What is it and how do I get it done?
According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN, 2018), nursing scholarship is defined as the generation, synthesis, translation, application and dissemination of knowledge that aims to improve health and transform care. Nursing scholarship entails the communication of knowledge that is generated through multiple forms of inquiry that inform clinical practice, nursing education, policy and healthcare delivery (AACN, 2018). As a practice discipline, nursing scholarship informs science, enhances clinical practice, influences policy and impacts best practices (AACN, 2018). According to the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA) (2019), “scholarly work represents an evidence-based inquiry using scholarship skills resulting in an academically sound product to improve clinical practice” (p. 9).
The DNP project provides opportunity for students to integrate newly learned skills into practice and to demonstrate how to apply principles of nursing practice scholarship guided by competencies outlined in the AACN’s eight DNP Essentials (AACN, 2019b).
A DNP Project may focus on an intervention, a program, a policy, a quality improvement project, a nursing informatics project, or a creative entity that promotes improvement or change related to the health of individuals and populations or healthcare and systems.
The DNP Essentials define the curricular elements that must be present in DNP programs. Required by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) for schools seeking accreditation for DNP programs, the DNP Essentials outline the foundational competencies that are core to all Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) roles including nurse practitioners (NPs), clinical nurse specialists (CNS), nurse anesthetists (CRNA) and nurse midwives (AACN, 2019a).
A good DNP Project question answers the following:
Project ideas are generated by asking yourself the following:
Ideas for DNP projects can be found by searching through University Institutional Repositories that house previously completed projects.
DNP project ideas can also be generated by attending an actual DNP oral or poster dissemination at UB. Oral dissemination announcements are posted through the DNP listserv and poster disseminations are held in April at UB School of Nursing's Research Day.
All courses in the DNP program curriculum are designed to prepare you to complete the DNP Project requirement. See below for how our curriculum relates to each section of the DNP Project.
DNP Project Section | Related Course in DNP Curriculum |
---|---|
Background and Significance | NGC518 Health Promotion NGC520 Scientific Writing |
Project Question, Purpose and Objective(s) | NGC526 Evidence I NGC527 Evidence II NGC701 State of Science |
Theoretical Framework | NGC501 Conceptual Foundations NGC632 Health Care Policy NGC634 Leadership Concepts |
Literature Review | NGC701 State of Science |
Methods and Design | NGC502 Informatics NGC638 Program Evaluation |
Human Protection and Ethical Considerations | NGC527 Evidence II NGC798 DNP Project I |
Results | NGC526 Evidence I NGC527 Evidence II NGC799 DNP Project I |
After establishing a DNP project idea/area of interest, the next step is to research your idea by performing a literature search to determine what type of research has or has not already been done on your topic of interest. Look at your idea through different views such as the view of the project site stakeholder(s), patient(s), and/or provider(s). Each view will have a different perspective on your idea. Look at theoretical frameworks that match the view on which you want to focus.
The final step is to find a project site stakeholder interested in your idea. Remember, faculty are always here to help you (by appointment) through coursework designed to assist you through the planning, implementation and dissemination of your DNP project.
After establishing a DNP project idea/area of interest, your program advisor can guide you through the next steps.
· Quality Improvement
· Translating Evidence into Practice
· Clinical or Practice-Based Information
· Health Care Delivery Innovation
· Program Development and Evaluation
· Demonstration Project
· Health Care Policy
· Generating New Evidence or Knowledge
Dissemination examples for DNP projects include the following (AACN, 2019b; COA, 2019):
An excellent DNP project resource is Abbott Library’s (HSL) Research Help website. Here you will find Research Guides, Tips, Workshops, Educational Services and Scholarly Publishing.