© 2013 Laureate Education, Inc. 1 NURS 6441 Indivi.docx

© 2013 Laureate Education, Inc. 1
NURS 6441
Individual Project Overview
Project Overview and Timeline
The Individual Project Assignments in this course are designed
to provide you with a
practical understanding of project management activities in a
health care organization.
In each of these three Assignments you have the option of
interviewing an individual
who has managed real-life projects about selected aspects
related to project
management, or you may choose to write a scholarly paper in
which you draw insights
from published articles describing organizations’ experiences in
health care information
technology projects. Either of these experiences will help you
develop a first-hand
understanding of project management challenges and strategies
within one or more
organizations.
The Individual Project Assignments are woven throughout the
course and aligned with
course content. For each experience, the completion of a written

Assignment aligned to
one of the following experiences is required:
Interview: Interview an individual with project management
experience in an
organization of your choosing about one or more designated
topics.
OR
Scholarly Paper: Examine a minimum of three organizations
that have published
descriptions about a health care information technology project.
Tips and Guidelines
Interview
As you conduct an interview, note your observations, thoughts,
and insights regarding
the individual’s roles and functions and how they are carried
out. For each individual
interview, address the questions provided in the Topics and
Questions section (in Week
2, Week 5, and Week 7) of this document. Keep in mind,
though, that responses to the
questions represent the minimum amount of information
required in the paper. You are
encouraged to explore the questions fully with thought-
provoking follow-up questions.
Your paper should include the individual’s responses to your
questions, and—after
some reflection—your analysis of the interviewee’s responses.
Write the first draft of
your paper immediately following the interview so all of the
information is fresh in your

mind. As you write, reflect upon the topics covered in this
course, and synthesize your
knowledge of those topics with what you discussed during the
interview.
Try to match your Assignment setting to your professional
goals. Consider interviewing
someone in your own organization or in an organization where
you might want to work
as a nurse informaticist after you graduate.
If you are unable to complete the Individual Project
Assignments with a project manager
in a health care organization, search for an individual who has
managed a project,
preferably a technology project, in another type of setting. If
you are unable to find an
interviewee, you must complete the scholarly paper option.
Scholarly Paper
To prepare for this Assignment option, you will need to find
articles or other information
sources that describe how a minimum of three health care
organizations or health care-
related organizations have conducted health information
technology (HIT) projects. You
will analyze the reports of these organizations’ experiences with
HIT project
management in order to draw out insights on real-world project
management. You may

need to examine trade publications in addition to scholarly
journals. For this
Assignment, trade publications are acceptable sources.
Appropriate websites may be
used as well.
Plan Ahead
Review each part of the Individual Project to become familiar
with the requirements of
the Assignments. If you intend to conduct an interview, begin
contacting potential
interviewees as soon as possible to ensure that you are able to
meet the Individual
Project deadlines and that you will have time to find another
resource if one becomes
unavailable.
Project Deliverables
The Individual Project consists of three parts:
Part 1: Managing Projects (introduced in Week 2 and due Week
5)
Part 2: Scope, Budget, Risk Management, and Team Building
(introduced in Week 5
and due Week 7)
Part 3: Project Evaluation, Lessons Learned, and Synthesis of
Insights (introduced in
Week 7 and due Week 9)
Week 2: Assignment: Individual Project Part 1: Managing
Projects
Part 1 of the Individual Project focuses on managing projects.
You interview an

individual who has managed a project for an organization.
Alternatively, you may
examine a minimum of three organizations that have published
descriptions about a
health care information technology project.
Interview
To prepare:
projects in health care
and is willing to speak about his or her experience.
in your community
who has managed a project for an organization. The
organization can be a
volunteer service group, a faith-based group, a business, or
another that meets
your needs. The goal is to find an individual who has been in
charge of a project
important to the organization.
addressed in your
interview.
ur
interviewee and
solidify your goals for speaking to and learning from this

person.
Topics and Questions
Keep in mind that you will need to adapt your questions to the
individual, setting, and
projects. You are not required to ask these specific questions,
but you are required to
address the topics listed below. (Note: If the interviewee cannot
address a topic, you
are required to conduct a literature search to find scholarly
information or research on
that topic.)
ment mean to your organization
(group)?
a project get
started?
organization. What
strengths do you bring to project management? What special
projects have you
managed or played a significant part in managing? Have you
had any relevant
project management training for the kinds of projects you
manage? What are
your major accomplishments in managing this project or other
projects?
What are some of
the challenges or frustrations you encounter in your role as
project manager?

