NUR 300 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric
Overview The world of professional nursing practice and health policy is ever evolving to meet the new dynamics of care needs in every setting. As a registered nurse, you are accountable and responsible for making decisions that are consistent with safe, competent, and ethical practices on a daily basis. You also face a variety of complex issues that impact the delivery of your nursing care.
A professional practice issue is any issue or situation that either compromises client care or service by placing a client at risk or affects a nurse’s ability to provide care or service consistent with standards and guidelines and agencies’ and organizations’ policies or procedures.
The final project for this course is a formal written paper that addresses a professional nursing practice issue of your choosing, with your instructor’s approval. You will use evidence-based, peer-reviewed journals and professional databases to identify current literature about the professional practice issue you choose. In addition, you will use literature sources to identify a relevant nursing conceptual framework (or model) that is relevant to the nursing issue that you have chosen. A summation of the literature will be provided. Following this, you will write about the relationships that exist between the literature review of the issue and the current state of nursing practice. Conversely, you might also write about points of contrast between the literature and the actual state of nursing practice. In concluding the paper, you should reiterate the professional nursing practice issue and identify the most salient points of the literature review. The nursing framework will be briefly summarized in terms of how it was related to the practice issue. Finally, you will be asked to briefly reflect upon the writing and identify whether or not the literature review provided support for the issue. Implications of the research for your own practice will complete the paper.
Outcomes In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
Analyze advanced nursing practice roles in investigating potential professional development opportunities Employ appropriate scholarly healthcare resources in researching clinical practice issues Employ nursing conceptual frameworks in informing evidence-based clinical practice solutions Assess the implications of licensure, certification, and scope of practice on professional nurses’ ability to deliver safe, quality care Assess the impact of changing healthcare delivery systems on nursing practice for improving client care
Prompt This project is a formal paper that addresses a professional nursing practice issue of your choice (see the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s website for topic ideas). You may also consider topics such as staffing ratios, the merits of the BSN degree, delegation to unlicensed assistive personnel, or the role of the professional nurse in assisted suicide, with your instructor’s approval. To cover the appropriate range of the research, you should consider using between three and five scholarly or professional sources that establish context for your issue, literature review, legal and ethical implications, relevance to nursing practice, and your conclusion. For this assignment, use the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) database and Cochrane database to identify current information on the topic. Current peer-reviewed, scholarly journals may also be used.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
- Introduction a) Identify your selected nursing practice issue. b) Provide a brief explanation of why you selected it.
- Literature Review: In order to cover the appropriate range of the research, you should consider using between three and five peer-reviewed journals and/or scholarly or professional databases as your sources of information. a) Identify the current journals, databases, or other sources you have chosen to serve as the basis of your paper. b) Justify why you feel the sources you have chosen are the most appropriate ones for your issue. c) Discuss how you selected the research material from those sources that most appropriately address your issue. d) Summarize the information you have collected from your research with regard to your issue. In other words, read your chosen articles and summarize what the authors are saying. Be sure to use proper APA format for your citations.
III. Drawing Connections a) Discuss the extent to which the literature supports the professional issue. In other words, think about whether or not the literature reflects the current issue or problem. Does the literature agree or disagree? In what way? Discuss what the authors are saying with regard to the issue. b) Analyze your issue in terms of its legal and ethical implications. Be sure to provide specific examples to substantiate your claims. c) Assess your issue for its implications on professional licensure.
- Relevance to Healthcare Delivery a) Explain the relationship between your issue and overall healthcare delivery. b) Assess the extent to which your issue might improve or hinder patient care. Be sure to provide current scholarly evidence to support your position.
- Theoretical Foundations a) Select a current conceptual framework that most appropriately applies to your issue. What are the main points of the conceptual model? How do these points relate to your selected issue? Be sure to explain your rationale behind your selection. b) Suggest an alternative conceptual framework that might appropriately apply to your issue, being sure to substantiate your claims with specific examples and research.
- Concluding Reflection a) What impact do you feel the issue you selected might have on your own practice as a professional nurse? Be sure to provide current scholarly evidence to support your position. b) Discuss the ramifications of the issue you selected on your own nursing licensure and practice. In other words, how would this issue affect your nursing license and your overall nursing practice if you encountered it in your work?
- c) How is healthcare delivery overall affected by your issue? In other words, how does the issue that you chose affect healthcare in general and the delivery of quality healthcare?
Milestone One: Identify a Topic
Milestones
This milestone is due in Module Two. Identify a topic for the final issue paper and propose one conceptual model that will provide the framework for the issue paper. This is a non-graded but required activity.
Milestone Two: Literature Review for the Issue Paper This milestone is due in Module Three. For this milestone assignment, you will submit a presentation that includes the highlights of your literature review. This milestone is graded with the Milestone Two Rubric.
Milestone Three: Drawing Connections and Relevance This milestone is due in Module Four. This milestone assignment focuses on the Drawing Connections and the Relevance portions of the issue paper. This milestone is graded with the Milestone Three Rubric.
Milestone Four: Theoretical Foundations and Conclusion This milestone is due in Module Five. This milestone is graded with the Milestone Four Rubric.
Final Project: Submit The final project is due in Module Seven. This final project is graded with the Final Project Rubric.
Final Project Rubric Guidelines for Submission: Your paper should be between 5 and 7 pages in length, not including your cover page and references page, and should be formatted using Times New Roman, 12-point font, and one-inch margins. All citations should be made using proper APA publication format.
