NRSE 4600 CLINICAL PRACTICE PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Last updated: 2/15/2018 © 2018 School of Nursing – Ohio University Page 1 of 4

NRSE 4600

Clinical Practice Project (CPP) Description

The Clinical Practice Project is the culminating academic endeavor of nursing students who earn a
baccalaureate degree in nursing from Ohio University. During this five week course you will be
actually implementing a project at your clinical practicum site. The clinical project provides

students with the opportunity to explore a problem or issue of particular personal or professional
interest that is somehow related to one of the following nursing competencies: patient-centered
care, teamwork/collaboration, evidence based practice, quality improvement, safety or informatics
(QSEN: http://www.qsen.org).

The project must demonstrate your ability to synthesize and apply the knowledge and skills
acquired through this academic program to real-world nursing issues and problems. This final
project will affirm your ability to think critically and creatively, to solve practical problems related to
nursing practice or the facilitation of patient-centered care, to make reasoned and ethical decisions,
and to communicate effectively orally and in writing.

Goals of the Clinical Practice Project:

 Students will develop and implement a clinical practice project during the course which
includes direct patient engagement and demonstrates potential to impact patient outcomes.

 Students will have the opportunity to synthesize knowledge and apply skills acquired in the
nursing academic and practice settings.

 Students will extend their academic experience into areas of nursing practice interest,
working with new ideas, issues, organizations, and individuals.

 Students will demonstrate the ability to think and act critically and creatively about nursing
practice issues and will further develop their analytical and ethical leadership skills
necessary to address and help solve these issues.

 Students will refine the ability to utilize evidence based research and demonstrate proficiency
in written and communication skills.

 Students will demonstrate achievement of the Ohio University program outcomes and the
ability to extend and refine their knowledge and skill in the realization of their personal and
professional goals met as a result of the capstone clinical project.

Clinical Project Steps:

1. Select a preceptor of your choice. MSN preferred but a BSN is acceptable. Keep in mind this is
NOT a shadowing experience with your preceptor, they will assist you in the development and

implementation of your project. Although it may be best that the preceptor is working at your
practicum site, it is not required. Keep in mind close relatives may not be preceptors.

 Your preceptor must sign an agreement form; this form is to be submitted prior to start of
the course, please refer to the announcement in this pre-course for the submission deadline
date.

2. You must spend 21 true hours over the 5 weeks of the course and these hours will be

documented on a clinical log. Of these 21 hours at least 3 hours should be in working with your
preceptor, such as seeking advice or updating the preceptor on your progress, a maximum of 6
hours may be logged in research on your topic—you of course may have more time spent

QSEN Home

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researching but no more than 6 hours may be counted on the log, in addition you must log at
least 1-2 hours in direct patient implementation along with the remainder of the hours completed
in the implementation of your project, for example:

Minimum of 3 hours with preceptor
Maximum of 6 hours on research of topic
Minimum of 1-2 hours in direct patient engagement
Remainder- 10-11 hours in implementation of your project
Total = 21 true hours

3. You will complete a log of these 21 hours which will be submitted in the final week of the
course, signed by you and your preceptor. In addition, all entries on the log are to be initialed by
your preceptor, and failure to submit a completed log will result in an incomplete for the course.

4. You will select a problem, issue or concern that is professionally or personally important to you.
You must be able to relate your topic to one of the QSEN goals. Go to QSEN.org, then go to
education- competencies- graduate QSEN competences to choose one of the following:

 Patient-centered Care

 Teamwork and Collaboration

 Evidence-based Practice (EBP)

 Quality Improvement (QI)

 Safety

 Informatics

5. Complete all clinical practice project assignments.

 Pre-course: Clinical Preceptor Agreement, Project Topic and Objectives

 Week 1: Clinical Practice Project QSEN, Topic, Goals and objectives

 Week 2: Clinical Practice Project Action Plan outline

 Week 3: Clinical Practice Project Research

 Week 4: Clinical Practice Project Discussion Board

 Week 5: Clinical Practice Project Culminating Paper ( this will include a second solution to
your topic-a “next steps” plan or a new idea related to your project)