impact organizational
work products (proposals, presentations, agendas, reports,
analyses, and other
project information sources)? How do project management
practices in the
organization affect the end users of implemented technology (if
applicable)?
Note: This individual may not know about formal project
management, so follow
the trail that emerges in the interview.
Ask the interviewee to single out one particular project that
could be discussed in depth.
o What were the desired outcomes of the project?
o What metrics would you expect to use to determine the
ongoing success
of your project?
o What expectations or hopes were held for improving
organizational work
products?
ct administered?
o Was there a written project charter? (If so, follow up on this
lead.)
o How many people/departments/organizations were involved in

the
project?
o As appropriate, give an overview of the project activities,
schedule, and
allocation of resources.
o Explain your role in establishing milestones, identifying
interdependencies,
and allocating resources.
Additional questions and insights are encouraged.
To complete:
In a 2- to 4-page paper, reflect on your experience and address
the following:
—where and how the
interview took place,
why you selected this individual, and how you believe this
individual meets the
requirements for this Assignment.
he individual within the
context of the
individual’s organizational structure and of project
management.
of success,
expectations for improving work products) and project
administration (project
charters, stakeholder involvement, activities, scheduling, costs,

etc.) are
addressed in the interviewee’s organization.
from project
management literature about project goals (outcomes, metrics of
success,
etc.). Be sure
that the comparisons you make are clear to the reader.
your insights into these aspects of project
management will impact
your ability to successfully manage health care information
technology projects.
Include any tips the individual described for managing a
successful project.
OR:
Scholarly Paper
To prepare:
published descriptions
about a health care information technology project.
HIT project
management.

You may need to examine trade publications in addition to
scholarly journals.
o What does project management mean to the organization
(group)?
o What was the contribution of project management to the
organization?
What challenges were encountered?
o How did project management enhance organizational work
products and
the effect of information technology on the users (if
applicable)?
o What were the goals of the project:
the
project?
organizational
work products?
o How was the project administered?
in the

project?
if
included in the article.
To complete:
In a 2- to 4-page paper, address the following:
in this paper,
including your rationale for selecting the organizations
es on the use of formal project management
in health care
organizations, with a focus on health care information
technology projects
of success,
etc.) are
addressed in the projects implemented in your selected health
care
organizations.
from project
management literature about project goals and project

administration. Be sure
present evidence, best
practices, or standards.
Part 1 of the Individual Project is due on or before Day 7 of
Week 5.
Week 5: Assignment: Individual Project Part 2: Scope, Budget,
Risk
Management, and Team Building
Part 2 of the Individual Project focuses on the scope of a
project, budgeting issues, risk
management, and team building. If conducting an interview, the
interviewee may be
from the same organization as your last interview and should
have managed a project
for the organization. Alternatively, you may examine a
minimum of three organizations
that have published descriptions about a health care information
technology project’s

scope, budget, risk management, and team building activities.
Interview
To prepare:
and is willing to speak about his or her experience regarding
scope of a project,
budget, risk management, and team building.
in your community
who has managed a project for an organization and can speak to
those topics.
The organization can be a volunteer service group, a faith-based
group, a
business, or another that meets your needs. The goal is to find
an individual who
has been in charge of a project important to the organization.
questions below that should be
addressed in your
interview.
interviewee and
person.
Topics and Questions:
Remember that you will need to adapt your questions to the
individual, setting, and
projects. You are not required to ask these specific questions,

but you are required to
address the topics listed below (Note: If the interviewee cannot
address a topic, conduct
a literature search to find scholarly information or research on
that topic).
Scope
demands?
Budget
t?
how do you handle
resource problems?
Risk Management
project management.
How did you handle
it?
project
management role?
Team Building

you "sell" the project
to a team?
project success.
leadership activities
regarding a project team problem?
ber who is not meeting agreed-to
commitments, what do
you do? How do you handle unproductive team members? How
do you motivate
team members who are burned out or bored?
Additional questions and insights are encouraged.
To complete:
the following:
requirements for this Assignment.

context of the
individual’s organizational structure and for project
management.
management, and team
building are addressed in the interviewee’s organization.
with information from
project management literature about project scope, budget, risk
management,
and team building. Be sure that the comparisons you make are
clear to the
reader.
successful project.
OR:
Scholarly Paper
To prepare:
h
HIT project

management.
scholarly journals.
Scope
o How was the scope of the project limited?
o How did the project manager address any unreasonable
demands?
Budget
o How were costs managed during the project?
o How were resource allocation problems addressed?
Risk Management
o How were potential risks to the project determined?
o How were these risks mitigated?
o Explain any major crisis faced in the management of a project
implementation and explain how it was handled.

