Strategy Submission

The Capstone project is the culminating academic experience for the RN to BSN completion program students provide the opportunity to explore an issue in conjunction with their nurse manager, department, division, or regional senior leader that is important to the healthcare organization or specific nursing unit. Based on the Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice (AACN, 2010), these issues may include, but are not limited to: nurse leadership, quality care and patient safety, evidence based practice, healthcare policy development, interprofessional communication and collaboration, population health promotion and disease prevention, and professional values. Part of the focus of these classes is based on the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) work. Explaining the importance of variation and measurement in assessing quality of care will be a concentration of the Capstone project. Appreciating how unwanted variation affects care and valuing measurement is fundamental in providing good patient care. The Capstone project demonstrates the student learner's ability to synthesize as well as apply the cumulative knowledge, skills, and attitudes acquired in the academic program to current workplace specific, prioritized issues. The Capstone project affirms the student's ability to identify key issues, think critically and innovatively to solve these issues in an ethical and feasible manner, and to effectively communicate findings in an intra- and inter-professional context. Because of this, the work associated with the Capstone learnings will take place in a structured, sequential way during the last three semesters of the program. The first Capstone course, consists of a project selected by the student, in concert with the nurse manager and faculty, that includes a needs assessment, appropriate literature review, a project plan, and implementation of the selected project. The second Capstone course, concludes with data analysis and dissemination of project learnings through an academic paper. The purpose is to provide the student learner with "tools" that can be utilized in the clinical setting to improve patient care and safety. A preceptor will be used for the Capstone experience in the RN-BSN Completion Program to assist in guiding nursing students during their educational process. Utilizing preceptors provides an additional learning forum for nursing students' continued improvement of patient care delivery, understanding of the integrated healthcare organization, and fostering their development as nurse leaders. Examples of qualified preceptors may include but are not limited to: nurse manager, assistant nurse manager, educator, clinical nurse specialist, nursing director, or clinical nurse leader. Both student and preceptor will utilize evidence-based practices to ensure quality outcomes. Considering the student learner's facility and organizational needs, students will select a QI project from this menu of options for their capstone project: · Hospital acquired pressure ulcers (HAPU) · Patient falls - with injury · Catheter associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) · Central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) · Patient handovers · Surgical site infections including colorectal and/or hysterectomy · Sepsis · Delirium · Venous thromboembolism (VTE) · Other topic: _____________ (must receive approval from the student's Manager and/or Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) to deviate from the menu of options). The student learner will: (a) contact the nursing personnel lead to learn more about this topic and the specific needs for the organization and (b) understand the metric for the topic as well as the current status for the student learner's individual nursing unit, department, or division prior to project selection.