Running head: NEEDS ASSESSMENT CYCLE

Needs Assessment Cycle

Tim Hastings
CUR/518
February 2, 2015
Cynthia Loeffler

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Needs Assessment Cycle

A needs assessment was requested for an upcoming training course. The needs
assessment will follow the eight (8) step design provided in Program Evaluation: An Introduction
(5th ed.) (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010). The steps will illustrate the cycle of how to conduct a
needs assessment from clearly understanding the need all the way to disseminating the final
report listing all of the findings of the needs assessment.
Step 1. Clearly Understand
Purpose of the Needs Assessment
The purpose of the needs assessment is to determine the need for a cardiopulmonary
resuscitation course for United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) employees within the prescribed state. Is there a need for this
type of training? Is there a course already available to the NRCS to teach the skills associated to
cardiopulmonary resuscitation? If not, is there a course available for use within the community
to teach these skills?
Determining the answers to the above questions will help lead to a better understanding
of whether or not a cardiopulmonary resuscitation course is necessary within the NRCS at this
specific state level. Is there enough of a need to search out and obtain this type of training?
Level of Assessment: Statewide, Community, Neighborhood
Providing a questionnaire/survey to office personnel will allow the individuals to have
their input as to whether there is a need and if they would attend the course if it was offered to
them in a free or pay scenario.

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What Stakeholders to Include: Clients or Potential Clients, Program Staff, Key

Community Leaders, State Officials, etc.
The stakeholders identified for this training opportunity is the State Conservationist and
the Management Team Members. These individuals have the largest stake in this training
program because it provides training to the employees on life saving skills, which can help them
in the office as well as within the servicing community. The skills learned are transferable into
all aspects of the trainees life whether they are at the office, in the field, out shopping or even
home with loved ones. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a learned skill that can affect everyone.
Budget and Available Resources
In this needs assessment, the budget is set at $250. At this price, it allows one (1)
individual to obtain their cardiopulmonary resuscitation instructor certification through the
American Heart Association (AHA) for the Heartsaver CPR course (American Heart
Association, 2015). By having the individual obtain the training, it allows for a more rounded
knowledge of the need as well as having an instructor on hand ready to begin the training of the
office personnel.
Time Allotted for the Project
The Management Team has allotted one (1) year for the assessment and one (1) year to
implement the findings into an action plan for the training program.
Step 2. Identify the Specific Information You Need to Acquire
Within this needs assessment the information needed to acquire is whether a
cardiopulmonary resuscitation course is necessary, the cost effectiveness of acquiring the course
through an outside agency or by training an employee to teach a course to other employees.
Does the Management Team and the employees want a cardiopulmonary resuscitation course?

NEEDS ASSESSMENT CYCLE

What is the cost effectiveness of acquiring an outside agency or having an employee trained to
teach the course?
Step 3. Determine Whether the Information Already Exists or Can Be Obtained With Your
Resources
Historically this type of course has been offered by bringing in a certified instructor to
teach courses to multiple employees. The course the company had attended was only good for
one year at a time. With further research, the pricing has been determined to be comparable
between the two (2) major training providers. The course has not been taught in the past few
years. The needs assessment is being conducted to determine the need or want to have the
course available to employees again.
Step 4. Design the Methodology and Instrumentation (If Necessary)
Since the course has not been available for the past couple of years, a needs assessment is
being conducted to determine the viability of introducing the course again to the employees.
Since this course is considered a safety course, management will bring it back with employee
interest. A questionnaire/survey has been created to determine the level of interest the employees
have in attending and learning lifesaving skills in a cardiopulmonary resuscitation course.
Questionnaire/Survey
1. If a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) course was offered at your place of work at no
cost, would you enroll in the course to learn current life-saving skills?
a. Yes, I would enroll.
b. No, I would not enroll.
c. Undecided, I need more information about the program.

2. If a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) course was offered at your place of work for
$12 a course, would you enroll in the course to learn current life-saving skills?

NEEDS ASSESSMENT CYCLE

a. Yes, I would enroll.

b. No, I would not enroll.
c. Undecided, I need more information about the program.
3. If you answered Yes to either of the above questions, chose all that apply concerning to
what level you would like to learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
a. Adult
b. Child (ages 1-7)
c. Infant (ages Birth to 1)
Comments:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Step 5. Collect and Analyze the Data
The questionnaire/survey was administered to fifty (50) employees. The employees were
allotted one (1) week to complete the questionnaire/survey lasting up to one (1) month of data
collection.
Data Collection
Fifty (50) individuals were surveyed with the following results.
Question 1
Question 2

Yes
46
32

No
2
6

Undecided
2
12

Question 3

Adult
46

Child
31

Infant
17

Step 6. Prepare the Report

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Using the obtained information, a preliminary report was completed to disseminate the
information. The report contained the questionnaire/survey to show the Management Team what
was asked of the employees. It also contained the data results showing where the employees
would like to have the cardiopulmonary resuscitation course available to attend.
Step 7. Disseminate Preliminary Results to Key Stakeholders to Obtain Their Feedback
The report was disseminated to all members of the Management Team for their feedback.
After reviewing the preliminary report, the Management Team agreed to reinstate the course to
the normal rotation of training courses. With the cost comparison in the report, the American
Heart Association course was the course chosen to implement. This allowed the training of the
one (1) employee to become an instructor of the cardiopulmonary resuscitation to present the
course to the employees.
Step 8. Formally Disseminate Results
Once the Management Team made the decision, the results of the needs assessment were
published for all employees to view. The first course will be taught in the coming weeks.
Conclusion
A needs assessment was requested for an upcoming training course. The needs
assessment has followed the eight (8) step design provided in Program Evaluation: An
Introduction (5th ed.) (Royse, Thyer, & Padgett, 2010). The steps illustrated the cycle of how to
conduct a needs assessment from clearly understanding the need all the way to disseminating the
final report listing all of the findings of the needs assessment. The course has been approved and
scheduled to begin within the next few weeks.

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References

American Heart Association (2015) Find a Course. Retrieved on February 2, 2015 from website
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/CPRAndECC/CPR_UCM_001118_SubHomePage.jsp
The American National Red Cross (2015) Training and Certification. Retrieved on February 2,
2015 from website http://www.redcross.org/take-a-class
Royse, D., Thyer, B., & Padgett, D. (2010) Program Evaluation: An Introduction (5th Ed).
California: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Retrieved from University of Phoenix University
Library
https://newclassroom3.phoenix.edu/Classroom/#/contextid/OSIRIS:48150623/context/co/vie
w/activityDetails/activity/ce10d3ce-eeba-4422-9be0-7d5e2ab14857/expanded/False