What types of groups do I need to observe? You need to observe two group meetings – professional or agency and family/patient-centered- support. These two observations must be related to nursing practice and cannot be municipal community meetings, i.e. town meeting. The groups must be administered/facilitated by a healthcare professional.
Remember, you need to choose either a professional or agency meeting to meet the first observation group meeting requirement.
An example of a professional nursing meeting could be:
Critical Care Association Nurses
Hispanic Nurse’s Association
Northwest Indiana Patient Safety Coalition meeting
Sigma Theta Tau meetings
State Board of Nursing meetings
Examples of an agency group meeting (composed of nurses or intra-professional staff) are:
Hospital meeting
Quality Improvement meetings
Policy and Procedure meetings
Shared Governance meetings
Patient Safety
Nursing Practice Council
Standards of Care
Committee meetings at a Nursing conference (but not just attending the conference)
Other healthcare organization based committees
The abovementioned meetings need to be composed of nurses and/or inter-professional health staff.
The second observation group needs to focus on family/patient–centered support, such as: caregivers of brain-injured patients
Bereavement Groups
Cancer support group
Alzheimer care giver groups
COPD support groups
Depression support groups
Pet Therapy support groups
Autism Support groups
Families living with family members with chronic diseases
These family support type groups may be held in the hospital or community, such as churches, libraries, community centers, etc. Your Hospital’s Community Outreach and ED department’s may have family/patient care directories and these publications can serve as resources. Other resources are social service or pastoral services, hospital bulletin boards near the lobby, as well as, local newspaper’s community sections. If in doubt about your choice, please ask your coach.
Not Acceptable Meetings:
Meetings such as unit meetings/shift reports/staff meetings are not acceptable
Those only focused on education (i.e. diabetic teaching)
Peer support (i.e. AA, Alanon, weight-watchers)
Other peer support groups
The groups I want to observe are only held once a month and not weekly. Can I observe them earlier than Module 4? Many groups may only meet monthly. Although this assignment is due by end of Module 4, it would be helpful to search for these groups early in the course, so you don’t miss an opportunity to observe. You will need to seek permission to observe the groups before attending. It would be to your benefit not to wait to begin your search until Module 4. Because by then, your choice of groups may be very limited! You will have to read ahead and view the criteria for the assignment if the groups you want to observe are held prior to Module 4 content.
Important Note: Please realize that some of the support groups may not be open to observation as they do not want “outsiders” and wish to protect their group members’ privacy. It is ethical and professional to always search for the person who you need to request permission, call ahead, and seek approval before observing the group
Important Note: This assignment is required so it is strongly recommended that you locate your intended groups as soon as possible as you must also obtain permission to attend.
Paper
What format do I need to follow when writing up the papers for this course? Does the title page and references count for the required length?
Always read the instructions and rubrics prior to writing any paper for organization tips. If there are questions that need answering, you can use the major words as subheadings or subheadings may already be provided in the instructions (see the assignment instructions). Consult the level of headings in the APA Manual.
Review the length requirement in the instructions, and other formatting requirements in the instructions and/or rubric. Points will be taken off if not the page limit is exceeded.
You can use Times New Roman font 12 point fonts per the APA Manual.
The title page and reference page do not count toward the minimum-maximum page numbers. We want to see how you are applying knowledge from your readings and other course content – and that is written in the main body of the paper and will be the major grading criteria. As a result, it is best to use your own words with minimal direct quotations as you should synthesize and summarize the data.
Outside sources with in-text citations and a reference page are not required, but if used must be cited and referenced.
Why are the SafeAssign matching parameters different for the case studies and the observation paper? Students usually use the same words from the case study when providing examples for their opinions. When the course has many students (this course usually has around 500-600 students enrolled at the same time) using those same words, plagiarism software picks up on that and counts it toward plagiarism. The same holds true for the observation paper, when students use the same group process words. Because the observation paper will have more unique foci, the SafeAssign parameters are lower than the case study papers. Please be sure to know how to read your report. If the words from the case study are highlighted, please do not worry. However, coaches will alert me if they feel that blatant plagiarism is occurring between and among students (i.e. students in different sections submitting the same paper.)
How do I know what small group I am in? The coaches will assign you to your small group (i.e. Group 1 or 2 or 3) sometime prior to the start of Module 3 (week 3). You will see your Group number under Groups on the left hand side of the Blackboard Menu, when this process of assigning you to groups is completed. You will be assigned to the same small group for Module 3 and 4 small group discussion exercises. Approximately 10 students will be assigned to each group. Please go to Course Support and click on the Small Group discussion resources for further information on how to navigate.
Can I change my assigned small group? No, the groups are randomly assigned with a specific assigned task to be completed. You will communicate with your small group through the discussion board to complete the assignment in Modules 3 & 4
I cannot locate my small group. If this occurs after following the above directions, please contact you academic coach as soon as possible. The small group participation/assignment is required for the course, so you must be able to access your group.
