Introduction
Developing and evaluation is a critical component/phase of the change program. The evaluation plan acts as the baseline upon which the objectives, variables and timelines are gauged to determine how well they suit the expected final outcomes. Thus since the evaluation plan acts as the guide to achieving the outcomes, the program designer must ensure that the evaluation plan can provide information that is relevant to the program. This then avoids the wastage of time by the program implementers on information and activities that have little or no significant impact on the final outcomes (Ma, 2000). The evaluation plan is based objectives, the evaluation questions, the reasonable timelines, performance measures and methods/procedures of data collection relevant to determining how well the outcomes and the objectives have been met. The nursing-shortage-problem implementation plan focused on the change of strategy/policy as the proposed solution to the identified issue of the nursing shortage (Oliver, 2010). As such, and like in any other issue or problem in nursing practice, the identified population was the nurses, the problem was the nursing shortage occasioned by a myriad of factors, the intervention was the adoption of new policies and the timeline for the implementation was set at a reasonable one year.
Objectives and Outcomes
Objective 1: Create a positive work environment for nurses by increasing salaries and autonomy for nurses, nurturing leadership skills and providing channels for career advancements.
Outcomes: A positive work environment for nurses will help in retaining the current workforce, reduce turnover rates and subsequently increase job satisfaction. Nurturing leadership skills will act as the basis for motivation within the workplace as nurses are enabled to practice autonomy thus feeling more responsible. The evaluation plan will focus on monitoring the turnover rates in the past few years and engage former nurses who have quit the workforce to determine the reasons for their decisions to quit. On job satisfaction, the evaluation plan will engage the current nurses and nurse leaders to make a comparative analysis of their views on whether the current work environment is satisfactory or the nurses (Saunders, Evans & Joshi, 2005). The divergent views of the nurses against those of the nurse leaders will form the basis for the reviewing of the proposed solutions (Ma, 2000).
Objective 2: Increase enrollment in nurse colleges
Outcomes: The key objective for any organization is to ensure continuity in the workforce. This is achieved through retaining the current workforce and at the same time replacing the retiring or aging workforce. As such, the rates of enrollment at nursing colleges will facilitate the availability of the workforce that replaces the outgoing group while also proving the workforce that can help bridge the current gap in nurse-patient ratios. The focus will thus be on the trends in enrollment in nursing colleges nationwide. Where there are cases of low turnout at enrollment, further analysis will be done to determine the causes. Subsequently, effective measures to attract enrollment will be employed such as offering incentives to potential nurse student enrollees. Similarly, the evaluation plan will monitor the completion rates an annual basis and determine whether the rates are harmonious with the comparative enrollment rates (Saunders, Evans & Joshi, 2005). Where there is no harmony between the enrollment and completion rates, a taskforce will be formed to investigate the causes and report the findings and recommendations within six months (Ma, 2000).
Methods
Questionnaires
The key stakeholders will be used to provide with questionnaires upon which they will be required to give their views on selected issues that are relevant to the problem in question and their role in the nursing sector. The selected participants will be picked from the current workforce and will include registered nurses, nurse practitioners, nurse educators, nurse informaticists, Nurse Managers, leaders of professional nursing organizations at state and federal levels and nurses who have quit or retired in the last one decade. These questionnaires will focus on job satisfactions views, leaderships nurturing, motivation within the workforce and enrollment. It will also focus on views on reasons for quitting at early stages of the career from former nurses (Oliver, 2010).
Interviews
Some selected participants will be subjected to interviews to gain a hands-on experience of the trends in nursing and the current policies designed to improve retention and minimize turnover rates (Ma, 2000). The interviews will focus more on nurse leaders and leaders of professional nursing organizations. These will also be relied upon in understanding the views of the nurses who have quit since the interview provides a platform where they can air their views in a concise manner.
Survey of organizational data
One of the critical aspects of the evaluation process is to combine quantitative and qualitative data to draw appropriate conclusions. A realistic approach to this process will be to make a detailed mathematic analysis of the trends in nursing colleges focusing on enrollment and completion rates in the last decade. Similarly, the rates of licensing, certification and registration of nurses for the last one decade will be analyzed to guide a clear picture of the trends. Finally, this data will be caused against the comparative views of the nurses, nurse leaders and other stakeholders who will be considered worthy participants of the evaluation process.
Variables
The relevant variables for this study will include job satisfaction and motivation. These will be monitored by applying ‘direct indicators’ or ‘other-work indicators’ and the Facet Satisfaction Scale (Oliver, 2010). The focus will be on pay hours of work, future prospects (job security and promotion); difficulty of the job, job content (prestige, interest and independence) and interpersonal relationships. Quantitatively, the variables to be assessed include the turnover rates in the last one decade and the comparative rates every year after the full implementation of the proposed solution. Enrollment rates ion colleges and the completion rates will be monitored to determine whether the proposed policies have had any significant impacts on the rates and the trends (Saunders, Evans & Joshi, 2005). The evaluation of these trends will be conducted every one year upon full implementation of the proposed changes.
References
Ma, J. B. (2000). Planning for change: developing a policy framework for nursing labour markets. International Nursing Review, 47(4), 199-206.
Oliver, R. L. (2010). Satisfaction: A behavioral perspective on the consumer. ME Sharpe.
Saunders, R. P., Evans, M. H., & Joshi, P. (2005). Developing a process-evaluation plan for assessing health promotion program implementation: a how-to guide. Health Promotion Practice, 6(2), 134-147.
