NRS491 Week 1 Assignments and Reading Materials Summary
Week 1 ASSIGNMENTS *
Assignment 1 : Practice Experience
Documentation
The practice experience requires students to select a nurse preceptor in the field. The preceptor will guide students as they work to complete the practice hour requirements for this course. The course preceptor should be someone who can provide professional development knowledge and guidance and who possesses a genuine interest in working with students to further their academic goals.
Selection, approval, and retention of a course preceptor must be completed at the start of this course, as this individual will be working with the student on each assignment that incorporates practice experience hours. Working with a course preceptor is mandatory.
Once a course preceptor has agreed to serve in the role, students must complete and submit the following required documentation so that practice experiences can begin in a timely manner:
1. Field Experience Site Information Form
2. Qualified Preceptor Summary Form
3. Preceptor's license, certification, and resume/curriculum vitae
The student is responsible for obtaining all signatures for submission of the required documentation. Course faculty will approve all sites and preceptors according to student learning needs and specific course objectives.
Students are not permitted to initiate work on practice experience assignments until your course faculty member has approved your preceptor. Once a course preceptor is approved, students should contact the preceptor within 1 week of receiving the notification of faculty approval. Students are encouraged to make an appointment to meet with their preceptor soon thereafter to review the course objectives and the Individual Success Plan (ISP).
For more specific information on the process for identification of appropriate preceptors and roles and responsibilities, refer to the Guidelines for Undergraduate Field Experiences resource.
MAJOR * Assignment 2: Individual
Success Plan (ISP)
Planning is the key to successful completion of this course and program-related objectives. The Individual Success Plan (ISP) assignment requires early collaboration with the course faculty and your course preceptor. Students must establish a plan for successful completion of (1) deliverables associated with weekly course objectives, (2), required practice experience hours, and (3) deliverables associated with the capstone project.
Students will use the "Individual Success Plan" to develop an individual plan for completing practice hours and course objectives. As a part of this process, students will identify the number of hours set aside to meet course goals.
Access to the "Individual Success Plan" resource in the Topic Materials. Student expectations and instructions for completing the ISP document are provided.
Practice experiences are required in a community or public health setting. Practice settings should encourage community integration and involvement, expand accessibility of services and supports, promote personal preference, strengths, dignity, and empower people to participate in the economic mainstream. According to HealthyPeople.gov, educational and community-based programs and strategies are designed to reach people outside of traditional health care settings. These settings may include schools, worksites, health care facilities, and community/public health settings.
Students should apply concepts from prior courses to critically examine and improve their current practice. Students are expected to integrate scholarly readings to develop case reports that demonstrate increasingly complex and proficient practice.
Once developed by the student and approved by the course faculty, students will initiate a meeting with the faculty and preceptor to review the ISP.
Students are not required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.
Maximum Points: 25.0
Week 1 ASSIGNMENTS (CONTINUED)*
Assignment 3: Professional Capstone,
Reflective Journal, and Scholarly
Activities
Throughout the course, students will engage in weekly reflection and scholarly activities. These assignments are presented in Topic 1 to allow students to plan ahead, and incorporate the deliverables into the Individual Success Plan, if they so choose.
The weekly reflective journals and scholarly activities will not be submitted in LoudCloud each week; a final, culminating submission will be due in Topic 10. No submission is required until Topic 10.
Professional Capstone and Practicum Reflective Journal
Students are required to maintain weekly reflective narratives throughout the course to combine into a final, course-long reflective journal that integrates leadership and inquiry into current practice. This course-long journal assignment will be due in Topic 10.
In each week's entry, students should reflect on the personal knowledge and skills gained throughout the course. Journal entries should address a variable combination of the following, dependent upon the specific practice experiences occurring that week. In the Topic 10 submission, each of the areas below should be addressed as a part of the weekly journal entry. 1. New practice approaches
2. Intraprofessional collaboration
3. Health care delivery and clinical systems
4. Ethical considerations in health care
5. Population health concerns
6. The role of technology in improving health care outcomes
7. Health policy
8. Leadership and economic models
9. Health disparities
This reflection journal also allows students to outline what they have discovered about their professional practice, personal strengths and weaknesses, and additional resources that could be introduced in a given situation to influence optimal outcomes. Students should also explain how they met a course competency or course objective(s).
Scholarly Activities
Throughout the RN-to-BSN program, students are required to participate in scholarly activities beyond their employment in a clinical practice setting. Examples of scholarly activities include attending conferences, seminars, journal club, grand rounds, morbidity and mortality meetings, interdisciplinary committees, quality improvement committees, and any other opportunities available in an organizational setting, in the community, or nationally.
Students are required to post one scholarly activity which should be documented by the end of this course. In addition to this submission, must be involved, and contribute to, interdisciplinary initiatives.
