Apply skills in using patient care technologies, information systems, and clinical decision support tools to promote safe nursing practice and quality patient outcomes

Apply skills in using patient care technologies, information systems, and clinical decision support tools to promote safe nursing practice and quality patient outcomes

NUR 490 Capstone Project Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
As the final stop in your journey toward your Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, you will complete a capstone that integrates the knowledge and skills you
have developed in previous coursework. Over the duration of the capstone course, you will create a proposal for change designed to address a specific healthcare-related need in the organization where you currently work or a place where you have previously worked, or an issue of local, state, or national importance, subject to instructor approval. You will also reflect on your journey through the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program and how you plan to position yourself professionally by developing a brief philosophy of nursing statement. This statement will be an important tool for discussing the knowledge,
skills, and abilities that you have gained from the RN-BSN program and your own nursing values with potential employers or graduate school admissions officers.
Together, these capstone artifacts will set you apart from other workforce and/or graduate school applicants by showcasing your unique abilities and talents. The artifacts will demonstrate your current knowledge, theoretical foundations, and expertise in the nursing profession and your ability to improve your own performance and that of your organization through thoughtful reflection on your own practice.
Evaluation of Capstone
This capstone will be assessed somewhat differently than other courses you have taken online at SNHU. There are two separate components that operate
together to comprise the whole capstone experience and are not assessed separately. You will be evaluated on both artifacts as a one cohesive unit in determining whether you have demonstrated proficiency in each outcome. Your instructor will guide you through this process and will maintain a running narrative of your strengths and areas for development in relation to the outcomes as you progress through the class. Your work is expected to meet the highest professional standards.
This assessment will evaluate your mastery with respect to the following outcomes:
• Apply skills in using patient care technologies, information systems, and clinical decision support tools to promote safe nursing practice and quality patient outcomes
• Utilize evidence-based practice in planning, implementing, and evaluating outcomes of care
• Formulate strategies to promote health and prevent disease in individuals and populations across the life span
• Implement patient safety and quality initiatives within the complex clinical microsystem using leadership and communication skills
• Analyze trends in healthcare policy, finance, and regulatory environments and their implications for healthcare access, equity, and affordability
• Evaluate life-long learning and nursing engagement to promote personal and professional transformation
Prompt
Your capstone assessment will consist of two components. The first component consists of a change proposal that comprehensively addresses a nursing- related concern—either in an organization where you work or have worked, or more broadly at the local, state, or national level. Your instructor should approve a. Patient and Nurse Safety
b. Information Management Systems
c. Health Literacy
d. Administrative Policies
e. Ethical Considerations (i.e.; equity of access and treatment, etc.)
IV. Implementation Plan
A. Assess the factors that are likely to affect the implementation of your recommended activities
B. Identify evidence-based rationales to propose how you will address them, incorporating your identified change theory. Your plan should encompass the following with evidence to support your rationale:
a. Technological challenges
b. Institutional structures
c. Strategies for building buy-in among different stakeholders, including nurses
d. Financial trends and anticipation of the availability of human resource and project funding
e. Hospital or governmental policy constraints
f. Regulatory requirements
g. Patient diversity
V. Evaluation plan:
A. Propose steps for evaluating your suggested changes based on your change theory and evidence on existing best practices. Include the indicators that you will use to measure success, both in implementing the change itself and in ensuring quality outcomes for diverse patients.
B. Identify appropriate benchmarks from which to measure the effectiveness of the change.
C. Discuss the processes you will use for gathering feedback from relevant stakeholders—including nurses, patients, and their families—on what is and is not working in order to support continuous improvement.
VI. Time and resource allocation:
A. Give an approximate timeframe for the different stages and activities in your proposal
B. Estimate the human and other resources that will be needed to carry out your proposal. You do not need to include specific dollar amounts, but you should anticipate what each activity requires in terms of resources in general terms. For example, you might need a certain number of full- or part-time staff or the services of a contracted firm, specific software, hospital supplies, laptops, publicity materials, and so forth. You may find it useful to use an Excel spreadsheet or other table for presenting this information.
VII. Conclusion
A. Summarize the proposed change, its significance, and expected outcomes as a result of implementing the proposed change.