GCU Direct Practice Improvement Project Proposal
GCU Direct Practice Improvement Project Proposal
The Direct Practice Improvement Project Title Appears in Title Case and is Centered Submitted by Insert Your Full Legal Name (No Titles, Degrees, or Academic Credentials) Equal Spacing ~2.0” – 2.5” A Direct Practice Improvement Project Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Nursing Practice Equal Spacing ~2.0” – 2.5” iv Grand Canyon University Phoenix, Arizona December 31, 2018 Revised 10/26/2018 DNP Team (Learner: Please remove this footer) © by Your Full Legal Name (No Titles, Degrees, or Academic Credentials), 2013 All rights reserved. GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY The Direct Practice Improvement Project Title Appears in Title Case and is Centered by Insert Your Full Legal Name (No Titles, Degrees, or Academic Credentials) has been approved December 31, 2018 APPROVED: Full Legal Name, Ed.D., DBA, or Ph.D., DPI Project Chairperson Full Legal Name, Ed.D., DBA, or Ph.D., Committee Member Full Legal Name, Ed.D., DBA, or Ph.D., Committee Member ACCEPTED AND SIGNED: ________________________________________ Lisa Smith, PhD, RN, CNE Dean and Professor, College of Nursing and Health Care Professions _________________________________________ Date Abstract The abstract is an accurate, nonevaluative, concise summary or synopsis of the direct practice improvement (DPI) project. It is not an introduction, and is usually the last thing written. The purpose of the abstract is to assist future investigators in accessing the evidence-based materials and other vital information contained in the practice improvement project. Although only a relatively few people typically read the full practice improvement project after publication, the abstract will be read by many scholars and investigators. Consequently, great care must be taken in writing this section of the practice improvement project. The abstract is a concise statement of the nature of the project and content of the practice improvement project. The content of the abstract covers the problem statement, clinical questions, methodology, design, data analysis procedures, location, sample, theoretical foundations, results, and implications. The abstract does not appear in the Table of Contents and has no page number. Abstracts must be double-spaced and no longer than 1 page. The abstract must be fully justified with no indentions and no citations. Refer to the APA Publication Manual, 6th Edition, for additional guidelines for the development of the practice improvement project abstract. Make sure to add the keywords at the bottom of the abstract to assist future investigators. Keywords: Abstract, assist future investigators, limit to one page in length, vital information v Criterion Learner Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) Chairperson Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) Comments or Feedback The abstract provides a succinct summary of the project including the problem statement, clinical questions, methodology, design, data analysis procedures, location, sample, theoretical foundations, results, and implications. The abstract is written in APA format, 1 paragraph, no indentations, double spaced with no citations, and includes key search words. GCU Direct Practice Improvement Project Proposal
The abstract is fully justified. Abstract is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, uses correct paragraph structure, uses correct sentence structure, uses correct punctuation, and uses correct APA format. NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document. Score 0 (not present); 1(unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present, but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). Revised 10/26/2018 DNP Team (Learner: Please remove this footer) vi Dedication An optional dedication may be included here. While a practice improvement project is an objective, scientific document, this is the place to use the first person and to be subjective. GCU Direct Practice Improvement Project Proposal
The dedication page is numbered with a Roman numeral, but the page number does not appear in the Table of Contents. It is only included in the final practice improvement project and is not part of the proposal. If this page is not to be included, delete the heading, the body text, and the page break below. If you cannot see the page break, click on the ¶Show/Hide button (go to the Home tab and then to the Paragraph toolbar). Revised 10/26/2018 DNP Team (Learner: Please remove this footer) vii Acknowledgments An optional acknowledgements page can be included here. This is another place to use the first person. If it applies, acknowledge and identify grants and other means of financial support. Also acknowledge supportive colleagues who rendered assistance. The acknowledgments page is numbered with a Roman numeral, but the page number does not appear in the Table of Contents. This page provides a formal opportunity to thank family, friends, and faculty members who have been helpful and supportive. The acknowledgements page is only included in the final practice improvement project, and is not part of the proposal. If this page is not to be included, delete the heading, the body text, and the page break below. If you cannot see the page break, click on the ¶Show/Hide button (go to the Home tab and then to the Paragraph toolbar). Revised 10/26/2018 DNP Team (Learner: Please remove this footer) viii Table of Contents