In Topic 10, students will submit a summary report of the scholarly activity. Students must use the "Scholarly Activity Summary" resource to guide this assignment.
Assessment Type: PRACTICE
Maximum Points: 0.01
Week 1 – Study Materials *
Evidence-Based Practice, Step by Step:
Asking the Clinical Question: A Key
Step in Evidence-Based Practice
Read "Evidence-Based Practice, Step by Step: Asking the Clinical Question: A Key Step in Evidence-Based Practice," by Stillwell and Fineout-Overholt, from American Journal of Nursing (2010).
URL:
https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://gateway.ovid.com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&CSC=Y&NEWS=N&PAGE=fulltex t&AN=00000446-201003000-00028&LSLINK=80&D=ovft
See – Wk 1 and 2 – Study 1 – Step by Step
Evidence-Based Practice: The Future
of Nursing and the Role of Nurse
Read "Evidence-Based Practice: The Future of Nursing and the Role of Nurse," by Jyothi, from International Journal of Nursing Education (2012).
URL:
https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=2011793114&site=ehost live&scope=site
See Wk 1 and 2 – Study 2 – Future of Nursing
Evidence-Based Practice: Share the
Spirit of Inquiry
Read "Evidence-Based Practice: Share the Spirit of Inquiry," by Arzouman, from MEDSURG Nursing (2015). URL:
https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=108890347&site=ehost live&scope=site
See Wk 1 and 2 – Study 3 – Share Spirit of Inquiry
Integrating Evidence-Based Practice
Into RN to BSN Clinical Nursing
Education
Read "Integrating Evidence-Based Practice Into RN-to-BSN Clinical Nursing Education," by Oh et al., from Journal of Nursing Education (2010).
URL:
https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=2010708 745&site=ehost-live&scope=site
See Wk 1 – Study 4 – Integrating Evid Based Practice
Week 1 – Study Materials Continued
Nurses, Information Use, and Clinical
Decision Making - the Real World
Potential for Evidence-Based
Decisions in Nursing
Read "Nurses, Information Use, and Clinical Decision Making - the Real World Potential for Evidence-Based Decisions in Nursing," by Thompson, Cullum, McCaughan, Sheldon, and Raynor, from the BMJ Journals website (2004).
URL:
http://ebn.bmj.com/content/7/3/68
See Wk 1 and 2 – Study 5– Nurses-Information Use
Adopting Evidence-Based Practice in
Clinical Decision making: Nurses’
Perceptions, Knowledge, and Barriers
Read “Adopting Evidence-Based Practice in Clinical Decision making: Nurses’ Perceptions, Knowledge, and Barriers,” by Majid, Schubert, Luyt, Zhang, Theng, Chang, and Mokhtar, from the Journal of the Medial Library Association (2011). URL:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3133901/
See Wk 1 and 2 – Study 6 – Adopting Evidence Based Practice
Evidence-Based Practice and Quality
Improvement in Nursing Education
Read "Evidence-Based Practice and Quality Improvement in Nursing Education," by Balakas and Smith, from The Journal of Preinatal & Neonatal Nursing (2016).
URL:
https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://gateway.ovid.com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&CSC=Y&NEWS=N&PAGE=fulltex t&AN=00005237-201607000-00008&D=ovft&PDF=y
See Wk 1 and 2- Study 7 - Evidence-Based Practice and Quality Improvement
Week 1 – Study Materials Continued
Guidelines for Undergraduate Field
Experiences
Review the Guidelines for Undergraduate Field Experiences resource in the Student Success Center. This material contains important information for your clinical experience, including evaluation guidelines, the Clinical Site Visit Application, and the Clinical Hour Tracking Sheet for BSN Students.
Qualified Preceptor Summary Form
Review the "Qualified Preceptor Summary Form" resource,. Use the "Qualified Preceptor Summary Form" as part of the Topic 1 Course Preceptor Identification and Approval Process assignment requirements.
See Week 1 - Preceptor Form
Optional: GCU Library Webinar Sign
Up
For additional information, the following is recommended:
Review the webinar information offered by the GCU Library. From the "Webinars & Workshops: Webinar Calendar" page, select the "Category" tab and scroll down to the Nursing and Health Sciences selection. Webinar participation is optional. URL:
http://libguides.gcu.edu/webinars
Individual Success Plan
Review this resource to familiarize yourself with the requirements for the Individual Success Plan (ISP) assignment in this topic. See Week 1 – Individual Success Plan
Scholarly Activity Summary
You may use the "Scholarly Activity Summary" resource to help guide the preparation of the Scholarly Activities assignment, due in Topic 10.
See Week 1 – Scholarly Activity Summary
