NR451 RN Capstone Course
Week 1 Discussion
Our Care Culture
Purpose
This week's graded topic relates to the following Course Outcome (CO).
CO 1: Applies principles of nursing, theories, and the care philosophies to self, colleagues, individuals, families, aggregates and communities throughout the healthcare system. (PO 1)
Directions
Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In discussions students:
Demonstrate understanding of concepts for the week
Integrate outside scholarly sources when required
Engage in meaningful dialogue with classmates and/or instructor
Express opinions clearly and logically, in a professional manner
Use the rubric on this page as you compose your answers.
Best Practices include:
Participation early in the week is encouraged to stimulate meaningful discussion among classmates and instructor.
Enter the discussion often during the week to read and learn from posts.
Select different classmates for your reply each week.
Discussion Questions
Care expressed and practiced in professional nursing models provides a way of looking at the nursing role from the aspect of care. It may seem excessive to consider aspects of caring and compassion in nursing. However, precisely because it IS nursing makes it crucial to our continual progress of defining and upholding one of our central professional principles.
Address each of these items:
Reflect on a caring and compassionate experience with a patient or family encountered in your practice.
How was your compassion demonstrated?
How does your thinking about compassion expand to include self and colleagues?
Reflect on the iCARE Self-Assessment and share an insight related to this discussion.
Please complete the iCARE Self-Assessment (Links to an external site.) and download for your own use and information. The self-assessment is not a graded item.
NR451 RN Capstone Course
Week 2 Discussion
Communication and Influence-the Power of Evidence
Purpose
This week's graded topic relates to the following Course Outcome (CO).
CO 3: Demonstrates effective communication with patients, colleagues, and other healthcare providers in managing safe/quality healthcare processes using evidence-based practices. (PO 3)
Directions
Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In discussions students:
Demonstrate understanding of concepts for the week
Integrate outside scholarly sources when required
Engage in meaningful dialogue with classmates and/or instructor
Express opinions clearly and logically, in a professional manner
Use the rubric on this page as you compose your answers.
Best Practices include:
Participation early in the week is encouraged to stimulate meaningful discussion among classmates and instructor.
Enter the discussion often during the week to read and learn from posts.
Select different classmates for your reply each week.
Discussion Questions
Effective communication is a staple of our healthcare culture. Working with patients, peers, and interprofessional teams requires that nurses manage information and evidence toward influencing safe and positive patient outcomes.
Please address the following:
Describe caring attributes of the culture where you currently practice.
Which attributes stand out as having significant influence on patients, nurses, and other healthcare professionals?
How do you see effective communication relating to patient outcomes in this setting?
What is the evidence for this?
NR451 RN Capstone Course
Week 3 Discussion
Resilience and Change
Purpose
This week's graded topic relates to the following Course Outcome (CO).
CO 4: Integrates clinical nursing judgment using effective communication strategies with patients, colleagues, and other healthcare providers. (PO 4)
Directions
Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In discussions students:
Demonstrate understanding of concepts for the week
Integrate outside scholarly sources when required
Engage in meaningful dialogue with classmates and/or instructor
Express opinions clearly and logically, in a professional manner
Use the rubric on this page as you compose your answers.
Best Practices include:
Participation early in the week is encouraged to stimulate meaningful discussion among classmates and instructor.
Enter the discussion often during the week to read and learn from posts.
Select different classmates for your reply each week.
Discussion Questions
Change is part of our daily healthcare environment. Clinical nursing judgments based on quality and safety, as well as protocols and standards, reflect our patient-centered care values.
What steps could you take to develop more resilience in your practice setting?
How might you communicate a change in practice to patients and nursing peers?
NR451 RN Capstone Course
Week 4 Discussion
Advocacy and Cultural Competence
Purpose
This week's graded topic relates to the following Course Outcome (CO).
CO 6: Plans clinical practice activities that integrate professional nursing standards in accordance with the Nursing Code of Ethics and the ANA standards of practice (PO 6).
Directions
Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In discussions students:
Demonstrate understanding of concepts for the week
Integrate outside scholarly sources when required
Engage in meaningful dialogue with classmates and/or instructor
Express opinions clearly and logically, in a professional manner
Use the rubric on this page as you compose your answers.
Best Practices include:
Participation early in the week is encouraged to stimulate meaningful discussion among classmates and instructor.
Enter the discussion often during the week to read and learn from posts.
Select different classmates for your reply each week.
Discussion Questions
Go to the link https://www.thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov/clas/standards (Links to an external site.).
View the National Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services Standards (CLAS) categories aimed at equity and quality care (HHS, n.d.). Notice how these standards overlap with many of the expectations and standards in professional nursing practice!