List of Tables ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… xi List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. xii Chapter 1: Introduction to the Project ……………………………………………………………………….1 Background of the Project …………………………………………………………………………………4 Problem Statement ……………………………………………………………………………………………5 Purpose of the Project ……………………………………………………………………………………….6 Clinical Question(s) …………………………………………………………………………………………8 Advancing Scientific Knowledge ……………………………………………………………………..10 Significance of the Project ……………………………………………………………………………….11 Rationale for Methodology ………………………………………………………………………………12 Nature of the Project Design …………………………………………………………………………….13 Definition of Terms…………………………………………………………………………………………14 Assumptions, Limitations, Delimitations …………………………………………………………..16 Summary and Organization of the Remainder of the Project ………………………………..18 Chapter 2: Literature Review …………………………………………………………………………………20 Theoretical Foundations…………………………………………………………………………………..22 Review of the Literature ………………………………………………………………………………….24 Theme 1. You may want to organize this section by themes and subthemes. To do so, use the pattern below. ……………………………………………………………………..26 Theme 2. Chapter 2 can be particularly challenging with regard to APA format for citations and quotations. Refer to your APA manual frequently to make Revised 10/26/2018 DNP Team (Learner: Please remove this footer) ix sure your citations are formatted properly. It is critical that each in-text citation is appropriately listed in the References section. ………………………………………………….27 Summary ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….30 Chapter 3: Methodology ……………………………………………………………………………………….33 Statement of the Problem …………………………………………………………………………………34 Clinical Question ……………………………………………………………………………………………34 Project Methodology……………………………………………………………………………………….35 Project Design ………………………………………………………………………………………………..36 Population and Sample Selection………………………………………………………………………38 Instrumentation or Sources of Data …………………………………………………………………..40 Validity …………………………………………………………………………………………………………41 Reliability………………………………………………………………………………………………………41 Data Collection Procedures………………………………………………………………………………42 Data Analysis Procedures ………………………………………………………………………………..44 Ethical Considerations …………………………………………………………………………………….46 Limitations …………………………………………………………………………………………………….48 Summary ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….49 Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Results ……………………………………………………………………..51 Descriptive Data……………………………………………………………………………………………..52 Data Analysis Procedures ………………………………………………………………………………..55 Results …………………………………………………………………………………………………………..58 Summary ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….66 Chapter 5: Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations ……………………………………….68 Revised 10/26/2018 DNP Team (Learner: Please remove this footer) x Summary of the Project …………………………………………………………………………………..69 Summary of Findings and Conclusion ……………………………………………………………….70 Implications……………………………………………………………………………………………………74 Theoretical implications………………………………………………………………………74 Practical implications. …………………………………………………………………………75 Future implications. ……………………………………………………………………………75 Recommendations …………………………………………………………………………………………..76 Recommendations for future projects. …………………………………………………..76 Recommendations for practice. ……………………………………………………………78 Appendix A …………………………………………………………………………………………………………82 Appendix B …………………………………………………………………………………………………………85 Revised 10/26/2018 DNP Team (Learner: Please remove this footer) xi List of Tables Table 1. Correct Formatting …………………………………………………………………………………..54 Table 2. t Test …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 56 Table 3. The Servant Leader ………………………………………………………………………………… 63 (Note: single-space table titles; double-space between entries) Revised 10/26/2018 DNP Team (Learner: Please remove this footer) xii List of Figures Figure 1. Scatterplot Example-Strong Negative Correlation ……………………………………. 64 (Note: single-space figure titles; double-space between entries) Revised 10/26/2018 DNP Team (Learner: Please remove this footer) 1 Chapter 1:GCU Direct Practice Improvement Project Proposal
Introduction to the Project The Introduction section of Chapter 1 briefly overviews the project focus or practice problem, states why the project is worth conducting, and describes how the project will be completed. The introduction develops the significance of the project by describing how the project translates existing knowledge into practice, is new or different from other works and how it will benefit patients at your clinical site. This section should also briefly describe the basic nature of the project and provide an overview of the contents of Chapter 1. This section should be three or four paragraphs, or approximately one page, in length. Keep in mind that you will write Chapters 1 through 3 as your practice improvement project proposal. However, there are changes that typically need to be made in these chapters to enrich the content or to improve the readability as you write the final practice improvement project manuscript. Often, after data analysis is complete, the first three chapters will need revisions to reflect a more in-depth understanding of the topic, change the tense to past tense, and ensure consistency. To ensure the quality of both your proposal and your final practice improvement project and reduce the time for Academic Quality Review (AQR) reviews, your writing needs to reflect standards of scholarly writing from your very first draft. Each section within the proposal or practice improvement project should be well organized and presented in a way that makes it easy for the reader to follow your logic. Each paragraph should be short, clear, and focused. A paragraph should (a) be three to eight sentences in length, (b) focus on one point, topic, or argument, (c) include a topic sentence the defines the focus for the paragraph, and (d) include a transition sentence to the next paragraph. Include one space after each period. There should be no grammatical, punctuation, 2 sentence structure, or American Psychological Association APA formatting errors. Verb tense is an important consideration for Chapters 1 through 3. For the proposal, the investigator uses present tense (e.g., “The purpose of this project is to…”), whereas in the practice improvement project, the chapters are revised into past tense (e.g., “The purpose of this project was to…”). Taking the time to put quality into each draft will save you time in all the steps of the development and review phases of the practice improvement project process. It will pay to do it right the first time. As a doctoral investigator, it is your responsibility to ensure the clarity, quality, and correctness of your writing and APA formatting. GCU Direct Practice Improvement Project Proposal
The DC Network provides various resources to help you improve your writing. Neither your chairperson nor your committee members will provide editing of your documents, nor will the AQR reviewers provide editing of your documents. If you do not have outstanding writing skills, you will need to identify a writing coach, editor, or other resource to help you with your writing and to edit your documents. The quality of a practice improvement project is not only defined by the quality of writing. It is also defined by the criteria that have been established for each section of the project. The criteria describe what must be addressed in each section within each chapter. As you develop a section, first read the section description. Then review the criteria contained in the table below the description. Use both the description and criteria as you write the section. It is important that the criteria are addressed in a way that it is clear to your chairperson, committee, and an external reviewer to illustrate that the criteria have been met. You should be able to point out where each criterion is met in each section. Prior to submitting a draft of your proposal or practice improvement project, or a single chapter to your chairperson, please assess yourself on the degree to which criteria have 3 been met. There is a table at the end of each section for you to complete this selfassessment. Your chairperson may also assess each criterion when returning the document with feedback. The following scores reflect the readiness of the document: • 3 = The criterion has been completely met. It is comprehensive and accurate. GCU Direct Practice Improvement Project Proposal
The section meeting the criterion is comprehensive and clear. The criterion information is very well written. The section addressing a criterion is located in a single spot; it is not distributed across various paragraphs. The criterion is immediately obvious to an external reviewer. In terms of writing, the section is perfect and ready to go into a journal article. • 2 = The criterion is very close to being completely met. The section meeting the criterion is comprehensive, but may need to be further clarified. The criterion information is fairly well written, but may need minor editing. The section addressing a criterion is located in a single spot; it is not distributed across various paragraphs. It may not be obvious to an external reader and so may require some clarification. In terms of writing it is near perfect, but may need minor edits for clarity or APA formatting. • 1 = The criterion is present, but the section needs significant work to completely meet expectations. The section meeting the criterion is not comprehensive and may need to be further clarified. The criterion information is fairly well written, but may need minor editing. The section addressing a criterion is not clearly located in a single spot; it appears to be distributed across various paragraphs. It may not be obvious to an external reader and requires some clarification. It needs 4 some changes to structure, flow, paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. • 0 = The criterion is not addressed because it is missing or is not appropriate. Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document. Criterion Learner Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) Chairperson Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) Comments or Feedback INTRODUCTION This section briefly overviews the project focus or practice problem, why this project is worth conducting, and how this project will be completed. (Three or four paragraphs or approximately one page) Practice improvement project topic is introduced. Discussion provides an overview of what is contained in the chapter. This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document. Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present, but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). Background of the Project The background section of Chapter 1 explains both the history o GCU Direct Practice Improvement Project Proposal
