Description of Project
The nature of the scholarly projects will vary. Projects are related to advanced practice in the nursing specialty and benefit a group, population, or community rather than an individual patient. Suitable projects are evidence based and arise from needs of the agency or system. The student works with other agency team members to develop and implement the proposed project.
Types of scholarly projects may include:
- Quality improvement initiatives
- Implementation and evaluation of evidence-based practice guidelines
- Integration of a practice change
- Design and evaluation of new models of care
- Design and evaluation of health care programs (e.g. tailored to underserved communities or address disparities in care)
- Evaluation of a practice model
- Pilot study
- Policy implementation, analysis, revision
- Implementation of a policy, project, or practice guideline
- Design and use of databases to retrieve information for decision-making, planning, evaluation
- Design and evaluation of innovative uses of technology to enhance/evaluate care
A shared feature of these examples is the use of evidence and systems leadership to improve healthcare outcomes, whether at the practice, patient population, or health system level.
The projects involve collaboration, assessment of need, implementation, cost analysis as applicable, evaluation of outcomes, and recommendations for policy change and sustainability. The students need to complete the project within 6 months from start of the implementation phase, so the specific aspect of the student’s project must be limited in scope. Some projects may be new initiatives or focus on on-going processes. We anticipate that several students could potentially work on different aspects of one project, if appropriate, or future students can continue to work on next steps in the practice change process.
Project Products
An executive summary of the project results is presented to agency staff on site. Agency personnel are also invited to the public presentation of the final project on the Seattle Pacific University campus. Students are encouraged to disseminate the results of their projects via professional poster and podium presentations and will submit a manuscript to the Nursing program. The agency is identified only with the written permission of the agency.
Agency Responsibility
The agency will appoint a staff member to be a mentor for the student working on the project. The mentor will meet periodically with the student to ensure the project is progressing in the direction desired by the agency and guide the student throughout the project. The mentor will also guide the student through the agency IRB application if deemed appropriate.
The agency is asked to sign a DNP Scholarly Project Agreement with the student and Seattle Pacific University prior to the start of the implementation phase.(see attached).
Graduate Nursing Program Responsibility
Seattle Pacific University faculty supervise the student throughout the DNP project. Faculty will meet with the student on a regular basis to guide the student throughout the preparation and implementation of the DNP project. The faculty will collaborate and seek input from the agency as needed.