In what ways are you and your peers using these standards in your areas of nursing practice?
Discuss one nursing action you might incorporate to improve cultural competence in your organization.
NR451 RN Capstone Course
Week 5 Discussion
Interprofessional Collaboration
Purpose
This week's graded topic relates to the following Course Outcome (CO).
CO 7: Integrates the professional role of leader, teacher, communicator, and manager of care to plan cost-effective, quality healthcare to consumers in structured and unstructured settings. (PO 7)
Directions
Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In discussions students:
Demonstrate understanding of concepts for the week
Integrate outside scholarly sources when required
Engage in meaningful dialogue with classmates and/or instructor
Express opinions clearly and logically, in a professional manner
Use the rubric on this page as you compose your answers.
Best Practices include:
Participation early in the week is encouraged to stimulate meaningful discussion among classmates and instructor.
Enter the discussion often during the week to read and learn from posts.
Select different classmates for your reply each week.
Discussion Questions
Planning for our patients during times of transitions (for example: hospital to home, home to rehabilitation facility) involves collaboration with a number of healthcare professionals. Please address the following questions:
How does your facility promote interprofessional collaboration during times of patient transitions?
What is the role of the nurse in patient transitions?
What gaps can you identify in this process related to quality of care? (If you are not currently in practice, please use a previous role or clinical experience in your answers.)
NR451 RN Capstone Course
Week 6 Discussion
Transformational Leadership
Purpose
This week's graded topic relates to the following Course Outcome (CO).
CO 2: Proposes leadership and collaboration strategies for use with consumers and other healthcare providers in managing care and/or delegating responsibilities for health promotion, illness prevention, health restoration and maintenance, and rehabilitative activities. (PO 2)
Directions
Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In discussions students:
Demonstrate understanding of concepts for the week
Integrate outside scholarly sources when required
Engage in meaningful dialogue with classmates and/or instructor
Express opinions clearly and logically, in a professional manner
Use the rubric on this page as you compose your answers.
Best Practices include:
Participation early in the week is encouraged to stimulate meaningful discussion among classmates and instructor.
Enter the discussion often during the week to read and learn from posts.
Select different classmates for your reply each week.
Discussion Questions
Transformational leaders influence those around them and therefore have the potential to alter the culture of a unit or organization. Please address the following topics:
Summarize your general beliefs of what makes a good leader.
Regarding the transformational leadership skills discussed in our required article reading, how do you think your leadership style is perceived by others?
What aspect of the TEACH values discussed in the lesson do you think would most benefit your work environment if adopted?
NR451 RN Capstone Course
Week 7 Discussion
CDC Wonder
Purpose
This week's graded topic relates to the following Course Outcome:
CO 8: Selects evidence for best practices when planning professional nursing care involving systems, processes, and devices for individuals, families, aggregates and communities. (PO 8)
Directions
Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In discussions students:
Demonstrate understanding of concepts for the week
Integrate outside scholarly sources when required
Engage in meaningful dialogue with classmates and/or instructor
Express opinions clearly and logically, in a professional manner
Use the rubric on this page as you compose your answers.
Best Practices include:
Participation early in the week is encouraged to stimulate meaningful discussion among classmates and instructor.
Enter the discussion often during the week to read and learn from posts.
Select different classmates for your reply each week.
Discussion Questions
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Informatics and Surveillance website contains a number of resources nurses could innovatively incorporate in care delivery. The CDC Wonder site could be utilized by nurses in a number of ways. https://wonder.cdc.gov/ (Links to an external site.)
For this discussion you will:
Identify one of the resources at the CDC Wonder site above and describe how a nurse might use this information in practice.
How might nurses utilizing telehealth benefit from these resources?
Address what you find innovative about the link.
Feel free to share some of your nursing innovation ideas!
NR451 RN Capstone Course
Week 8 Discussion
Your Nursing Destiny
Purpose
This week's graded topic relates to the following Course Outcome (CO).
CO 5: Develops a plan for continued personal and professional development through enrollment in graduate education, continuing education programs, certification attainment, professional reading and participation in professional organizations' and service to the community. (PO#5)
Directions
Discussions are designed to promote dialogue between faculty and students, and students and their peers. In discussions students:
Demonstrate understanding of concepts for the week
Integrate outside scholarly sources when required
Engage in meaningful dialogue with classmates and/or instructor
Express opinions clearly and logically, in a professional manner
Use the rubric on this page as you compose your answers.
Best Practices include:
Participation early in the week is encouraged to stimulate meaningful discussion among classmates and instructor.
Enter the discussion often during the week to read and learn from posts.
Select different classmates for your reply each week.
