On May 21st, Noemi and her Content Expert Mentor, Lindsay, met with the Professional Development Coordinator to discuss the possibility for educational slides focused on Disability Accommodations to be presented during Professional Development Days (PDD) where new hire NM nurses and graduating nurses participate in education days as part of their Transition into Practice (TIP).

PDD occurs over 6 days and these educational days happen every other month. Examples of learning topics include: Patient Engagement, navigating NM resource pages, safe patient handling, wound care, pressure injury prevention, documentation, ostomy care, spiritual care, active listening, crisis management, and so much more. One of Noemi’s stakeholders, Mimi, who is a clinical quality leader, suggested pitching educational slides to be added into the first PDD day. With her assistance, she connected us with Kelly, the Professional Development Coordinator.

Prior to speaking with the coordinator, Noemi prepared the following:

• Created “Patients First: Disability and Disability Accommodations” Slide Deck
  • Discussed and received feedback from mentor, education coordinator, and Program Manager of Accessibility for refinement in preparation to speak with Kelly
• Ensured there would be a change champion that could move this work beyond her time here at NM
  • Mary K, Program Manager of Accessibility, will be the designated Champion
• Created a script draft to allow for smooth presentation of slide deck.

Noemi’s goal would be to present the first educational slides in the upcoming PDD, taking place on June 13th as a way to disseminate her work and engage with nursing. Below is the drafted slide deck:

Outcomes of Pitch Meeting:

The Professional Development Coordinator, Kelly, really liked the educational slides and would like to move forward in rolling out the slides for future PDD sessions.

June 13th is too soon to roll out the new educational slides and topic; however, Kelly will plan to have the slides rolled out by July 23rd, 2026.

As Noemi’s Capstone Experience will end July 10th, 2026, she will be unable to present the educational slides. The plan will be for an Education Coordinator to present the slides using the provided script.

Steps to finalize part of this Learning Objective:

• Completed June 1st: Noemi met with Mary Kidney to review and finalize the script to ensure both parties are in agreement of the educational content
• Waiting for response: Noemi to meet with Kelly to present educational slides for feedback, changes, and to prepare future EC presenters.
• Waiting for response: Finalize educational slides and script and submit to Kelly where she will integrate the educational slides to the PDD 1 content.
  • Update as of 6/26/26: Noemi will forward all emails and communication to Mary Kideny, change champion of project, to continue following up with Kelly in order to ensure that the educational slides are presented during Professional Development Days.

Reflection:

This is a great opportunity that has gone beyond Noemi’s capstone objectives. This step will allow for increased awareness on disability and disability accommodations for new nurses to learn and implement into practice. The educational slides will be ongoing and will be presented to nurses beyond just the general medicine units her at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Noemi is very grateful for the connection that Mimi, the education coordinator, has brought during her capstone experience.

Stakeholders are also being connected to bring greater work into fruition in the future focused on equitable care. Mary K, the program manager of accessibility, will now be able to further collaborate with the nursing professional development department where she will get the opportunity to share the hard work that her and her team have been doing at NM.