NRS490 Professional Capstone and Practicum
Week 1 Assignment
Individual Success Plan (ISP)
Planning is the key to successful completion of this course and your overall program of study. The Individual Success Plan (ISP) assignment requires early collaboration with the course faculty and your course mentor. You will need to establish a plan for successful completion of (1) deliverables associated with weekly course objectives, (2), required practice immersion hours, and (3) deliverables associated with your capstone project.
Access the “Individual Success Plan” resource in the Topic Materials. Read the information in the resource, including student expectations and instructions for completing the ISP document.
Use the “Individual Success Plan” to develop a personal plan for completing your practice hours and how topic objectives will be met. Include the number of hours you plan to set aside to meet your goals.
A combination of 100 supervised clinical hours in community health and leadership areas will be obtained through the application of the objectives listed in the Guidelines for Undergraduate Field Experiences manual.
Practicum immersion experiences are required in a community health setting. Community-based settings should encourage community integration and involvement; expand accessibility of services and supports; promote personal preference, strengths, dignity; and empower people to participate in the economic mainstream.
According to HealthyPeople.gov, educational and community-based programs and strategies are designed to reach people outside of traditional health care settings. These settings may include schools, worksites, health care facilities, and communities. Community health and leadership practice immersion can occur in the same site and in conjunction with the evidence-based project in the NRS-490 course.
If you are a registered nurse in Washington, your practicum experience must include a minimum of 50 hours in a community health setting.
Students should apply concepts from prior courses to critically examine and improve their current practice. Students should also integrate scholarly readings to develop case reports that demonstrate increasingly complex and proficient practice.
Consider the challenges you expect to encounter as you continue the practice hour and competency requirements throughout this course. How might you overcome these challenges?
You can renegotiate these deliverables with your faculty and mentor throughout this course and update your ISP accordingly.
Once your ISP has been developed and accepted by your course faculty, you will have your course mentor sign it at the beginning of, and upon completion of, each assignment that incorporates practice immersion hours. You will track all course practice immersion hours in the ISP.
APA format is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.
You are not required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.
NRS490 Professional Capstone and Practicum
Week 1 Assignment
Professional Capstone and Practicum Documentation
The Professional Capstone and Practicum course requires students to select a course mentor. This mentor is not a preceptor, but an individual who will guide students as they work to complete the practice immersion hour requirements for this course. Students are not required to “shadow” their mentor.
The course mentor should be someone who can provide professional development knowledge and guidance and who possesses a genuine interest in working with students to further their academic goals.
Selection, approval, and retention of a course mentor must be completed as soon as possible at the start of this course, as this individual will be working with the student on each assignment that incorporates practice immersion hours. Working with a course mentor is mandatory.
Once a course mentor has agreed to serve in the role, you must complete and submit the following required documentation so that practice experiences can begin in a timely manner:
Field Experience Site Information Form
Qualified Mentor/Preceptor Summary Form
Mentor’s license, certification, and resume/curriculum vitae
The student is responsible for obtaining all signatures for the paperwork submission. Course faculty will approve all sites and mentors according to student learning needs and specific course objectives.
Do not initiate new work on practice-immersion-hour-based course assignments until your course instructor has approved your course mentor.
Once a course mentor is approved, students should contact the mentor within 1 week of receiving the approval notification. Students are encouraged to make an appointment to meet with their mentor in person and arrange to review the NRS-490 course objectives and the Individual Success Plan (ISP).
For more specific information on the course mentor process and roles and responsibilities, refer to Section Three of the Guidelines for Undergraduate Field Experiences resource.
NRS490 Professional Capstone and Practicum
Week 2 Assignment
Capstone Project Topic Selection and Approval
In collaboration with your approved course mentor, you will identify a specific evidence-based practice proposal topic for the capstone project. Consider the clinical environment in which you are currently working or have recently worked. The capstone project topic can be a clinical practice problem, an organizational issue, a quality improvement suggestion, a leadership initiative, or an educational need appropriate to your area of interest as well as your practice immersion (practicum) setting. Examples of the integration of community health, leadership, and an EBP can be found on the “Educational and Community-Based Programs” page of the Healthy People 2020 website.
Write a 500-750 word description of your proposed capstone project topic. Make sure to include the following:
The problem, issue, suggestion, initiative, or educational need that will be the focus of the project
The setting or context in which the problem, issue, suggestion, initiative, or educational need can be observed.
A description providing a high level of detail regarding the problem, issue, suggestion, initiative, or educational need.
Impact of the problem, issue, suggestion, initiative, or educational need on the work environment, the quality of care provided by staff, and patient outcomes.
Significance of the problem, issue, suggestion, initiative, or educational need and its implications to nursing.
A proposed solution to the identified project topic
You are required to retrieve and assess a minimum of 8 peer-reviewed articles. Plan your time accordingly to complete this assignment.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.
NRS490 Professional Capstone and Practicum
Week 3 Assignment
PICOT Statement Paper
Review the Topic Materials and the work completed in NRS-433V to formulate a PICOT statement for your capstone project.
A PICOT starts with a designated patient population in a particular clinical area and identifies clinical problems or issues that arise from clinical care. The intervention should be an independent, specified nursing change intervention. The intervention cannot require a provider prescription. Include a comparison to a patient population not currently receiving the intervention, and specify the timeframe needed to implement the change process.
Formulate a PICOT statement using the PICOT format provided in the assigned readings. The PICOT statement will provide a framework for your capstone project.
In a paper of 500-750 words, clearly identify the clinical problem and how it can result in a positive patient outcome.