Discussion Questions
Now that each one of you is very close to completing this major accomplishment in your nursing career, please share your professional development plans to keep up to date in your chosen specialty and nursing in general.
In what professional nursing organizations do you currently participate?
What organizations might you think about participating in for the future?
What nursing certifications are you considering?
How might consideration of continuing your education to pursue a graduate degree fit into your future plans?
NR451 RN Capstone Course
Week 3 Assignment
Healthcare Policy
Purpose
In this assignment, you will assess the impact of health legislation on nursing practice and communicate your analysis to your peers. GovTrack.us provides a list of federal health bills that are currently in process in Congressional Committees.
Course Outcomes
This assignment enables the student to meet the following course outcomes:
CO 4: Integrates clinical nursing judgment using effective communication strategies with patients, colleagues, and other healthcare providers. (PO 4)
CO 7: Integrates the professional role of leader, teacher, communicator, and manager of care to plan cost-effective, quality healthcare to consumers in structured and unstructured settings. (PO 7)
Directions
Please review the infographic as a way to guide you in getting started with your assignment: Developing an Assignment with Integrity (Links to an external site.)
View a short tutorial with tips for completing this assignment:
This assignment will be in the format of a PowerPoint presentation (Bullet points and ‘Best Practices for PowerPoint’ should be used).
You are developing this presentation as if you were going to communicate your analysis to your colleagues regarding a current federal bill you believe may be of interest to nurses.
Go to https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/subjects/health/6130 (Links to an external site.) (This is a required site for this assignment.)
Choose a current health-related federal bill of interest from the required site. Read through the bill and develop a summary of the main points in your own words. Include the bill number and name. (You may also use H.R. or S.R. as these are bills in the resolution phase).
Here is a link to our U.S. legislative process (bill to law) for review if you need to review how a bill becomes a law: https://www.congress.gov/legislative-process (Links to an external site.)
For those not familiar with the development of a PowerPoint slideshow, the following link to the Microsoft Office 365 Training (Links to an external site.) may be helpful.
Include the following information in your presentation
o Title slide (Your name, NR451, session, Healthcare Policy assignment)
o Bill name and number (indicate either H.B./H.R. or S.B./S.R.)
o Bill summary (in your own words)
o Address how this bill might relate to a professional nursing practice standard if passed? If not passed? (Choose one standard from the ANA Scope and Standards of Practice textbook)
o How might the bill impact your own nursing practice if passed? If not passed?
o How might you communicate your concerns about or support for this bill to peers and legislators based on nursing practice, standards, or patient outcomes?
o How might this bill impact your community if passed?
o References slide to include the Bill source in APA format.
o Cite the bill reference and any other reference in APA format directly on the slide where the source is used
o No more than 12 slides
Recommended headings for slides after the Title Slide: Bill Identification and Summary; Impact of Bill on Nursing Practice Standard; Impact of Bill on own Nursing Practice; Communication Strategies; Community Impact of the Bill; then, the References slide.
Template
There is no required form or template for this assignment. Please use PowerPoint best practices throughout your presentation.
Best Practices
The following are best practices in preparing this presentation.
• Review directions and rubric thoroughly prior to beginning assignment.
• Watch the short video tutorial on tips for completing the assignment and on developing a PowerPoint.
• Incorporate graphics, clip art, or photographs to increase interest.
• Make slides easy to read with short bullet points and large font.
• Please see the grading criteria and rubrics on this page.
Scholarly Sources and Citations
• Cite all sources on the appropriate slides with (author, year) in APA 7th edition format.
• Spell check for spelling and grammar errors prior to final submission.
NR451 RN Capstone Course
Week 5 Assignment
iCARE Paper
Purpose
The purpose of the iCARE Paper assignment is to explore the concept of interprofessional teams and patient outcomes. Nursing supportive actions of compassion, advocacy, resilience, and evidence-based practice will serve as a way to apply care concepts.
Course Outcomes
This assignment enables the student to meet the following course outcomes:
CO 1: Applies principles of nursing, theories, and the care philosophies to self, colleagues, individuals, families, aggregates and communities throughout the healthcare system. (PO 1)
CO 6: Plans clinical practice activities that integrate professional nursing standards in accordance with the Nursing Code of Ethics and the American Nurses' Association (ANA) standards of practice. (PO 6)
Directions
Please review the infographic as way to guide you in getting started with your assignment: Developing an Assignment with Integrity (Links to an external site.)
View a short tutorial with tips for completing this assignment: iCARE Paper Tutorial (Links to an external site.)
Getting Started: Interprofessional teams are part of practice trends we see developing in all aspects of care delivery. Consider you own work environment (or recent clinical setting).
