NR451 RN Capstone
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?
What other ways do you wish you would have expressed caring?
How does your thinking about compassion expand to include self and colleagues?
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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?