NICU Practicum Objectives

[SamRNtoBe]

Hello,

I am trying to make practicum objectives for the NICU. My professor is looking for more advanced thinking that will help me when I graduate and succeed on my NCLEX. I thought the ones I wrote were good but she said they were too broad and need more of, "what do I want from this practicum?" feel. I am not good with making objectives sound "nice and neat". I know what I want from my practicum but I do not know how to word it the way she wants.

I want to

1. be able to effectively communicate with families about difficult inquires, such as why the parents cannot hold their baby, or why does their baby have so many tubes coming out of them? and answer them in a way they will be able to understand and manage.

2. have effective communication between my entire healthcare team but focus on physician communication. I want to not be immediate by the physician and establish a good relationship, in order to have effective plans of care.

3. be able to manage my time wisely and efficiently. Making sure I focus on my most acute patient but not forgetting to pay attention to my less acute patients.

4. be able to make care plans that are going to improve my patient quality of life.

5. review new and current evidence based practices that will not only help my patient succeed in their recovery but also to add to my own knowledge library to use in the future.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Here you go .... Bloom's Taxonomy. This is the most widely used way to categorize cognitive objectives. Since your instructor is looking for advanced thinking... go to the Higher Order (top) of the ranking for some ideas.

Make sure your objectives are SMART so that there won't be any question about whether you have achieved them or not. FYI, many organizations utilize the SMART method for determining employee performance goals, so this is a good thing to add to your knowledge set. IMO, your goals aren't clearly measurable. How are you going to measure communication? The issue of metrics is going to be important throughout your career, whether you're setting goals for yourself, your team, or even a project or initiative after you move into a leadership position.

Congratulations on your accomplishments so far & having the opportunity for an NICU practicum. It's your time to shine.

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

My objectives were more like these examples:

Independently measure, insert, and secure X NG tubes before the end of practicum.

NG feed X of infants before the end of practicum.

Independently (under direct supervision) care for one stable ventilator dependent infant.

Observe X discharges and independently discharge one patient.

Observe X circumcisions and perform post circumcision care on X number of infants.

They were definable with measurable goals.

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

Our practicum students have items like Babyland has. Keep it simple and measurable. Working with the doc is important but working as a team is more important. Your care plan one will be hard to implement, you can't always make the quality of life better. Parents, how about something along the lines of learning about Kangaroo care and helping a mom do it and why it's important.

Good luck!