Description of Project

All students in the SPU Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program are required to complete a DNP Scholarly Project in collaboration with a healthcare agency as a degree requirement.  The student will assess a problem, develop a plan with the agency, then implement the project, evaluate the process, and disseminate their findings with consideration of sustainability.  

Types of Scholarly Projects:

Suitable projects are evidence based and arise from needs of the agency or system meaning the nature of 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.  

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:

Also called "project deliverables". 

1. An executive summary of the project results is presented to agency staff on site.
2. Agency personnel are also invited to the public presentation of the final project.
3. 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.

Timeline

Projects for implementation in the 2022-2023 year should be submitted no later than May 22, 2022. However we welcome your ideas at any time and we will work with you to match future students with suitable projects.

Receiving project ideas from agencies early in the project cycle gives students general topic areas that they can then begin to research and build their knowledge base. As students investigate these practice questions they begin to evaluate and translate evidence and consider specific quality improvement processes for identified practice settings, systems, or with specific populations to improve health or health outcomes. The students can potentially share this information with you in preparation for the planning and implementation of the project.