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DNP Doctoral Project Assignment
DNP Doctoral Project Checklist
The following checklist provides a tool to develop DNP Doctoral Projects in healthcare contexts. The doctoral project involves multiple steps, including identification of the local problem and development of the practice-focused question(s) to address it(Section 1), review of the background and context related to the problem(Section 2), systematic collection and analysis of evidence to informa solution or strategythat addresses the practice-focused question(s) (Section 3), and product(s) or recommendation(s)-for-action based on that analysis (Section 4).
- Instructions for students:
- Indicate on the checklist the page numbers(use the actual document page number, not the MS Word pagination) where the appropriate content is located.
- Respond to comments from your supervisory committee and/or URR membersin the comment history box. Do not delete previous comments¾just add your response and use some means to clearly identify your remarks (e.g., colored, bolded, or italicized text).
- Instructions for the DNP Doctoral Project committee chair,second member,andURR member.
- Provide specific feedback in the comment history column. Do not delete previous comments¾just add your response and use some means to clearly identify your remarks (e.g., colored, bolded, or italicized text).
- If you made detailed comments on the draft (using track changes and comments), you can make reference to such comments in the draft rather than copy the text into the checklist comment history section.
Student’s Name: Student ID:
Date: School:
Committee Members’ Names
Chairperson:
Member:
University Research Reviewer:
| Front Matter | |
| Checklist Items | Comment History |
| Title [Insert DNP Doctoral Project Title] | |
| Abstract | |
| Describe the practice problem and why it is important to address within the context of nursing practice. | |
| Summarize the practice-focused question(s) and the purpose for the doctoral project. | |
| State all concepts, models, and/or theories used to inform the doctoral project. | |
| Concisely describe the sources of evidence and how obtained, and analytical strategies used in the doctoral project. | |
| Concisely summarize the findings and implications (final doctoral project paper only). | |
| Concisely identify major products, conclusions, and/or recommendations as appropriate (final doctoral project paper only). | |
| Summarize potential implications for nursing practice and for positive social change. | |
| SECTION 1:Introduction | ||
| Checklist Items | Pg/NA | Comment History |
| Introduction | ||
| Briefly introducethe topic/problem, the nature of the DNPdoctoral project, and potential positive social change implications of the doctoral project (later sections will allow you to elaborate). | ||
| Problem Statement | ||
| Explicitly state the local nursing practice problem that is the focus of this doctoral project. |
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| Briefly clarify the local relevance of the need to address the problem, by highlighting documentation and information about the problem. | ||
| Briefly explain how the doctoral project holds significance for the field of nursing practice. | ||
| Purpose | ||
| Describe the meaningful gap-in-practice that this doctoral project addresses. |
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| State the guiding practice-focused question(s) for this doctoral project. | ||
| Clarify how this doctoral project has potential to address that gap-in-practice. | ||
| Nature of the Doctoral Project | ||
| Briefly identify the sources of evidence that will be collected to meet the purpose of this doctoral project, and how they will be obtained (you will elaborate on these topics in Section 3, and you will change the tense in the final document). |
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| Briefly summarize the approach that will be used in this doctoral project to organize and analyze the evidence (you will elaborate on this topic in the Section 3, and you will change the tense in the final document). | ||
| Include a concise statement of the doctoral project purpose that connects the gap-in-practice to the anticipated findings from that analysis. | ||
| Note: Evidence from organizations or people cannot be collected and/or analyzed prior to approval by the Walden University Institutional Review Board (IRB). Only published evidence (e.g., articles, books, or reports that are accessible to anyone in the public) may be analyzed prior to IRB approval. | ||
| Significance | ||
| Identify all stakeholders and how they may be potentially impacted by addressing the local problem. |
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| Identify potential contributions of the doctoral project to nursing practice. | ||
| Highlight any potential transferability of the doctoral project to similar practice areas. | ||
| Describe potential implications for positive social change. | ||
| Summary | ||
| Summarize the main points of Section 1. Provide a transition to Section 2. | ||
| SECTION 2: Background and Context | ||
| Checklist Items | Pg/NA | Comment History |
| Introduction | ||
| Restate the practice problem, the practice-focused question(s), and purpose for this doctoral project. | ||
| Preview the major headings of this Section. | ||
| Concepts, Models, and Theories | ||
| Name, describe, and provide a rationale for the use of all concepts, models, and/or theories that inform the doctoral project. |
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| Synthesize primary writings by key theorists, philosophers, and/or foundational/seminal scholars related to the concepts, models, and/or theories used in the doctoral project. | ||
| Clarify any terms used in the doctoral project that may have multiple meanings (e.g., socioeconomic status, educator, client, etc.). Do not include terms with generally and universally accepted meanings in nursing practice. | ||
| Relevance to Nursing Practice | ||
| Citing existing scholarship on the topic, provide a brief history of the broader problem in nursing practice in which this specific doctoral project is embedded. |
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| Also relying on existing scholarship and research, summarize the current state of nursing practice in this area, and any recommendations to improve practice as appropriate. | ||
| Identify any strategies and standard practices that have been used previously to address this gap-in-practice (i.e., how have others approached this issue in the past?) | ||
| Describe how the present doctoral project advances nursing practice or fills at least one gap-in-practice revealed in the literature. | ||
