N 599 Hospital Education Department Paper Aspen University

N 599 Hospital Education Department Paper Aspen University

Selection of a capstone topic

Capstone projects are intended to be of an applied and pragmatic nature, with the hope that the outcome/findings will be of value to you personally and to the nursing profession. N 599 Hospital Education Department Paper Aspen University. Your topic need not be aligned according to traditional functional areas of nursing activity and may assume a variety of formats. Ideas for capstone projects may include, but are not limited to:

• Curriculum design and development
• Curriculum implementation and evaluation
• Integrated review of the literature
• Design a quality improvement change project
• Grant proposal
• Policy, project or procedural development, implementation and or outcome
• Journal article
• Systematic analysis of healthcare system in another geographic region
• Develop or revise an existing business or marketing plan within a nursing or healthcare organization

Where do I begin? In order to focus your activities on the development of your capstone project proposal. You will need to develop a framework or structure within which you can target the subject or topic that you choose to use as the focus for your capstone proposal and project. From our experience in working with participants in previous capstone style projects, one of the best approaches we have seen which can assist with this task is to generate a series of questions which are intended to move you from a more general to specific topical or subject focus.

What is my proposed subject or topic and why is this subject or topic of interest to me? Exploring and investigating a specific subject may be of interest to you professionally in your current occupational or organization setting. Clearly the topical area is of your choosing and you should consider a subject that may address not only a real-life nursing problem or issue but, if possible, one with which you can identify and which perhaps offer some personal interest and motivation. N 599 Hospital Education Department Paper Aspen University

What issues, factors, elements, or other parameters should be considered in researching a topic? Using the powers of deductive reasoning, you can move from a more general to a more specific focus on your topic. Some preliminary thought and investigation given to searching for a topic even before you begin your formal project formulation can greatly assist in the definition process.

Do I have the necessary commitment needed within the organization in which I wish to conduct my research activity? If you are considering investigating or researching existing nursing problems or issues within an organization, it is important that you determine at the outset whether the organization will give you the access to resources and information within the organization that will permit you to focus on the problem or issue that you have selected.

Do I have the necessary approval needed within the organization in which I wish to conduct my research activity? The ethical conduct of research requires protection of human subjects. Aspen University adheres to the guidelines and policies set forth by the . Even though a formal research endeavor is not required for a capstone project, many projects may include activities that meet the federal definition of research involving human subjects. If human subjects are involved, the research may require approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to ensure the protection of human subjects. Many healthcare organizations have an IRB, and any proposed research involving human subjects must first meet with their approval. The institutional/organizational IRB approval letter must be included with the proposal submission.

Does my proposed project require IRB approval? Not all research projects require IRB approval. Per the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services “ research activities in which the only involvement of human subjects will be in one or more of the following categories are exempt from this policy”:

(1) Research conducted in established or commonly accepted educational settings, involving normal educational practices, such as ( i ) research on regular and special education instructional strategies, or (ii) research on the effectiveness of or the comparison among instructional techniques, curricula, or classroom management methods.

(2) Research involving the use of educational tests (cognitive, diagnostic, aptitude, achievement), survey procedures, interview procedures or observation of public behavior, unless:
( i ) information obtained is recorded in such a manner that human subjects can be identified, directly or through identifiers linked to the subjects; and (ii) any disclosure of the human subjects’ responses outside the research could reasonably place the subjects at risk of criminal or civil liability or be damaging to the subjects’ financial standing, employability, or reputation.

(3) Research involving the use of educational tests (cognitive, diagnostic, aptitude, achievement), survey procedures, interview procedures, or observation of public behavior, if:
( i ) the human subjects are elected or appointed public officials or candidates for public office; or (ii) federal statute(s) require(s) without exception that the confidentiality of the personally identifiable information will be maintained throughout the research and thereafter.

