The Clinical Leadership Practicum Course is designed to be a capstone for the RN-BSN and Community College Nursing Partnership Programs at KU School of Nursing. For the clinical leadership practicum, students will have an opportunity to build on their Associate Degree of Nursing education and apply what they have learned in their BSN education to develop a project to be implemented to support a clinical practice experience.

The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) defines clinical practice experiences as planned learning activities in nursing practice that allow students to understand, perform and refine professional competencies at the appropriate program level. Clinical practice experiences may be known as clinical learning opportunities, clinical practice, clinical strategies, clinical activities, experiential learning strategies or practice (Standards for Accreditation of Baccalaureate and Graduate Nursing Programs, 2013, p. 21).

Clinical practice experiences are not limited to clinical patient care settings. Clinical practice experience also refers to any nursing intervention that influences health care outcomes. 

The preceptor will support the student in meeting the four goals of the clinical leadership practicum. Upon completion of the rotation, the student will:

1. Identify issues within the microsystem of health care where patient safety, patient or agency education could be improved.
2. Employ principles of project implementation to improve the quality of health care delivery.
3. Evaluate leadership practicum processes and outcomes to design changes that continuously improve the quality and safety of health care.
4. Collaborate and communicate effectively with interdisciplinary team members.

Clinical Leadership Practicum Highlights:

• The project will be a synthesis of knowledge for professional practice as the students will be guided to develop a small test of change project to meet an identified need for quality improvement. 
• The total amount of time spent in the clinicals portion of the course will be approximately 20 hours. This time includes any orientation to the facility, meeting and discussions with faculty and preceptor, gathering data and implementing the plan with the intended population.
• Direct care experiences refers to the student interacting with the intended population who the practicum experience supports (patients, nurses, population, etc).
• Students can be in person, virtual or a hybrid approach.
• Preceptors are responsible for overseeing students during the practicum experience, including being available for consultation and guidance regarding the practicum. Preceptors will provide ongoing review and feedback of the project charter with students and course faculty.
• Students are expected to comply with the policies, procedures and regulations of the facility at which they complete their clinical leadership practicum.
• Preceptors must be present if students are on-site at the assigned facility.
• Preceptors are responsible for providing a brief orientation to the department.
• Preceptors will validate clinical hours in the department.

The Clinical Leadership Practicum Course meets the following AACN Baccalaureate Essential Outcomes:

2.2 Demonstrate leadership and communication skills to effectively implement patient safety and quality improvement initiatives within the context of the interprofessional team.

2.5 Participate in quality and patient safety initiatives, recognizing that these are complex system issues, which involve individuals, families, groups, communities, populations, and other members of the healthcare team.

2.6 Apply concepts of quality and safety using structure, process, and outcome measures to identify clinical questions and describe the process of changing current practice.

2.9 Apply quality improvement processes to effectively implement patient safety initiatives and monitor performance measures, including nurse-sensitive indicators in the microsystem of care,

2.10 Use improvement methods, based on data from the outcomes of care processes, to design and test changes to continuously improve the quality and safety of health care.

2.11 Employ principles of quality improvement, healthcare policy, and cost-effectiveness to assist in the development and initiation of effective plans for the microsystem and/or system-wide practice improvements that will improve the quality of healthcare delivery.

2.12 Participate in the development and implementation of imaginative and creative strategies to enable systems to change.

9.7 Provide appropriate patient teaching that reflects developmental stage, age, culture, spirituality, patient preferences, and health literacy considerations to foster patient engagement in their care.