N599 Nursing Capstone
Module 1 Assignment
Submit Capstone Proposal
Submit a proposal based on the Capstone proposal template.
When you have chosen a topic and received approval from your capstone mentor, you can proceed to complete the capstone proposal template. The template is designed to guide you through specific steps that will become the blueprint to follow for the rest of your project.
Project Title
Write the name of your project.
Project Description
This should be a half page to a page detailed description of what exactly your project is.
Project Rationale
Two to three paragraphs stating the need for, and justification of, selecting this project. Who will benefit and how will they benefit from this project (not including yourself)? What is the significance of the project, and how will it advance nursing science?
Personal/Professional Expectations
Two to three paragraphs on what you hope to gain from this project, both professionally and personally.
Project Goals
Succinctly describe the long-and short-term goals of your project. This may include a research question or hypothesis, depending upon the major objectives of the project.
Analysis of the Literature
Your proposal should also include a brief review of the existing research on your topic and a discussion comparing this research to your project focus. How will your proposed research meet the gaps in existing nursing knowledge? The proposal should address how you plan to review the existing literature, what sources you plan to use.
Procedure
This is the major section of your proposal, and includes a step-by-step description of how you intend to carry out your project. It includes a discussion of how you intend to meet your goals, including resources you will need, where you intend to find them, and an estimated timeline of how long each step will take.
Evaluation
Half a page to a page on how your project is to be evaluated. Is your healthcare organization/academic setting going to evaluate it? How? Community evaluation? What specifically will make your project a success, both to you and to others?
N599 Nursing Capstone
Module 2 Assignment
Submit Chapter 1 Introduction and Purpose
In the first chapter, clearly state what the purpose of the study is and explain the study's significance. The significance is addressed by discussing how the study adds to nursing's body of knowledge in the field and the study's practical significance for communication among professionals in the field. Without a clearly defined introduction, purpose and strong theoretical grounding, the project is fundamentally flawed from the outset.
This chapter is typically 5 pages in length.
N599 Nursing Capstone
Module 4 Assignment
Literature Review
The foundation of the study should suggest some theoretical framework to be explained further in this chapter. The literature review thus describes and analyzes previous research on the topic or a gap in information that your project may fill. This chapter, however, should not merely string together what other researchers have found. Rather, you should discuss and analyze the body of knowledge with the ultimate goal of determining what is known and is not known about the topic.
This section should contain a discussion of OTHER PEOPLE's research. This is not the section to include information about your project. Do not include your own opinions or findings from your data. Begin by describing which databases you searched, search terms you used, how you narrowed your search, how you selected those references you will discuss in this section.
The Literature Review is what others have written that provide a foundation to the content of your quality improvement activity, an underpinning theory, framework and support for the method you chose for delivery--does that help to expand it? A well-written Literature Review section demonstrates to the reader that you are expert in the problem you examined current, best practice to inform your project
The Literature Review should begin with a paragraph that describes which databases you searched, which search terms you used, which strategies you used, and what you yielded. This shows the extent of your search. Then you describe how you focus on about 35 of the retrieved references and briefly summarize how their content forms the foundation for your project. This section should be about 10 pages and content should be separated with APA first and second level headings.
How to perform a Boolean Search
Boolean logic is used to search methodically for information about your topic. Boolean operators (named after a mathematician Boole) are simple words (AND, NOT, OR, and AND NOT) that are used as conjunctions to either combine or exclude keywords in a search, which focus results and make them more productive. This will save the writer wasted effort and lost time by focusing on articles that are pertinent to what is being researched. Although search engines and database collections might use them differently, there are certain basic operations that are used in retrieval logic.
Proximity Operators (with, near and others) can also help you in searching.
AND—requires both terms to be in each item returned. (Narrows the search)
OR—either term (or both) will be in the returned document. (Broadens the search)
NOT or AND NOT (dependent upon the coding of the database's search engine)—the first term is searched, then any records containing the term after the operators are subtracted from the results. (Using Parentheses—Using the ( ) to enclose search strategies will customize your results to more accurately reflect your topic. Search engines deal with search statements within the parentheses first, then apply any statements that are not enclosed.
Select keywords from your search that are specific to topic and content, as you will use these words under your abstract.
N599 Nursing Capstone
Module 5 Assignment
Submit Chapter 3 Method
This chapter describes and justifies the data gathering method used and outlines how you analyzed your data.
Begin by describing the method you chose and why this method was the most appropriate.
