NURS 8700/NURS 8700P: Doctor of Nursing Practice | Module 1

The two Discussion in this module allow you to interact with your colleagues in the DNP program and with your Project Chair in this course. These Discussions are intended to be open, scholarly forums for sharing insights related to your DNP Project experience.

Because these Discussion areas are open forums tailored to the unique dynamics of each quarter of this course, your Project Chair will select and post Discussion questions for your response. Your Project Chair will also assign the due dates for the two Discussions; however, these due dates will typically center on Discussions in Weeks 5 and 9. Be sure to regularly check the announcements area and your course e-mail for your Instructor’s directions on completing the Discussions by the assigned dates.

Learning Objectives

This required assignment fulfills the second Course Outcome:

• Analyze issues related to the DNP Project

Assignment: Quarter Plan Document

By Day 5

You are required to submit the Quarter Plan document that details your goals for the term and gives dates for when you will accomplish each goal. Be realistic about what you plan to accomplish. Read the document carefully and be realistic about what you will accomplish this term.

You can find the Quarter Plan Template in the Course Information.

This is your required Quarter Plan for this term. You have to post it in the Module 1

Note: When submitting your Quarter Plan Document, the QUARTER year section of the filename should reflect the first two letters of the quarter. For example, Chris Smith’s QUARTER year section for a Project Premise submitted during the summer quarter of 2012 would be SU2012.

Discussion: DNP Project Discussions

Discussion Week 1

Post the practice problem you are working on, the approach you are taking, your practice focused question, and the type of project that aligns your work (education intervention, clinical practice guideline, quality improvement, systematic review of the literature etc.) Submit your Quarter Plan into the grade book, week 1, day 7.

Discussion Week 3

Discuss the significance of your DNP project to nursing practice and how this project will contribute to positive social change.

Discussion Week 5

Describe your current progress in the process of completing your DNP Project and meeting your Quarter Plan goals. Please share any tips that have helped to support your success. Submit a revised Quarter Plan into the grade book, week 5, day 7.

Discusson Week 7

Discuss the relevance of your selected model or framework to your DNP project. Justify why your selection is the most appropriate for your project question.

Discussion Week 9

Post a brief summary of your experience, to date, with the process of exploring the literature related to your project. Include any resources you have used to help you organize the literature.

Discussion Week 11

Reflect on your Quarter Plan and discuss the progress made on the DNP Project objectives outlined in the Quarter Plan. What do you need to move to the next step (proposal, defense, IRB approval etc.). Share any tips that have helped you achieve your milestones for the quarter. Remember to submit your Quarter Plan into the grade book, week 11, day 7. Assignment: Quarter Plan Document NURS 8700

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION;

Common practice problems nurses encounter

Introduction

Nurses are at the forefront of healthcare, providing care to patients and families in their homes and hospitals. The field is highly technical, but also very personal and demanding. If you’re interested in this career, you’ll want to know what challenges nurses face on a daily basis so that you can prepare for them before being thrown into the deep end. Here are some common problems encountered by nurses:

Patient falls.

Falls are a common problem for patients, and can be caused by a variety of factors. Falls can be prevented by creating a safe environment, making sure the patient is stable, and giving them the right treatment.

• Create a safe environment: Patients need to be able to move around safely in their rooms or on their gurneys without being bumped into anything or falling over something. They should also have access to extra pillows so that they can sit up comfortably while eating their meals if necessary (if you’re worried about choking hazards).

• Make sure your patient is stable: If there’s any chance that they’ll fall off of their bed while sleeping or getting out of bed themselves then make sure that they don’t move around too much until it’s safe again; in some cases this means putting them in bed restraints until everything settles down again after being put back into place properly once more time passes by.*

Medication errors.

• Dispensing medication.

• Instructing patients on how to take their medications, including any warnings for special circumstances (e.g., heart disease).

• Checking for drug allergies, interactions and side effects before dispensing a medication.

• Checking each patient’s prescription order against the hospital’s system of record so that no medications can be dispensed if they have expired or been recalled by another source (this is called “paperwork management”). It’s also important that you mark all medications with an expiration date so that you don’t accidentally give someone outdated medication or one with too much morphine in it!

Lack of staff education.

The lack of staff education is a common problem in nursing. Nurses are often not aware of the possible side effects associated with drugs and treatments, or how to handle situations that arise from patients’ reactions to them. This can lead to errors such as overprescribing medications, administering unnecessary therapies and even death.

If you’re not sure what to do when faced with this situation, ask for help from another member on staff who may have more experience dealing with similar issues than yourself. If this doesn’t work out so well for you either (or if someone else needs more help), then please contact our office so we can help find solutions together!

Patients with dementia.

Patients with dementia are a challenge to care for. They can be prone to wandering and may have difficulty communicating, eating and drinking, using the bathroom or even remembering simple facts. The best thing you can do is try to understand what is going on with them so that you know when they need help or what their needs are.

Workplace violence.

• Workplace violence is a serious problem. Nurses are at higher risk for workplace violence than other professionals, and should be trained to deal with it.

• Nurses should report incidents of workplace violence to their employers or the police if they occur in the workplace or on hospital property, as this will help keep them safe and ensure that appropriate actions are taken by others involved in preventing such situations from occurring again.

Stress and burnout.

Stress is a normal part of nursing, but can be overwhelming if you don’t know how to manage it. The best way to prevent stress from becoming burnout is by taking care of yourself and your mental health.

• Know the signs: When people feel stressed out or overwhelmed by work-related issues, they often experience physical symptoms like headaches and nausea. If these symptoms persist for more than two weeks, see a doctor who specializes in treating chronic diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure but don’t wait until they’re unbearable before seeking professional help!

• Manage your workload: Make sure that you have enough time off between shifts (and appointments) so that your body can recover from all the hard work it’s been doing since yesterday morning when last night’s shift ended around midnight or maybe even earlier depending on how far away from home/work I am at any given point during my day/weekend vacation time off). It also helps if there aren’t too many things competing for our attention; try setting aside some quiet time each week where nothing else matters except what exactly goes into making us happy internally because otherwise we’ll go crazy trying figure out why everything isn’t working anymore rather than realizing something needs changing (like looking up new recipes online).

Conclusion

Nurses are at the top of their field, and they should be proud of their accomplishments. But as a profession, we need to work together to keep our patients safe. We all face challenges and we can’t let these common pitfalls get in the way of delivering excellent care.