Capstone Proposal
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What is a DNP Capstone Project?
The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) capstone is a program designed to prepare advanced practice nurses at the highest professional level of nursing practice. It also prepares practice nurses for advanced application of nursing knowledge for the sole purpose of improving health care to diverse populations. Nurses who wish to advance their areas of practice, administration, or staff development may consider the DNP capstone option.
The capstone project is a peak of the knowledge acquired in the DNP course. As a culmination project, it allows you to take your newly acquired competencies gained through DNP coursework, clinical experiences, and design a project that focuses on positively impacting the healthcare outcomes, either direct clinical nursing care or indirectly from the system side of nursing.
Since it is the final project a student handles before graduation, the project offers them an opportunity to demonstrate mastery of newly acquired knowledge and skills. As such, the capstone project reflects the latitude of the student’s DNP level work while focusing on the meaningful change to healthcare consequences.
Understanding the Basics of a DNP Project
The DNP capstone is an investigative project in the field of nursing practice, healthcare delivery system, or healthcare policy issue, which aligns with the scope of your doctoral studies. The DNP allows you to translate healthcare research and studies into practice while preparing you to make the move to the role of an active specialist in the delivery of evidence-based, quality healthcare.
Your DNP capstone project should be original and unique. However, the following are basic foundational competencies that are required of all DNP projects irrespective of specialty:
- Scientific Underpinnings for practice
Nursing science, especially the middle-range nursing theories is accredited to the expansion of the field of nursing. A comprehensive understanding of the theory offers a strong background for advancing nursing practice. Therefore, the DNP degree prepares graduates to integrate nursing science with biophysical, organization, psychological, and analytical science. Besides, the scientific underpinning of practice underscores the significance of utilizing science-based concepts to assess and improve health care delivery, as well as enhancing patient outcomes.
- Organizational and Systems Leadership for Quality Improvement
The DNP graduates uniquely contribute to nursing science by assessing, translating, and disseminating research into practice. According to AACN, this essential stresses the DNP graduate’s role in assimilating nursing science and practice into the complex needs of the patients. The key skills required include; the establishment of clinical practice guidelines, designing evidence-based interventions, as well as evaluating practice outcomes.
- Clinical Scholarship and Analytical Methods for Evidence-Based Practice
Training in organizational leadership and systems-level thinking enables DNP clinicians to create unique approaches to the compound problems facing modern healthcare. As such, the clinical scholarship and analytical methods for evidence-based practice focus on the DNP graduate’s role in promising accountability of quality care, patient safety and critically examining the ethical dilemmas essential inpatient care, health care organizations, and scientific research. Moreover, advanced education in systems leadership ensures that DNP graduates possess the skills and knowledge to facilitate meaningful organization-wide changes in health care delivery, and to interface with regime officials to craft initiatives in the health care agenda.
- Information Systems/Technology and patient Care Technology for the Improvement and Transformation of Health Care
Certainly, technology is playing a pivotal role in safe, efficient, and patient-centered care. This essential works to prepare DNP graduates to use information and patient care technologies to support practice leadership and clinical decision making. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of technology puts the DNP graduates at the front of healthcare delivery. It also equips them with knowledge and skills to contribute to technological innovation, evaluate the suitability of healthcare consumer information, and take part in ensuring legal and ethical issues.
- Health Care Policy for Advocacy in Health Care
To actively take part in health care policy, the DNP graduate must learn to identify issues within the health care delivery system and spearhead legislation through negotiation and consensus-building. Besides, this essential focus on critically analyzing health policy to advocate for social justice and the entire nursing profession.
- Inter-Professional Collaboration for Improving Patient and Population Health Outcomes
The IOM promotes the necessity of team-based care for the safety and wellbeing of all patients. The essential prepare DNP graduates to lead inter-personal teams in the examination of multifaceted practices and systems problems through effective communication and collaborative skills. The DNP provides a leadership role in the development and application of practice models, standards of care, and other academic projects.
- Clinical Prevention and Population Health for Improving the Nation’s Health
Nursing theory roots its foundation in health promotion and risk reduction. As such, the DNP degree prepares graduates to evaluate and interpret epidemiological, occupational, biostatistics, and environmental information. All this aims at improving the health of individuals and communities. Therefore, equipping the DNP graduates with the knowledge and skills to create the psychological dimensions and cultural impacts related to population health.