Next, detail every step of the data gathering and analysis process.
Although this section varies depending on method and analysis technique chosen, many of the following areas typically are addressed:
Description of population (reviewers or participants)
Description of design type
Justification for inclusion/exclusion of content
Development of instrument, tool or method for obtaining feedback (surveys, interviews, observation, content analysis)
Identification of themes/categories
This section should be about 4-6 pages and content should be separated with APA first and second level headings.
N599 Nursing Capstone
Module 6 Assignment
Submit Chapter 4 Finding and Recommendations
This chapter does not include discussing other research literature or the implications of your findings. Usually you begin by outlining any descriptive or exploratory/confirmatory analyses (e.g., reliability tests, factor analysis) that were conducted. Next, address the results of the tests of hypotheses, then discuss any ex post facto analysis. Tables and/or figures should be used to illustrate and summarize all numeric information.
For qualitative or historical projects, this chapter usually is organized by the themes or categories uncovered in your research. If you have conducted focus groups or interviews, it is often appropriate to provide a brief descriptive (e.g., demographic) profile of the participants first. Direct quotation and paraphrasing of data from focus groups, interviews, or historical artifacts then are used to support the recommendations made. In some cases, this analysis also includes information from field notes or other interpretative data e.g., life history information).
Discussion of Findings
Data analysis, limitations of project design, conclusions drawn should be included. Discuss limitations of size or sampling. Share what your reviewers/participants said in the evaluation tool. Share actual quotes and how you coded the material. What conclusion can you draw from the data? Did it confirm or contradict research found in your literature review?
Recommendations
What are you going to do in the future with this project? Now that you finished the project, what are you going to do with this information and/or project?
This section should be about 6-8 pages and content should be separated with APA first and second level headings.
N599 Nursing Capstone
Module 7 Assignment
Conclusion, References and Formal Paper
This Conclusion section should be about 2-3 pages and content should be separated with APA first and second level headings.
Remember to submit your work following the file naming convention FirstInitial.LastName_M01.docx. For example, J.Smith_M01.docx. Remember that it is not necessary to manually type in the file extension; it will automatically append.
Start by reading and following these instructions:
1. Quickly skim the questions or assignment below and the assignment rubric to help you focus.
2. Read the required chapter(s) of the textbook and any additional recommended resources. Some answers may require you to do additional research on the Internet or in other reference sources. Choose your sources carefully.
3. Consider the discussions and any insights gained from it.
4. Create your Assignment submission and be sure to cite your sources, use APA style as required, check your spelling.
Assignment:
Submit a formal paper describing the Capstone project
Your Formal Capstone Project submission must be professionally prepared and free of typographical, spelling and grammatical errors. The formatting protocol of the American Psychological Association is the approved format for Aspen University. For detailed guidance refer to the websites and resources referenced in the ProQuest Library.
The specific length of the formal document may vary somewhat depending upon the topic selected, the use of tables, matrices, graphs, or other visual supplements. The following sections should be included:
Title page
Abstract
Introduction (Background, Significance, Justification)
Purpose
Literature review
Method (as appropriate for your project--- may include research design, procedures, evaluation methods, etc.)
Discussion of findings
Recommendations
Conclusion
References
Appendices as appropriate.
The Formal Capstone Project submission should be prepared using the Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as appropriate), appropriately paginated using a twelve-point standard style font (Times New Roman) and written using current APA guidelines.
This module is worth 550 points of your final grade.
At the completion, you will submit copies of your final Capstone project to the dropbox.
N599 Nursing Capstone
Module 8 Assignment
Oral Presentation
Capstone Project Oral Presentation.
The oral presentation will take place via teleconference within your community setting. You will be on camera and be asked to provide proof of identification, such as a passport or government issued ID card. Other faculty, administrative members of Aspen University and your guests may also be present. Thirty minutes will be allowed for the oral presentation. For the first twenty minutes, using a visual presentation, you will present your Capstone project, summarizing the aspects of the project that were reported in the formal paper. Visual aides must be included, and may be either a Powerpoint®, Impress®, Prezi®, or poster-board. For the final ten minutes, the Capstone Mentor/Instructor will have an opportunity to question you about various aspects of the project. If time allows, other audience or faculty members may also ask questions/seek clarification.
If the oral presentation is unsatisfactory, the student will be given one opportunity to improve performance. If a second “unsatisfactory” presentation is delivered, you will receive a failing grade for this course, which falls under the policies and procedures of Aspen University.