NURS 8002 Assignment Linking Areas of Focus into Future Plans for the DNP

NURS 8002 Assignment Linking Areas of Focus into Future Plans for the DNP

The increased need for better patient care has only led to the need to give nurses better training. Therefore, the Doctor of Nursing program has played a central role in preparing nurses to offer better care and improve nursing knowledge (McCauley et al., 2020). Indeed, the DNP programs have been designed to spur nurses towards accomplished scholars and scientists through the research process, professional development, and scientific content. Central to the completion of a DNP program at Walden University is the requirement that a nursing student undertakes both a practicum and a doctoral project. The completion of the practicum and doctoral projects aligns with the achievement of the AACN DNP essentials. Therefore, the aim of this week’s assignment is to discuss how completing the DNP project and practicum experience aligns with the AACN DNP Essentials.

The AACN DNP Essentials and Completion of the Doctoral Project

            The eight AACN DNP essentials have been key in the training of nurses to become DNP-prepared professionals. While several of the essentials align to the completion of the doctoral project, some are more aligned than others. One of such is the first essential “Scientific underpinnings for practice” (Spencer, 2019). As part of the training, the DNP student is expected to explore various nursing theories and apply the same in the projects as frameworks. Such frameworks form a key foundation that then fosters the completion of the projects. In addition, the DNP student develops sufficient skills to use and apply scientific concepts in evaluating care to foster healthcare delivery and patient care. During my project, I will focus on improving patient outcomes using the scientific underpinnings for practice. The end result is improved care standards and better patient outcomes.

             The other essential is the fourth essential, “Information systems/technology and patient care technology for the improvement and transformation of health care” (Spencer, 2019). Advances in technology and technological applications imply that technology and technological applications form part and parcel of most of the DNP projects. Therefore, the DNP candidates engage in various applications such as technology-based healthcare equipment, nursing informatics, and other process and quality improvement technological applications. The engagements enable the DNP candidate to better understand technology and horn technological skills to improve patient care. During the doctoral project, I envision using various technological applications and already invented healthcare technology equipment for quality improvement.

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            The other essential is essential number six, “Interprofessional collaboration for improving patient and population health outcomes” (Spencer, 2019). The completion of the project requires that the DNP student engages with other professionals in the healthcare field to ensure that the patients get better outcomes. For instance, in ensuring that mental health patients have better patient outcomes, the DNP candidate, through the project, may have to collaborate with doctor specialists in mental health, psychologists, and counselors to define better strategies for better outcomes. When the student complete the DNP project, they acquire relevant collaboration skills to undertake future collaborative engagements and ensure improved patient outcomes. During the project, I will be expected to identify a potential practice gap that can be addressed to improve patient outcomes or process outcomes. As such, successful identification of such a gap and eventually addressing it will align to the sixth DNP essential.

The AACN DNP Essentials and Completion of Practicum

            The identified essentials also relate to the completion of practicum experience. During the practicum sessions, a student gets a chance to interact with patients in real-life settings and apply what has been gained through training (Valdres & Smith, 2019). Various activities happen during practicum; for example, by undertaking efforts to address higher rates of hospital readmissions among mental health patients, there is an alignment to the scientific underpinnings as the student has to apply strategies that have been scientifically proven.

“Interprofessional collaboration for improving patient and population health outcomes” (Spencer, 2019) also relates to the completion of practicum experience. The DNP candidate has to collaborate with various individuals in the practicum setting for a complete and enriching experience during the practicum. For example, in offering care to mental health patients, collaboration with various professionals in the practicum setting is in ensuring that the candidate performs relevant care actions that can positively influence the patient’s health. Again, the essential, “Information systems/technology and patient care technology for the improvement and transformation of health care” (Spencer, 2019), also relates to the completion of practicum experience in that during practicum, the DNP candidate is expected to use various technology and technological applications to improve patient outcome. For example, the use of various patient monitoring devices and applications. The use of various technological applications in the practicum setting will therefore help in transforming health care and improving patient care practices and processes.

Conclusion

            In conclusion, the AACN DNP essentials have formed an integral part of the DNP training since its inception. Therefore, by completing practicum experience or DNP project, such a completion by the DNP candidate more or less aligns to the DNP essential. Therefore, this assignment has explored essentials number one, four, and six as the essentials that the completion of the project mostly aligns to.

References

McCauley, L. A., Broome, M. E., Frazier, L., Hayes, R., Kurth, A., Musil, C. M., … & Villarruel, A. M. (2020). Doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degree in the United States: Reflecting, readjusting, and getting back on track. Nursing Outlook, 68(4), 494-503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2020.03.008

Spencer, T. (2019). The DNP project—The essentials. Leadership and Systems Improvement for the DNP, 221.

Valdres, R., & Smith, M. (2019). DNP essentials and its application to clinical practice: Practicum I synthesis paper. https://ruv.neocities.org/nurs6035.pdf