| Local Background and Context | ||
| Provide a concise summary of the local evidence on the relevance of the problem, which justifies the practice-focused questions (s) (i.e., why examine this topic in the first place?). All evidence used to answer the practice-focused question(s) will be covered in Section 3. |
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| Describe the institutional context as applicable to the problem being addressed in this doctoral project (most often demographics, community setting, regulatory environment, governance, mission, and strategic vision). | ||
| Provide concise definitions of locally used terms or operational processes relevant to understanding the doctoral project. | ||
| Describe state and/or federal contexts applicable to the problem in this doctoral project. | ||
| Role of the DNP Student | ||
| Note: This section can be written in the first person. | ||
| Describe your professional context and relationship to the doctoral project. |
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| Describe your role in the doctoral project, including relationships to the topic, participants, evidence, or institution (including any involvement included as part of the practicum experience). | ||
| Describe your motivations for this doctoral project and what perspectives may affect the choices about it. | ||
| Describe any potential biases you may possess, and steps taken to address them. | ||
| Role of the Project Team (if applicable) | ||
| If applicable to this doctoral project, describe how a project team will be used. |
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| Describe the process(es) by which the doctoral project team members will be presented with background information, evidence, and other forms of information. | ||
| Describe opportunities for team members to share their expertise and contextual insight relative to the doctoral project. (If members of the team are providing evidence that will be included in Section 3, note that fact here). | ||
| Describe the timeline and responsibilities of team members to review and provide feedback on doctoral project results. | ||
| Note: This section should be changed to past tense in the final document. | ||
| Summary | ||
| Provide a transition to connect the gap-in-practice to the methods described in Section 3. | ||
| SECTION3:Collection and Analysis of Evidence | ||
| Checklist Items | Pg/NA | Comment History |
| Introduction | ||
| Restate the problem and purpose as discussed in Section 1, and summarize the background and context from Section 2. | ||
| Preview the major sections of Section 3. | ||
| Practice-focused Question(s) | ||
| Restate the local problem, the gap-in-practice, and the practice-focused question(s). |
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| Clarify the purpose and how this approach aligns to the practice-focused question(s). | ||
| Clarify operational definitions of any key aspects of the doctoral project. | ||
| Note: The DNP doctoral project proposal describes a plan for collecting and analyzing evidence, and as such, this section should be written in the future tense for the proposal and changed to past tense after completion of the final project. | ||
| Sources of Evidence | ||
| Clearly identify the sources of evidence on which you will rely to address the practice-focused question(s). |
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| Clarify the relationship of this evidence to the purpose described in Section 1. | ||
| Restate how collection and analysis of this evidence will provide the appropriate way to address the practice-focused question(s). | ||
| Note: Complete only the following subsections that are relevant to the doctoral project, in consultation with your supervisory committee, and be mindful that evidence from organizations and people cannot be collected and analyzed prior to approval by the Walden IRB. Existing evidence from organizations can be examined prior to IRB approval, however, when the sole purpose is to determine its applicability to the doctoral project. | ||
| Published Outcomes and Research | ||
| You should complete this subsection when conducting a systematic review of relevant published findings and conclusions from other researchers and scholars. Data and evidence that have not been analyzed belong in the next sections. | ||
| List databases and search engines used to find outcomes and research related to the practice problem. | ||
| List key search terms and combinations of search terms used. (More detailed search terms may be included in an appendix and referenced here, if appropriate). | ||
| Describe the scope of this review in terms of years searched, as well as types of literature and sources searched. | ||
| Clarify how this search will be exhaustive and comprehensive. | ||
| Note: This type of systematic review needs to be a deeper and more thorough exploration of the topic, as discussed in the Context subsection in Section 2. | ||
| Archival and Operational Data | ||
| You should complete this section for doctoral projects that will involve analysis of an organization’s operational data that have been (or will be) routinely collected in the organizational context (i.e., serves a purpose other than completion of the doctoral project) but have not yet been analyzed at the time of proposal approval. | ||
| Describe the nature of the data, including information on who contributed them originally. | ||
| Justify the relevance of these data to the practice problem in this project. | ||
| Describe how the data were originally collected by the organization, focusing on their overall validity as a source of evidence. Note any limitations inherent in the data. | ||
| Describe the procedure for gaining access to the evidence, including permissions to gain access to operational data | ||
| If historical or legal documents are used as a source of evidence, demonstrate the reputability of the sources and justify why they represent the best source. | ||
| Evidence Generated for the Doctoral Project | ||
| You should complete this section for evidence and data that will be primarily generated for the purpose the doctoral project, and not part of the normal operations of the site. | ||
| Provide a step-by-step description of how this evidence will be collected, paying specific attention to the following topics. |
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| Participants
Describe the individuals who will contribute evidence to address the practice-focused question(s), paying attention to: • choice for number of participants, • how they were selected, and • relevance of these participants to the practice-focused question(s). |
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| Procedures