Team Building
o How were members of the project team selected? How did the
project
manager "sell" the project to a team?
o How did the team operate within the organization to facilitate
project
success?
o What project management leadership activities were utilized
to mitigate
project team problems?
o What strategies did project management leaders use if a team
member
was not meeting agreed-to commitments, was unproductive, or
was
unmotivated?
To complete:
esize insights on how project scope, budget, risk
building are addressed in the projects implemented in your
selected health care
organizations.
from project
management literature about project scope, budget, risk

building. Be sure that the comparisons you make are clear to the
reader.
your ability to successfully manage of health care information
technology
projects.
This Assignment is due on or before Day 7 of Week 7.
Week 7: Assignment: Individual Project Part 3: Project
Evaluation,
Lessons Learned, and Synthesis of Insights
Though project managers often gain a great deal of experiential
knowledge through the
project management process, project evaluation offers them a
chance to formalize the
lessons they have learned. Part 3 of the Individual Project
focuses on issues related to
evaluating the success of a project and the debriefing process
for capturing lessons
learned. If conducting an interview, your interviewee must be
able to speak to these
topics. Alternatively, you may examine a minimum of three
organizations that have

published descriptions about the evaluation and debriefing
process of a health care
information technology project.
Interview
To prepare:
and is willing to speak about his or her experience.
in your community
who has managed a project for an organization. The
organization can be a
volunteer service group, a faith-based group, a business, or
another that meets
your needs. The goal is to find an individual who has been in
charge of a project
important to the organization.
addressed in your
interview.
ed questions you might have for your
interviewee and
person.
Topics and Questions:
As in the other interviews, you will need to adapt your
questions to the individual,
setting, and projects. You are not required to ask these specific

questions, but you are
required to address the topics listed below (Note: If the
interviewee cannot address a
topic, conduct a literature search to find scholarly information
or research on that topic).
Evaluation
a project?
successful)?
Lessons Learned
o What were some successful outcomes of the project? Were the
project
goals met?
o How do you conduct a debriefing of the project with the
project team?
o What happens to the information gained from the debriefing?
o How do the project team and the organization support project
debriefing?
more and more
business managers are realizing that the absence of good
"people" skills tends to
cripple projects. What are three critically important things a
project manager (or
project team member) must do well to help a project succeed?

Please add questions of your own, including asking for advice
for the future from your
interviewee.
To complete:
the following:
requirements for this Application.
the role and functions of the individual within the
context of the
individual’s organizational structure and for project
management.
addressed in the
interviewee’s organization.
e insights from your interview with information
from project
management literature about evaluation and debriefing. Be sure
that the
comparisons you make are clear to the reader.

successful project.
interviews about project
management and how project management is conducted in the
interviewee’s
organization.
-world
setting of the
interviewee and compare to the project management literature.
-use of formal project
management could impact the
success of health care information technology projects. Use
literature sources to
support your perspectives on this topic.
Do not cut and paste all of the content from the first two parts
of the Assignment. You
have to synthesize the key concepts, insights, principles, etc.
from each part of the
Assignment into a cohesive, understandable whole.
OR:
Scholarly Paper
To prepare:

HIT project
management.
scholarly journals.
Evaluation
of the project?
unsuccessful?
Lessons Learned
o What were some successful outcomes of the project? Were the
project
goals met?

o Was a debriefing of the project conducted with the project
team?
o What happened to the information gained from the debriefing?
o How did the project team and the organization support project
debriefing?
more and more
business managers are realizing that the absence of good
"people" skills tends to
cripple projects. What does the scholarly literature suggest are
three critically
important things a project manager (or project team member)
must do well to
help a project succeed?
To complete:
and conduct of
project evaluations and project team debriefings.
from project
management literature about project evaluations and team
debriefings. Be sure

-use of formal project
management
could impact the success of health care information technology
projects. Use
literature sources to support your perspectives on this topic.
analyses and
comparison.
Part 3 of the Individual Project is due on or before Day 7 of
Week 9.
Note: Grading criteria for these Assignments can be found in
the Grading Criteria and
Total Components of a Grade section of the Syllabus.
Individual Project Grade
This Individual Project is comprised of three parts, worth 100
points each.
Assignment
Part 1—Managing Projects (100 points)
Part 2—Scope, Budget, Risk Management, and Team Building
(100 points)
Part 3—Project Evaluation, Lessons Learned, and Synthesis of
Insights Gained (100
points)

Discuss in 50 words or more in your own words.
1.Films Media Group (2005). Health Services (04:01) From
Title: Aging Populations: East Devon.
Discuss below each of the electronic reading in your own words
using 75 words or more.
Readings:
1. Hays, R., Clarkson, P., Tucker, S., & challis, D. (2012).
Healthcare support services for care home residents. Nursing
Older People, 24(10), 26-30.
2. Peters, G. (2013). Healthcare service: New ways to serve.
Business Strategy Review, 24(1), 74-76.
3. Vahatalo, M., & Kallio, T. J. (2015). Organising health
services through modularity. International Journal of Operations
& Production Management, 35(6), 925-945

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