PARTNERS in Practice Documentary - Now Available to View

The documentary is now available to view from the PARTNERS web site http://www.partnersct.com/ - there is a dedicated page to the documentary and the film can be freely accessed from here.

There is something about Mary!

This will be the final entry into this blog as the documentary is now complete. I have deliberately had a couple of days off from looking at the film and the thesis to reflect on the last eight months. Within this timeframe the COP and I have developed the idea of creating a short documentary, worked through the key themes to be presented, devised the storyboard, and filmed. These processes have been very exciting for me on many differing levels. Having the opportunity to work with a group of consummate professionals who are truly committed to improving care and has in itself been inspiring. I have been privileged to work closely with them and learn about their work on the frontline. Health care today is frequently criticized for what it doesn’t achieve - how often do we acknowledge what it does achieve?

From the film production side of things that was a huge learning curve for me and yes I did make mistakes along the way but from these invaluable lessons were learnt for the future. I have also become more critical of my own work, hence the title of this blog entry – there is something about Mary! I could see an inconsistency with the film clip about Mary Lee and though no one else did notice it – it had to be redone!

I have endured a love hate relationship with iMovie over the last few months but we are there for the long haul and I am confident we will become tolerant of each other!

I conclude with a salutary quote from Adam Osborne an entrepreneur from the USA.

“The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake - you can't learn anything from being perfect.”

Documentary Finished!

The documentary is now complete! My supervisor reviewed the film and made some suggestions which have now been incorporated and which do improve the sequencing and overall effect of the film. The end product has I am pleased to say received favourable reviews from the members of the group who have seen it so far. The Head of School and Director of Research from the School of Nursing in DCU also attended the launch last Friday. It is currently available for the members of the group to see on Vimeo - a video social networking site. At the moment access to the film is password protected until all members of the COP have had the opportunity to see it. It will then be open to all to view. It will be uploaded to the PARTNERS Channel on YouTube.

Members of the group have suggested additional ideas as to how the film may be used to underpin practice and academic teaching initiatives. Anne McDonald has even suggested that we make a sequel looking at the area of medications management from the patient and family perspective - this would appear to be a natural progression and we could approach the HRB in the future to identify funding for such a venture.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the members of the COP and actors who helped make this film - your patience and commitment have been vital to sustaining me through the entire process from our first meeting in the Spring through to now.

Documentary Update

I am pleased to say that the editing for the documentary is nearly complete - a draft version is available for the participants to view and comment on! and also give their permission for it to be distributed to a wider audience. I still have to make some adjustments to the audio to ensure consistency of sound across the entire film and also have to tweak some of the titles. I have had to be a little creative on occassions when nerves got the better of some of us and rest assured they affected us all one way or another so some transitions had to be inserted and I think they add to sequencing and do not detract at all from the content. I have used differing software in the production of the film - iMovie was used to compile the film and do the editing of the video, the opening sequence and credits were devised in Keynote and imported as a Quickmovie into iMovie. Some of the voice overs were created in Garageband as a podcast and then imported as an MP3 file into iMovie. The soundtracks were by Keith MacLeod and are royalty free and were downloaded from http://incompetech.com/. So all being well I will be able to show the near final product to the group next week. Once again I am so grateful for everyone's help in making and producing this short film... hopefully we are on the final run

Welcome to the PARTNERS Own Avatar!

I have stumbled across two new pieces of software to play with - one of which is demonstrated here on the blog to the right of the screen - in the form of an avatar - a customizable speaking one at that!!! This is an example of one of the new and emerging technologies being incorporated into e-learning programme's to provide a differing interface for students to engage with. The software is created by Oddcast and is accessible at www.oddcast.com.

For fun you can create your avatar for your own web site or social networking site - visit www.voki.com it is simple and easy to use.

Escaping the Wrath of Igor!

Arrived in Toronto on Tuesday evening incurring the wrath of Igor as we flew over the eastern seaboard - devastation in many parts of Canada with fallen power lines and roads and bridges just wantonly tossed aside. Thunderstorms and heavy rain swept through Toronto overnight but today the weather is more promising though it is turning a little cooler 22 degrees!!

Tried to get tickets for the Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey pre season game against the Senators but no joy!!! the ticket prices are astronomical but the opportunity to see a live game is so appealing. Could try to see the baseball game in the Rogers Centre today to see the Blue Jays (Toronto) against the Mariners (Seattle) but I think I should focus on the reason for being here which is the symposium 'Health Outcomes for Better Information and Care... A Foundation for Evidence Based Practice and Quality Care'

The symposium began at 0800hrs this morning and the objectives are as follows:

1. Describe the international state of science on nursing sensitive outcomes measurement and priorities for future research and development.

2. Engage frontline clinicians and managers to share their experience, the perceived benefits, and challenges associated with the integration of outcomes data collection into clinical practice.

3. Establishing a team, consisting of researchers, clinicians, managers, and policy makers, to collaborate on the development of a research protocol investigating strategies for integrating outcomes data collection with evidence based practice, using electronic health records.

An informal review of the first day will be posted later today

AISHE Conference 2010 - Dublin City University August 26th and 27th

I did squeeze some work in over the summer period - Pam and I put a poster together for the AISHE Conference which was held in the School of Nursing in DCU. The poster can be viewed and downloaded from the PARTNERS web site in the resources page.

Now it is nose to the grindstone to get the documentary edited and the dissertation written. The video camera has gone in for a well deserved service and if needs be will be up and running next week.