Liberty University DNP courses and the scholarly project

NURS 700, Advanced Nursing Research, opens the research thread with methods for practice improvement: action research, program evaluation and quality improvement. Its guide lists a two-part overview of research, three written assignments, a research article critique, two forums, an annotated bibliography and a final summary and synthesis assignment worth 150 points.

The summary and synthesis is often the first draft of the literature base a student later uses for the scholarly project.

NURS 711 covers advanced physiology and pathophysiology for practice, with a neuro paper, a cardiovascular and pulmonary case presentation, live WebEx presentations and four exams, which the student sits personally.

NURS 836, Translational Research in Health Care, is built on knowledge translation models. It runs seven forums on Brownson and colleagues and ends with a draft dissemination and implementation plan worth 225 points and the scholarly project pre-approval form.

The pre-approval form marks the formal start of the project, and it is the student's own submission.

These courses reward a student who already has a practice problem in mind, because each assignment can feed the project.

NURS 718 looks at informatics and technology trends. Its guide lists two forums, three case studies and a three-part health management information system project on introduction, planning and implementation and evaluation, the last two worth 200 points each.

NURS 832, Clinical Prevention and Biostatistics, applies epidemiology and statistics to practice. It begins with a HealthMap assessment and a CDC Epi Info outbreak tutorial and survey assignment, runs three forums, and ends with an outbreak paper outline, an outbreak survey and an outbreak paper worth 250 points.

Other courses in the sequence, including NURS 715, 716, 721, 732 and 834, cover areas such as leadership, policy, quality, population health and the DNP role, each with its own forums and papers.

The informatics and biostatistics courses are where many nurses meet unfamiliar tools, such as Epi Info, for the first time.

Students coming from education or administration roles often find the clinical and statistical courses the steepest.

Across the sequence, APA 7, current evidence and a biblical worldview element are expected in written work.

The HMIS project in NURS 718 is a useful rehearsal for the scholarly project, because it asks for the same arc of problem, plan, implementation and evaluation on a smaller scale.

NURS 839, Proposal Development, is where the scholarly project proposal is written. The course applies the research and writing skills from earlier courses to the project process.

It begins with the Iowa Model of evidence-based care and the role of the IRB, and an article critique and leveling assignment.

Week two asks for a level of evidence table using the Melnyk pyramid and completion of CITI training for the protection of human subjects.

Weeks three and four produce the introduction and literature review and then the methodology paper for the proposal.

SPSS appears in weeks four and five, with a getting-started assignment and an analysis assignment.

Week six adds a forum on the proposal's results and dissemination plans, week seven brings the full scholarly project proposal worth 150 points, and week eight ends with a proposal defense PowerPoint.

The defense, the IRB process and the project's implementation at a practice site are the student's own work with their faculty chair and site.

The DNP asks for steady writing over many courses, and the project depends on decisions made early. Choosing a practice problem in the first research course gives every later assignment a home.

Keep a running literature file from NURS 700 onward. The annotated bibliography and synthesis there can become the review in NURS 839.

Talk to your practice site early. The project needs a setting, a site contact and approvals that take time to arrange.

Expect the statistics and SPSS work to take longer than a paper of the same points.

Take care with the courses that require live WebEx presentations and exams, which must be done personally.

Some DNP students get help with the written coursework, such as critiques, case studies, syntheses and papers, during heavy terms. On this site, those can be drafted for you to review, revise and submit; exams, live presentations, CITI training, IRB submissions, the project itself and its defense stay with you and your chair.

The project is the heart of the degree, and protecting time for it is usually the best use of any help with the surrounding courses.

Some parts of a DNP can only be done by the nurse earning it. The scholarly project is the clearest: it is carried out at a real practice site, with real staff and patients, under a faculty chair.

The IRB application and any site approvals are signed and submitted by the student, because they commit the student and the site to an ethical plan.

The proposal defense is a live presentation, and questions from the chair and committee are answered in the student's own words.

CITI training certifies the person who completes it, so it is completed personally.

Exams in courses such as advanced pathophysiology, and the WebEx presentations scheduled in that course, are also the student's.

Practice hours, where a student's plan includes them, are logged from the student's own work.

What remains is a large body of written coursework: forums, critiques, case studies, bibliographies, syntheses and course papers. That is where outside help can lighten the load without touching the parts that certify the nurse.

Knowing the line early makes planning simpler, because the protected work can be scheduled first.