One of the stakeholders that are included in my study would be the patient advocate. The patient advocate is in charge of getting all the complaints that come in from the children that are patients in the hospital. This is very important because, through them it is that a lot of things are found out. Even though, not every complaint that comes through their desk is true they are in charge of checking what is going on. Sometimes, the complaints include simple things like someone requesting unit changes, if there is no baseline behind it, she is not able to do a unit change.
Another stake holder would be one of the unit coordinators. There is a unit coordinator for every unit. The unit coordinator is in charge of that unit, that children in the unit and the staff for the unit. They are a direct supervisor to everyone that is in the unit. The unit coordinators are all registered nurses, many of them have been working in psychiatric units for a while. The unit coordinators are in charge of making sure, that their unit is safe and everything within it is running smoothly. The unit coordinators are in charge in filling out, paper work and attending the treatment teams for the children on a weekly basis. Treatment teams are the reporting of the children’s behaviors throughout that week.
The principle in the school is also a huge stakeholder. The principle is in charge that everything is running smoothly in the school. They are in charge of making sure that all the teachers have behavior techs to assist them throughout the day. The principle is also in place to make sure that the children are placed in the best class that they can be placed for that will match their needs and education levels.
Type of Evaluation:
I believe that the evaluation would be classified as a summative evaluation. The reason that I say this is because in a summative evaluation people focus on the effectiveness of a program. Making sure that the program is reaching its goals, that will best assist the clients. Making sure that things are running smoothly in order to know that the program is working properly. One of the goals in a summative evaluation is to try to find the issues that an organization might have in order to improve it. The things that I am evaluating to make sure that they are being done properly to the best benefit to the client is safety. Safety is something that is important I any organization. In this case it would be the safety of the staff members that work at the hospital alongside, the patients that are at the hospital. It is important that there is a safe system in place, to reduce risks. The second thing that would be evaluated would be the program and how it has affected people once they leave the program.
Evaluation Questions:
One of my evaluation questions is how effective are the yearly trainings offered in order to ensure staff is appropriately trained to maintain a safe environment for both the children and the staff? This means what does the hospital do to ensure that the staff is properly trained to assist the patients in a safe manner. What is the procedure that is in place during a crisis situation? What safety procedures are done, if physical interventions are needed. When is the timeout rooms used, when is there a seclusion. There are also restraints that are done in the hospital in order to maintain safety, what are the trainings that are involved in those.
My other evaluation question is how effective the discharge process in is helping ensure that the children’s needs will be met after discharge (continuity of care post discharge.) This means what plan is in place to make sure that the hospital is assisting the children with what they need to learn in the hospital in order to make sure that they are successful when they are discharged. This can be things like medication management, anger management, coping skills, educational goals and many more. It is important to make sure that the children have a plan in place so that they are not going to be back in the same situation where once again they have to go into an inpatient treatment facility.
Type of Evaluation and questions:
I chose this type of evaluation because, I want to be able to see how effective the plans that are in place are. I want to make sure that the plans that are in place make sense and they are beneficial to the clients and to the staff member. With safety it is important, that the plan that they have ensures the safest environment for the kids and for the workers. With a summative evaluation it focuses on program effectiveness, which would be making sure that there is a good plan in place to ensure that the staff members are trained to have a safe environment. There might also need to be a small training session for the kids, so that they are aware of safety and the importance of safety if there is not already something in place for them.
The second question in regard to the effectiveness of the treatment, with discharge follow up I also believe that summative would work best. The reason that I chose this is because with this too we have to make sure that the programs that are in place are effective to make sure that the children have the best after care. The goal should be that the children do not need to go back to an inpatient facility in the future, and that if services are needed it would be throughout patient. Since, summative focuses on effectiveness I want to know how effective treatment past discharge is.
Data Collection Methods:
For data collection, I will focus on conducting interviews to some of the staff members. I will speak to the patient advocate, one of the unit coordinators and one of the staff members. I will also look at the reviews that the hospital has online, to see what the patients have to say. I will speak with discharge to know more information on what the patients go through after discharge, this information may also be located in records. I will also speak to the safety directors to make know the safety procedures that are in place at the hospital. I will also observe the ways that the workers interact with the children. I will observe the children in the units, during their school time, during meal times, and also during their psycho educational groups.
Research Method:
The research method that I have chosen for my evaluation is qualitative. With this method the main focus is observation. I think that with observation a lot can be learned. Qualitative means to gather information, that does not have to do with numbers. This would be to do research not including numerical data directly. In this research method observation is key and it is important to make sure to pay close attention to detail. I will also be adding interviews to my research methods, which is another great way to seek information.
Why is qualitative the best research method for me:
Qualitative is the best form of research for me because, I will be doing a lot of my research on observing what is going on with the children and their treatment, for example someone can tell you what they have in. place for safety, but you also have to observe that it is being used and that it is effective. Same thing to know about their treatment. We have to observe what is used and is it effective. This way we know that if their treatment is good while they are there, there might be a smaller chance that they will have to go back to inpatient in the future. This is very important to observe what goes on in regard to their treatment to have a better idea on what their life would be after discharge. Conducting interviews is important, in this case I will conduct the interviews and observe to make sure that the information given during the interview matches what I am observing. For example, if someone tells me the procedure done for a crisis, making sure that it is that procedure that is being carried out.
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