- Advanced Nursing Practice
With the intent to improve patient outcomes, the DNP demonstrates advanced levels of clinical judgment, systems thinking, and delivery of evidence-based care. As such, this essential emphasis on conducting comprehensive needs assessments, mentoring other nurses, and guiding patients through comprehensive situational transitions.
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What is the Purpose of the DNP Project?
The DNP project is to prepare advanced practice nurses at the highest professional level of nursing practice. It also aims to advance the application of nursing knowledge to enhance health care to different populations.
So, if you are a nurse and wish to advance your area of practice, administration, or staff development, you may consider pursuing the DNP option. By the end of your DNP project, you will have gained the tools you need to shine in any advanced practice nursing environment. Here are some of the tools you will have gained:
- Develop and manage innovative health services to enhance access, quality, and health outcomes.
- Improve the culture of safety in health systems through the application of information technologies and evidence-based practice.
- Offer leadership for multidisciplinary teams through an examination of critical indicators and health systems to enhance health status.
- Translate practice inquiry to enhance health services delivery for a diverse community.
- Convert theoretical knowledge into practice to enhance health outcomes.
- Plan culturally competent health services for susceptible communities.
- Analyze, implement, and evaluate the modification of evidence-based health services, systems, and policies.
- Develop and test new models of care that address the comprehensive health needs of individuals, families, and rural communities.
The clinical practicum experience will provide you the opportunity to develop and craft the skills and knowledge needed to demonstrate DNP competency in a specialized nursing practice area.
How to Develop a DNP Project Using an Evidence-Based Approach?
The DNP project is a reflection of your critical thinking skills and your ability to translate research into practice through issues identification, proposal development, implementation, and assessment.
Since the DNP project is crucial for the completion of your program, make sure you write your best by using an evidence-based approach. By using your area of clinical expertise or specialization as the springboard, develop your project using the clear cut evidence-based process. You can do this by:
- Formulate a well-developed question
Describe an original problem, clinical inquiry, identify a problem or issue that you are going to write about. By coming up with a well-developed question, you will be in a better position to focus on it exhaustively rather than going around circles trying to write about a question you don’t have a full understanding of.
- Review the literature to identify evidence-based resources that answer your question
Applying the best evidence from literature makes your project even better. As such, ensure that you have used resources that are rich in evidence-based. That way, you will make you enrich your project with supportive evidence.
- Assess the validity of your resources using evidence
Gather reliable data using standard and acceptable methods and tools. Data plays a significant role in making your DNP project more real and evidence-based.
- Apply that evidence
You must define the outcomes to be measured upon the implementation of your DNP project.
- Implement outcomes and/or assess results
It is vital to re-evaluate the application and identify the areas of improvement crucial for the realization of your evidence-based policies, services, or systems.
Stages and Components of a DNP Project
Even though the design and structure of your DNP project will be as per the requirements of your DNP instructors or advisory committee, your project will most likely include these components:
- Abstract
The abstract section should contain a brief overview of what your DNP capstone project contains, as well as its organization. It should feature the central idea of your DNP and the main points. Moreover, propose any implications or applications of your DNP capstone project.
Make your abstract brief with at most 250 – word paragraph. You can start by providing a concise statement of the issue then follow it up with a description of the research method, design, key findings, and conclusions reached. Make your abstract read like an overview and not a proposal of what your DNP capstone project intends to accomplish.
- Executive summary of the project
The executive summary of your DNP needs to inform the reader what the project is all about. Essentially, the executive summary entails more details than an abstract. Regardless, it needs to have a brief and concise introduction, body, and conclusion.
The overview should cover the main points presented in your project. Preferably, write the executive summary after completing your project. However, make sure that the summary is not just a restatement of your main points. Equally, make sure to do in-text citations in accord with the required format style.
- Introduction to the Project
The introduction to your DNP project should start with a strong and impressive statement that effectively hooks the reader’s attention. Identify the purpose of your project and provide a clear preview of what the project will include. Let the thesis statement come out clearly.
- Description of the problem
In this section, you need to describe the problem and convince the reader of how significant the problem is. Address its importance to the health care system, patients, families, and populations at large. Besides, be sure to give evidence-based statistics about the number of patients dealing with the particular problem, as well as the financial figures, if you can find this data.