For this assignment, consider the concept of interprofessional teamwork and patient outcomes.
Look to your current workplace as an example. (If you are not currently employed, look to a past workplace or clinical practice area.)
Apply the components of the iCARE concept to interprofessional teams in a short paper. (Body of the paper to be 3 pages, excluding the title page and references page)
iCARE components are:
C ompassion
A dvocacy
R esilience
E vidence-Based Practice (EBP)
How could you contribute to an interprofessional team and patient outcomes through nursing actions of: compassion, advocacy, resilience, and evidence-based practice?
Select one scholarly nursing article from CINAHL as a resource for your paper.
Additional scholarly sources can be used but are optional.
When searching in the CINAHL database, please limit your search word to one component of the paper you wish to emphasize, such as ‘Resilience’. Searching for the term iCARE will not produce the results you need.
Elements of iCARE paper
Title page
Below are the headings to be used for this assignment.
Introduction: (No heading needed here in APA) Explain the type of work setting you are discussing and whether interprofessional teams are currently present. If interprofessional teams are present, indicate a team function that could be improved. If interprofessional teams are NOT present, indicate what type of team you think might be possible in the setting.
Describe a nursing action item for each component below that could contribute to: interprofessional team support; how this might impact the culture of your unit or organization; and possible impact on patient outcomes.
Compassion
Advocacy
Resilience
Evidence-Based Practice
Summary: Include a summary statement of how iCARE components can support interprofessional teams and patient outcomes. Address how you may be able to influence this process of support for interprofessional teams overall in your unit or organization.
References: List any references used in APA format.
Templates
The prepared paper template is RECOMMENDED for this assignment.
iCare Assignment Template (Links to an external site.) - APA 7th edition
Only the APA 7th edition is to be used in this assignment.
Best Practices??
Please use your browser's File setting to save or print this page.
The template provided is recommended.
Spell check for spelling and grammar errors prior to final submission.?
Use the rubric as a final check prior to submission to ensure all content is clearly addressed.?
Scholarly Sources and Citations?
Use APA format for citations and references.
Please paraphrase throughout. One short quote is permitted.
NR451 RN Capstone Course
Week 6 Assignment
Evidence-Based Practice Change Process
Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is:
To apply a change process using the ACE Star Model of Knowledge Transformation and a systematic review after identifying a clinical topic of concern and related nursing practice issue.
The information from the 'Illustration' part of our lessons in Weeks 1-6 will mentor you through this process. Your change process is to be set up as a pilot project.
Course Outcomes
This assignment enables the student to meet the following course outcomes:
CO 2: Proposes leadership and collaboration strategies for use with consumers and other healthcare providers in managing care and/or delegating responsibilities for health promotion, illness prevention, health restoration and maintenance, and rehabilitative activities. (PO 2)
CO 8: Selects evidence for best practices when planning professional nursing care involving systems, processes, and devices for individuals, families, aggregates and communities. (PO 8)
Directions
Please do not use any of the Nurse Daniel information for your own topic, nursing intervention, or change project. Nurse Daniel serves as an example only to illustrate the change process.
Please review the infographic as way to guide you in getting started with your assignment: Developing an Assignment with Integrity (Links to an external site.)
View a short tutorial with tips for completing this assignment: Evidence-Based Practice Change Process Assignment Tutorial (Links to an external site.) or by reading the transcript (Links to an external site.).
Download the EBP Change Process form (Links to an external site.) during Week 1. The use of this specific form is REQUIRED
Identify a clinical topic and related nursing practice issue you think needs to be changed.
Locate a systematic review on your topic from the CCN Library databases. Be sure this involves nursing actions.
Work through each step of the ACE Star Model as outlined on the assignment form (Star Points 1-5: Discovery, Summary, Translation, Implementation, and Evaluation). Respond to the instructions provided on the form.
Follow the activities and thinking of Nurse Daniel in Weeks 1-6 in the 'Illustration' part of each lesson. He will be working through a clinical topic and nursing practice issue to demonstrate a change (ACE Star Model and systematic review).
Work on a portion of the process each week, as the illustration unfolds.
Best Practices
Please reach out to your instructor for feedback or assistance with your PICOT question as needed.
Required and Additional Background Reading in Weeks 1 and 2 under Readings is available for more information on the ACE Star Model and the use of systematic reviews.
Please see the grading criteria and rubrics on this page.
Please use your browser's File setting to save or print this page.
Scholarly Sources and Citations
Please cite any references (in APA format) of your systematic review or other scholarly document (optional) as needed.
Paraphrasing information, rather than quoting, is expected. No quotes for this assignment please!