Describe all tools and/or techniques used to collect that evidence and their alignment with the constructs in the doctoral project. • For existing measurement instruments, if applicable, discuss validity and reliability of the scores produced by the instruments, along with any concepts, constructs, or outcomes measured by them. Discuss also, in terms of the above, modifications that were made to any instruments. • For tools that you have created, if applicable, detail must be provided on how they were developed and what strategies were used to assure the validity of the information produced by them. |
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| Note: Identify any instruments to be used in the a) table of contents, b) text of the manuscript, and c) appendices. | ||
| Protections
Describe procedures used to ensure ethical protection of these participants in the doctoral project. • Discuss strategies for recruiting and developing working relationships with participants. • Discuss measures taken to ensure ethical protection of participants, including data retention plans, incentives, consent process, safeguarding of privacy, and measures to permit participants to withdraw participation. • Describe the role of the Walden University IRB or other bodies in approving the doctoral project. |
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| Note: The names of individual participants and organizations must be masked. | ||
| Analysis and Synthesis | ||
| Describe the systems used for recording, tracking, organizing, and analyzing the evidence—including any software used for these purposes. |
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| Outline the procedures used to assure the integrity of the evidence, including approaches to managing outliers and missing information. | ||
| Describe analysis procedures used in the doctoral project to address the practice-focused question(s) (e.g., coding, statistical analyses, etc.). | ||
| Summary | ||
| Section 3 should end with a summary emphasizing key points and transitioning to Section 4. | ||
The completion of Section 3 marks the end of the DNP Doctoral Project Proposal. Completed DNP Doctoral Projects should also include Section 4 (below).
Both DNP Doctoral Project Proposals and completed DNP Doctoral Project papers should be rated in terms of APA style (below – final page of this document).
| SECTION 4:Findings and Recommendations | ||
| Checklist Items | Pg/NA | Comment History |
| Introduction | ||
| Remind readers of the local problem, the gap-in-practice, the practice-focused question(s), and the purpose of the doctoral project. | ||
| Summarize the sources of evidence, how the evidence was obtained, and the analytical strategies that were used. | ||
| Findingsand Implications | ||
| Report the findings that resulted from analysis and synthesis of the evidence that was collected (not simply the raw numbers or evidence). |
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| Discuss any unanticipated limitations or outcomes and their potential impact on the findings. | ||
| Describe the implications resulting from the findings in terms of individuals, communities, institutions, and systems. | ||
| Provide potential implications to positive social change. | ||
| Recommendations | ||
| Describe the proposed or recommended solutions that will potentially address the gap-in-practice, as informed by the findings discussed above (e.g., policies, practice guidelines, protocols, standards, etc.); include these recommended products in appendices and provide any detail needed to understand or use the products. | ||
| If applicable, describe any proposed secondary products that will guide the use of the primary products in practice. Any secondary products should be included in appendices, discussed in the text of the paper, and referenced so that readers know where to look to find the actual products. | ||
| If applicable, describe the recommended implementation and evaluation procedures in sufficient detail that administrative decision makers not involved in development and planning can assign and supervise them without further planning. | ||
| Note:Implementation of the recommendations is not required for completion of the DNP doctoral project. | ||
| Contribution of the Doctoral Project Team (if applicable) | ||
| Summarize the process of working with the doctoral project team, including the responsibilities taken by team members. |
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| Describe the roles the project team played in developing the final recommendations and/or product(s). | ||
| Discuss any plans to extend the project beyond the DNP doctoral project. | ||
| Strength and Limitations of the Project | ||
| Discuss the strengths and the limitations of the doctoral project. | ||
| Include recommendations for future projects addressing similar topics and using similar methods. | ||
| SECTION 5: Dissemination Plan | ||
| Describe the plans to disseminate this work to the institution experiencing the problem in practice. | ||
| Based on the nature of the product, clarify the audiences and venues that would be appropriate for dissemination of the project to the broader nursing profession. | ||
| Analysis of Self | ||
| Provide an analysis-of-self in the role as practitioner, scholar, and project manager; drawing connection between this project experience, present state, and long-term professional goals. | ||
| Describe the completion of the project, discussing challenges, solutions, and insights gained on the scholarly journey. | ||
| Note: This section can be written in the first person. | ||
| Summary | ||
| The section/paper should close with a concluding statement about the doctoral project, making its essential message clear to readers. | ||
| APA Form and Style Check | |
| Checklist Items | Comment History |
| Citations and Referencing | |
| All citations/references have been cross-checked to ensure that there are corresponding references for every text citation (and that there are no references that do not have associated citations). | |
| All sources are cited correctly per APA style, and the reference list is formatted per APA style (for example, studies listed in alphabetical order by first author; no first names of authors). | |
| Grammar, Spelling, and Syntax | |
| The paper has been thoroughly checked for grammar, spelling, and syntax errors. | |
| For the final project paper, the manuscript has been checked for correct verb tense representing a completed project. | |
| Headings | |
| Headings are used, consistent with APA style (6th ed.) | |
| Use of the Writing Center Template | |
| APA style (6th ed.) was used to construct the proposal and/or project paper so that all formatting is correct. | |