Make sure to address the following on the PICOT statement:
Evidence-Based Solution
Nursing Intervention
Patient Care
Health Care Agency
Nursing Practice
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.
NRS490 Professional Capstone and Practicum
Week 4 Assignment
Literature Evaluation Table
In nursing practice, accurate identification and application of research is essential to achieving successful outcomes. Being able to articulate the information and successfully summarize relevant peer-reviewed articles in a scholarly fashion helps to support the student’s ability and confidence to further develop and synthesize the progressively more complex assignments that constitute the components of the course change proposal capstone project.
For this assignment, the student will provide a synopsis of eight peer-reviewed articles from nursing journals using an evaluation table that determines the level and strength of evidence for each of the eight articles. The articles should be current within the last 5 years and closely relate to the PICOT statement developed earlier in this course. The articles may include quantitative research, descriptive analyses, longitudinal studies, or meta-analysis articles. A systematic review may be used to provide background information for the purpose or problem identified in the proposed capstone project. Use the “Literature Evaluation Table” resource to complete this assignment.
While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and in-text citations and references should be presented using APA documentation guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are not required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.
NRS490 Professional Capstone and Practicum
Week 6 Assignment
Literature Review
While the implementation plan prepares students to apply their research to the problem or issue they have identified for their capstone change proposal project, the literature review enables students to map out and move into the active planning and development stages of the project.
A literature review analyzes how current research supports the PICOT, as well as identifies what is known and what is not known in the evidence. Students will use the information from the earlier PICOT Statement Paper and Literature Evaluation Table assignments to develop a 750-1,000 word review that includes the following sections:
Title page
Introduction section
A comparison of research questions
A comparison of sample populations
A comparison of the limitations of the study
A conclusion section, incorporating recommendations for further research
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.
NRS490 Professional Capstone and Practicum
Week 9 Assignment
Benchmark – Capstone Project Change Proposal
In this assignment, students will pull together the change proposal project components they have been working on throughout the course to create a proposal inclusive of sections for each content focus area in the course. At the conclusion of this project, the student will be able to apply evidence-based research steps and processes required as the foundation to address a clinically oriented problem or issue in future practice.
Students will develop a 1,250-1,500 word paper that includes the following information as it applies to the problem, issue, suggestion, initiative, or educational need profiled in the capstone change proposal:
Background
Problem statement
Purpose of the change proposal
PICOT
Literature search strategy employed
Evaluation of the literature
Applicable change or nursing theory utilized
Proposed implementation plan with outcome measures
Identification of potential barriers to plan implementation, and a discussion of how these could be overcome
Appendix section, if tables, graphs, surveys, educational materials, etc. are created
Review the feedback from your instructor on the Topic 3 assignment, PICOT Statement Paper, and Topic 6 assignment, Literature Review. Use the feedback to make appropriate revisions to the portfolio components before submitting.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.
NRS490 Professional Capstone and Practicum
Week 10 Assignment
Benchmark – Professional Capstone and Practicum Reflective Journal
Students are required to maintain weekly reflective narratives throughout the course to combine into one course-long reflective journal that integrates leadership and inquiry into current practice as it applies to the Professional Capstone and Practicum course.
In your journal, you will reflect on the personal knowledge and skills gained throughout this course. The journal should address a variable combination of the following, depending on your specific practice immersion clinical experiences:
New practice approaches
Intraprofessional collaboration
Health care delivery and clinical systems
Ethical considerations in health care
Population health concerns
The role of technology in improving health care outcomes
Health policy
Leadership and economic models
Health disparities
Students will outline what they have discovered about their professional practice, personal strengths and weaknesses that surfaced, additional resources and abilities that could be introduced to a given situation to influence optimal outcomes, and finally, how the student met the competencies aligned to this course.
While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and in-text citations and references should be presented using APA documentation guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.
NRS490 Professional Capstone and Practicum
Week 10 Assignment
Scholarly Activities
Throughout the RN-to-BSN program, students are required to participate in scholarly activities outside of clinical practice or professional practice. Examples of scholarly activities include attending conferences, seminars, journal club, grand rounds, morbidity and mortality meetings, interdisciplinary committees, quality improvement committees, and any other opportunities available at your site, within your community, or nationally.
You are required to post one scholarly activity while you are in the BSN program, which should be documented by the end of this course. In addition to this submission, you are required to be involved and contribute to interdisciplinary initiatives on a regular basis.
Submit, as the assignment, a summary report of the scholarly activity, including who, what, where, when and any relevant take-home points. Include the appropriate program competencies associated with the scholarly activity as well as future professional goals related to this activity. You may use the “Scholarly Activity Summary” resource to help guide this assignment.
While APA format is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and in-text citations and references should be presented using APA documentation guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
You are not required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.
NRS490 Professional Capstone and Practicum
Week 10 Assignment
Practice Immersion Clinical Evaluation Tools Submission
Practice Immersion Clinical Evaluation Tool – Agency/Site
Agency/Site Criteria
StudentEvaluation
Faculty Evaluation
Comments
Does Not Meet
Meets
Excels*
Does Not Meet
Meets
Excels*
Agency/site was able to provide the opportunities for the student to meet practice immersion clinical objectives.
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Agency/site was able to establish a comfortable, yet stimulating, practice environment.
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Criteria:
Does Not Meet: Elements are missing.
Meets: Agency/site meets this criterion.
Excels: Agency/site meets this criterion and further a teaching point opportunity or expanded information, guidance, or other element to further enhance student learning.
Agency/site – strengths:
.