Clinical Practice Project Expectations

Your Clinical Practice Project will require you to become a change agent at your clinical practicum
site as listed on your preceptor agreement. Your practicum site may be your place of work or

anywhere nurses are employed. You will select a problem, issue or concern that is professionally or
personally important to you and you will implement this project during your five week class. This
problem could be a problem in your current place of work or community. Some ideas that come to
mind are issues related to patient-centered care, mandatory immunizations, human trafficking,
patient education, prevention of patient falls, prevention of pressure ulcers, the list is endless. Keep

in mind to focus on a project which is doable in your five week time line, there are many projects
which are needed but for this course you have a limited time frame to implement your project.
Projects that require more time to implement such as improving staffing ratios or
implementing an electronic health record are really outside of the time line for this course
and would not satisfy the direct clinical requirement of at least 1-2 hours working directly

with the patients. After you have selected your problem it must be linked to one of the QSEN
competencies: patient-centered care, teamwork/collaboration, evidence based practice, quality

improvement, safety or informatics. You will use the QSEN competency to develop a plan of action
to change the problem.

QSEN Home

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The best approach to accomplish change must include a thoughtful analysis of the problem. The
first step in this analysis is to identify the problem and then answer several questions that are
useful in framing the problem:

1. What is the scope, duration, and history of the problem?

2. Who does it affect?
3. What data is available to describe the problem?

4. What are the implications of the problem?
5. What health care organization supports your project topic?
6. What are the gaps in the existing data?
7. What types of additional research might be useful?

After you have framed the problem, it is necessary to develop a plan that characterizes strategies for
action. Strategies are the methods and guidelines used to create a plan to achieve desired goals and
objectives. Well-planned strategies can make the difference between success and failure. Strategies
for success include:

1. Looking at the big picture. It’s human nature to view our world from a personal perspective.
However, looking at the big picture requires us to step back and look at a larger environment.
This will give more credibility to you plan.

2. Do your homework (be prepared for questions):
a. Clarify your position on the problem and possible solutions.

b. Gather data, search for clinical policies, standards of care, professional organization
support, etc.

c. Prepare documents to describe and support your problem.
d. Assess the power dynamics of those you are presenting to.
e. Assess your own power base and ability to maneuver in any situation.

f. Plan a strategy, and assess the strengths and weaknesses.
g. Prepare for questions, push back and even conflict.
h. Line up support.
i. Know your opposition and their rationales.

3. Identifying stakeholders. Individuals or groups that are directly influenced by the problem or

solution are the stakeholders. In some cases the stakeholders are obvious; however in some
cases stakeholders can be developed.

4. Identifying resources. A successful change agent will identify all available resources.
Resources include money, time, connections, and intangible resources (creative ideas).

Overall Scope of the CP Project
Keep in mind this is a 5 week course, your project must be implemented in this time frame, keep
the scale of the project doable, you will choose a global objective, this objective is what you will
actually implement, in other words your project goal for the course.

A Second Solution
Your plan of action, in addition to the strategies listed above, must also present two proposed
solutions. You will discuss this second solution in your final paper in week five of the course.
Typically there is more than one solution to an identified problem, and each option differs with
regard to cost, practicality, and duration. By identifying and analyzing possible solutions you will

gain further understanding of the problem and what is possible for an organization, workplace,
governmental agency, or professional organization to undertake. Included in your solutions should

be a mode for implementation, evaluation and sustainability of each solution.
Each of the approaches to make successful changes discussed above will be included in one or
more of the Clinical Practice Project assignments:

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 Week 1: Clinical Mentor Agreement, project topic, and objectives

 Week 2: Clinical Practice Project Action Plan outline

 Week 3: Clinical Practice Project Mid-term Report

 Week 4: Clinical Practice Project Discussion Board

 Week 5: Clinical Practice Project Culminating Paper

Each assignment will have individual instructions and grading rubrics. In to obtain optimal
points it is imperative that you read, the syllabus, this document, the individual assignment
instructions and the grading rubric in their entirety before completing and submitting your
assignments. And, as always, if you do not understand the instructions please ask.

Lastly, you can think of this project as being similar to the Nursing Process; Assess, Diagnose, Plan,
Implement and Evaluate. You will be assessing your selected problem by addressing the questions
that are useful in framing a problem. By selecting your QSEN competency, determining your
stakeholders and resources you can diagnose the problem. The next three steps, planning,
implementing and evaluating will all be addressed in your plan of action. It is often difficult for

nurses to step outside of their comfort zone. It is time for you to demonstrate your ability to
synthesize and apply the knowledge and skills acquired through this academic program to real-
world nursing issues and their problems!