultimately reduce the rates of hospital readmissions.

-They monitor the patient's progress after discharge and quickly identify and address any new signs and symptoms of the patient's condition to ensure that the patient does not end up being re-admitted.

Learning Theories

The leading theory that will be used to guide the teaching strategies is the behaviorism theory. The approach is based on the assumption that learning occurs when there is a change in some observable behavior. The method also assumes that proper communication is needed for learning to take place (Aliakbari et al., 2015). Cognitive theories will also be used to guide teaching strategies because of their target on the learners' consciousness, understanding, organizing, and thinking. They ensure the learner is prepared to gain new knowledge and skills. Further, Humanism teaching theory, which considers learning as a personal act to fulfill one's potential. Based on the humanism theory, every learner will be studied as a whole as they progress on the training sessions. The facilitator will also be expected to create a conducive environment, comfortable for all learners.

Evidence-Based Teaching Strategies

Some of the evidence-based teaching strategies that should be used include the use of clear lesson goals that will help participants to focus on the most critical parts of the lesson. To effectively identify the lesson goals, learners will be subdivided into various groups and will then be required to independently carry out literature reviews on numerous peer-reviewed articles from credible sources such as Medline, among others. The literature review will be critical in helping the learners to develop a plan that will be used in tracking and monitoring chronically ill patients with no palliative care after discharge. The ideal tracking and monitoring plan will be expected to;

Identify the specific target population of chronically ill patients who are at a high risk of readmission. Key evidence-based factors for identifying high-risk patients include;

• More than three active chronic conditions (Hirschman, Shaid, McCauley, Pauly, & Naylor, 2015)
• A history of mental disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and mood disorders (Alhurani et al., 2015).
• A history of frequent hospital readmissions (Aglen, 2016).
• Identify chronically, ill patients with a Highmark insurance product and refer them to the Aspire palliative care center for transitional care (Morrison et al., 2019).
• For patients without the Highmark insurance the following are the critical evidence-based plan to be followed;
• Redstone hospital staff are expected to develop strong relationships with the patients through frequently calling and constant communication using other platforms to determine the patient's progress (Horntvedt et al., 2018).
• Create strong relationships with the patient's family (Horntvedt et al., 2018).
• Assess and manage the patient's signs and symptoms by using remotely controlled devices (Penner, 2018).
• Educate the patients on self-care to help with early symptom recognition as well as help the patient identify the factors that trigger their condition (Shin & Kang, 2015).
• Ensure that there is continuity and consistency of care from the hospital to home by assigning a patient to the same clinicians both at the hospital and at home (Morrison et al., 2019).
• Maintain a routine communication strategy between the treatment teams at the hospital to ensure that the patient's conditions are managed in the best way possible (Shin & Kang, 2015).

Show and tell strategy will also be used where each practice, such as patient massage and CPR, will be demonstrated through this strategy. At the end of each lesson, questioning will be used to check whether learners understand the different stages or techniques. Practice will also be emphasized as it will help in retaining some skills and knowledge learned. Learning tasks will also be linked to real caregiving situations to enhance learning (Aglen, 2016). Lastly, feedback will be used to rate learners' areas of best performance and where they perform the worst.

Assignments and How They Will Help with Learning Objectives

The tasks that will be used in these teaching strategies will be motivating, creative, and challenging at the same time. For example, participants will be required to write reports of their daily use of some of the taught skills with their patients. Learners will also be required to keep daily journals of the chronically ill patients discharged under their care and ascertain whether the patient has an insurance package or not. Short questions will also be provided at the end of each class to determine if students have gained some skills.

Inclusive Instructional Strategies

Different inclusive strategies will be used to make sure that all participants' educational needs are catered for. One of these strategies will be the use of a safe learning environment where each of the students will be allowed to contribute without any emotional fear, such as fear of ridicule. The class will also make people of different cultures comfortable through the use of global examples and polite language (Penner, 2018). Moreover, the teaching strategy inventory that every learner is expected to answer will play an integral role in guiding the instructional strategies.

Technology

Tele monitoring technology will be used to help with learning. The remote tele monitoring devices will be used to measure the patient's physiological conditions, such as blood pressure and pulse rate, and then transmit the data to the hospital staff, who then take the necessary steps should need be. A remote diagnostic application is then used to develop treatment recommendations based on the data collected. Age of the staff is the main factor that may hinder the adoption of technology since old age may interfere with one's psychomotor and cognitive functions. To ensure that technology enhances the learning encounter of the staff, technology will be used in videos, audios, and simulations to give learners a better understanding of the concept under study (Penner, 2018).

Part C: Manage Learning Environment

To create an environment that promotes civility, an all-inclusive environment where all the learners are given equal chances to air, their opinions will be cultivated. Additionally, open communication, in combination with numerous workplace civility workshops, will be utilized. Learners who misconduct through bullying other learners will proactively be punished accordingly.

For learners with various physical or cognitive disabilities, audios and videos will be used to aid their conceptual understanding. Such learners will also be allowed to take frequent breaks and have preferential seats that suit their needs.

Part D: Evaluation

To assess the learner's outcome of the educational encounter, the following evidence-based systemic evaluation procedures will be implemented.

Formulate the rationale for evaluating the learners

• It is critical that learners articulate and understands the application of the learned skills and knowledge to their daily lives (Aglen, 2016).
• Assessment tests will be used not for the purpose of subject mastery but to determine whether learners are up to date with the instructor (Shin & Kang, 2015).
• Students will be expected to reflect and showcase what they have learned by creating something (Aglen, 2016).
• Recognize matters concerning fairness in evaluation.
• Learners are subjected to a fair evaluation assessment where every learner is given equal and fair chance to showcase their skills, are not solely evaluated using the assessments, and have a broad range of educational opportunities due to the full range of assessment strategies (Horntvedt et al., 2018).
• Device measures to integrate instructions and assessments
• Since assessments are a part of the teaching and instructions process, it will be done continually to help the instructor take immediate actions should there be a need to clarify on a subject (Shin & Kang, 2015).
• Measuring learners progress