- PICOT Question
In this section, include your PICOT question while providing comprehensive descriptions of your population, comparison, intervention, outcome, and timing – if appropriate to your project question. You should also review your operational definitions of the variables in the question. Moreover, if you use definitions from the literature make sure to cite them.
- Theoretical/Conceptual Framework
In this section, you should include the theoretical (conceptual) framework that supports your DNP project. Extensively describe the theory or model to serve as the foundation for your project. This could be a nursing theory or a theory from another field but applicable to your DNP project.
- Synthesis of the Literature
Create at least 10 research materials and systematically review them rather than summarizing the articles. That is, for purposes of evidence rather than anyone’s opinion of the evidence. You need to use primary sources. As such, read them objectively and make your own decision about the quality and applicability to your project question. The literature review must relate directly to your PICOT question. Also, talk about the differences, similarities, and controversies.
- Practice Recommendations
This section will allow you to summarize the strength of the body of evidence – in terms of quality, quantity, and consistency, make a summary statement and recommend for practice change. Besides, include the recommendation for practice based on the evidence you got.
- Project Mission, Vision, Objective
The mission, vision, and objectives of your project should be contained in this section. You need to describe the setting for your project. Also, discuss the congruence between your project’s mission and vision statements and the mission and vision of the organization where you conduct your project. You can also consider including a discussion of both the short-term and long-term objectives of your project.
- Project Plan
In the project plan, you should write a description of your change model and why you selected the model for the specific change. Learn about the model from a primary source. It should be appropriate to the change you are recommending. For example, an individual change or organizational change.
Consider using the change model or an EBP model that describes the process of implementing an EBP change. With the model, you can describe the practice change that you recommend. Make sure your change process should be specific to your setting. Moreover, the change process must be specific to the question and the answer you found through your literature review and your setting.
With the model as a guide, the process should be well-thought-out. As such, describe your project including; discussion of stakeholders, facilitators, barriers, unintended consequences, risks, and your SWOT analysis.
In the plan, including all the resources required for your project and budget, your role in the project, and the leadership skills and quantities that will be used for the effective completion of the project.
- Evaluation and Data Analysis
In this section, include the evaluation of your change project through formative and summative criteria. Be sure to evaluate the outcome identified in the PICOT question as well
Moreover, describe and involve any tool that is to be used in your project evaluation. Discuss the reliability and validity of the tool. Finally, deliberate the planned analysis of your evaluation data.
- Project Results
This section shows the project results within the institution and in the professional community. Discuss the results presented and how it relates to your project question.
- Conclusion
Prepare a summary of your DNP project and its outcomes. Carefully describe every conclusion evident from the results and process of your study. Find a way to innovatively link the summary to the literature review, the results, and the thesis statement. You can present any suggestions to improve how the problem is to be solved.
Present any recommendations that can help in taking care of the problem in the future. Back the recommendations with evidence. Keep in mind that, an evidence-based approach will always capture more attention of your capstone committee and readers as a whole.
- Reference
Keep in mind that this is a reference list and not a bibliography. Your reference list should contain all the in-text citations only. If the source is not cited in the text, it should not be in the reference list. Be sure to format the reference list according to the format required by your instructors.
Although the steps required to complete a DNP project vary from one program to another. However, you can follow these stages in DNP writing:
- The student identifies the area of the DNP project
- A capstone chairperson is selected based on the mutual agreement of the student and faculty member and the clinical or scholarly interests and area of expertise of the faculty member.
- A student selects a capstone committee – at least three faculty members, one of whom, is the capstone chairperson.
- Student earns eligibility to defend the capstone proposal – the proposal must be formally approved by all committee members.
- The student works with the capstone chairperson to develop the proposal, using the committee in an advisory capacity, as required.
- The student makes and distributes the proposal defense to the committee members.
- The student prepares a meeting of the committee to discuss the proposal and rule on its acceptability – the committee members ensure the proposal’s feasibility, clinical relevance, and quality.
- Upon acceptance of the proposal, the student should start the process of implementing the DNP project.
- Students schedule the final defense of the DNP project upon completing the written project and approval from the capstone chairperson.
- Students distribute the final copy to the committee members and prepare for the presentation and oral defense of the DNP project.
- The committee members to critique the project, identify any changes, or additional work yet to be done, and determine the outcome of the DNP project defense.