(4) Research involving the collection or study of existing data, documents, records, pathological specimens, or diagnostic specimens, if these sources are publicly available or if the information is recorded by the investigator in such a manner that subjects cannot be identified, directly or through identifiers linked to the subjects.

(5) Research and demonstration projects which are conducted by or subject to the approval of department or agency heads, and which are designed to study, evaluate, or otherwise examine: ( i ) Public benefit or service programs; (ii) procedures for obtaining benefits or services under those programs; (iii) possible changes in or alternatives to those programs or procedures; or (iv) possible changes in methods or levels of payment for benefits or services under those programs.

(6) Taste and food quality evaluation and consumer acceptance studies, ( i ) if wholesome foods without additives are consumed or (ii) if a food is consumed that contains a food ingredient at or below the level and for a use found to be safe, or agricultural chemical or environmental contaminant at or below the level found to be safe, by the Food and Drug Administration or approved by the Environmental Protection Agency or the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Your Capstone mentor/instructor will help you to determine if your Capstone Project is exempt from IRB approval. If IRB approval is required, it must be obtained from the organization with which you will conduct your research, or an outside source. N 599 Hospital Education Department Paper Aspen University

What can you learn from information, analyses, and outcomes from previous studies and project documentation that you have been able to locate during your topical search? Although you can (sometimes) assume that the problem or issue that you have selected for your project is in some way unique or previously unexplored, history has taught us that you can learn from the past experience of others who have faced similar if not identical problems or issues. An in-depth analysis of the literature will help you refine your topic and guide the proposed analysis.

Have you discussed your project ideas and topic with your colleagues, managers, or trusted friends? We are all familiar with the expression that “two heads are better than one”. Discussion of your proposed topic with respected colleagues or friends is, in our experience, always beneficial.

2. Develop a proposal based on the Capstone proposal template.

When you have chosen a topic and received approval from your capstone mentor, you can proceed to complete the capstone proposal template. The template is designed to guide you through specific steps that will become the blueprint to follow for the rest of your project.

Project Title
Write the name of your project.

Project Description
This should be a half page to a page detailed description of what exactly your project is.

Project Rationale
Two to three paragraphs stating the need for, and justification of, selecting this project. Who will benefit and how will they benefit from this project (not including yourself)? What is the significance of the project, and how will it advance nursing science?

Personal/Professional Expectations
Two to three paragraphs on what you hope to gain from this project, both professionally and personally.

Project Goals
Succinctly describe the long-and short-term goals of your project. This may include a research question or hypothesis, depending upon the major objectives of the project.

Analysis of the Literature

Your proposal should also include a brief review of the existing research on your topic and a discussion comparing this research to your project focus. How will your proposed research meet the gaps in existing nursing knowledge? this The proposal should address how you plan to review the existing literature, what sources you plan to use.

Procedure
This is the major section of your proposal, and includes a step-by-step description of how you intend to carry out your project. It includes a discussion of how you intend to meet your goals, including resources you will need, where you intend to find them, and an estimated timeline of how long each step will take.

Evaluation
Half a page to a page on how your project is to be evaluated. Is your healthcare organization/academic setting going to evaluate it? How? Community evaluation? What specifically will make your project a success, both to you and to others?

3. Refine your proposal based on input from your capstone mentor/instructor.

This step can be accomplished through submissions to the dropbox until the capstone mentor/instructor is satisfied that all requirements for the proposal have been met. At this time the proposal can be approved for formal acknowledgement that it is complete in all aspects.

As a professional courtesy, your mentor/instructor will review developing iterations of sections of your capstone paper that you submit in dropboxes weekly. Your instructor will review them only once, so no re-writes will be graded. You are wise to submit them for review throughout the course so you are writing to the requirements of the complete capstone paper which is due in Module 7. No re-submission is allowed for the Module 7, as you are offered formative help throughout the course. In other words, you must pass the Module 7 assignment, but are giving help writing it throughout the course.

Schedule a call with your mentor/instructor for additional clarification. N 599 Hospital Education Department Paper Aspen University.