DNP Essential I: Scientific Underpinnings for Practice
DNP Essential I Competencies:
Integrate nursing science with knowledge from ethics, the biophysical, psychosocial, analytical, and organizational sciences as the basis for the highest level of nursing practice.
Use science-based theories and concepts to:
determine the nature and significance of health and health care delivery phenomena;
describe the actions and advanced strategies to enhance, alleviate, and ameliorate health and health care delivery phenomena as appropriate; and
evaluate outcomes.
3. Develop and evaluate new practice approaches based on nursing theories and theories from other disciplines.
Achievement of DNP Essential I Competencies:
Analysis on my philosophy of theory-guided nursing care. In this paper, I defined my conceptual model and my theory of Promoting Positive Behavioral Change Through Self-Care. The paper describes how my theory synthesizes concepts from Dr. John Lowe’s Theory of Self-Reliance and Dr. Albert Bandura’s Theory of Self-Efficacy ultimately funneling into the overall framework of Dr. Dorothea Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory. Methods of implementation and evaluation of my theory are also discussed in the paper.
Course: NURS 6009: Theory Foundations for Advanced Nursing, Fall 2019
Utilization of Dr. Dorothea Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory in my DNP project. Dr. Orem’s model provided the theoretical basis for the project and guided interventions and small cycles of change. The application of this theory within my project is described on page five of the document
Course: NURS 8030: DNP Project I, Spring 2020
Development of a public health-based theory specific to preventing the initiation of tobacco use in adolescents. The Theory of Behavioral Acquisition synthesizes concepts from the Theory of Planned Behavior, Transtheoretical Model, and Social Capital Theory to address the public health issue of adolescent tobacco use.
Course: CBHS 6611: Foundations of Health Behavior, Spring 2019
DNP Essential II: Organizational and Systems Leadership for Quality Improvement and Systems Thinking
DNP Essential II Competencies:
Develop and evaluate care delivery approaches that meet current and future needs of patient populations based on scientific findings in nursing and other clinical sciences, as well as organizational, political, and economic sciences.
Ensure accountability for quality of health care and patient safety for populations with whom they work.
Use advanced communication skills/processes to lead quality improvement and patient safety initiatives in health care systems.
Employ principles of business, finance, economics, and health policy to develop and implement effective plans for practice-level and/or system-wide practice initiatives that will improve the quality of care delivery.
Develop and/or monitor budgets for practice initiatives.
Analyze the cost-effectiveness of practice initiatives accounting for risk and improvement of health care outcomes.
Demonstrate sensitivity to diverse organizational cultures and populations, including patients and providers.
Develop and/or evaluate effective strategies for managing the ethical dilemmas inherent in patient care, the health care organization, and research
Achievement of DNP Essential II:
Utilization of fishbone diagram and logic model to analyze root causes of issue and develop a problem statement. These models also assisted with the development of small cycles of change. These can be viewed in my DNP Project Proposal pages three and four as well as appendices C and D.
Course: NURS 8030: DNP Project I, Spring 2020
Financial impact statement for the DNP project. This document includes the estimated and actual budget for the project, revenue gained, and overall impact of the project on both the clinic and the target population.
Course: NURS 8050: DNP Project III, Fall 2020
Ethical considerations for the DNP Project were discussed on page twelve of the project manuscript. This discussion was included in the document to ensure that ethical issues related to the project were effectively managed.
Course: NURS 8050: DNP Project III, Fall 2020
DNP Essential III: Clinical Scholarship and Analytical Methods for Evidence-Based Practice
DNP Essential III Competencies:
Use analytic methods to critically appraise existing literature and other evidence to determine and implement the best evidence for practice.
Design and implement processes to evaluate outcomes of practice, practice patterns, and systems of care within a practice setting, health care organization, or community against national benchmarks to determine variances in practice outcomes and population trends.
Design, direct, and evaluate quality improvement methodologies to promote safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, and patient-centered care.
Apply relevant findings to develop practice guidelines and improve practice and the practice environment.
Use information technology and research methods appropriately to:
collect appropriate and accurate data to generate evidence for nursing practice
inform and guide the design of databases that generate meaningful evidence for nursing practice
analyze data from practice
design evidence-based interventions
predict and analyze outcomes
examine patterns of behavior and outcomes
identify gaps in evidence for practice
Function as a practice specialist/consultant in collaborative knowledge-generating research.
Disseminate findings from evidence-based practice and research to improve healthcare outcomes.
Achievement of DNP Essential III
Literature review and synthesis paper on the use of cannabinoids to influence pain management in adults with nonmalignant, neuropathic pain. In this review, a population, intervention, comparison, outcome, and time (PICOT) question was developed to appraise existing literature. The PICOT question guided a comprehensive review of the literature and synthesis of current evidence.
Course: NURS 6109: Evidence Based Practice: Evaluating the Evidence, Fall 2018
Table of evidence for DNP Project. This project represents a synthesis of knowledge gained from a review of current literature guided by the PICOT question developed for my project.
Course: NURS 8030: DNP Project I, Spring 2020
The data analysis plan for my DNP Project. This plan describes the use of information technology and research methods developed, implemented, and monitored during the DNP Project. It is introduced in the methods section of my scholarly paper and described in detail in the results section.
Course: NURS: 8040: DNP Project II, Summer 2020
Final project presentation to disseminate DNP Project findings. A summary of the project and its results were presented through a public presentation to University of Colorado Anschutz staff and 460th Medical Group leadership via formal project presentation.
Course: NURS: 8050: DNP Project III, Fall 2020
DNP Essential IV: Information Systems/Technology and Patient Care Technology for the Improvement and Transformation of Health Care
DNP Essential IV Competencies:
Design, select, use, and evaluate programs that evaluate and monitor outcomes of care, care systems, and quality improvement including consumer use of health care information systems.
Analyze and communicate critical elements necessary to the selection, use and evaluation of health care information systems and patient care technology.
Demonstrate the conceptual ability and technical skills to develop and execute an evaluation plan involving data extraction from practice information systems and databases.
Provide leadership in the evaluation and resolution of ethical and legal issues within healthcare systems relating to the use of information, information technology, communication networks, and patient care technology.
Evaluate consumer health information sources for accuracy, timeliness, and appropriateness.
Achievement of DNP Essential IV
Development of a formative program evaluation plan of the Forever Free Tobacco Cessation Relapse Prevention Program. This evaluation plan describes the analysis of program reach, efficacy/effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance using health care information systems.
Course: CBHS 6612: Methods in Research Evaluation, Spring 2019
Group paper on the development of a clinical depression screening tool within the electronic health record (EHR). This paper demonstrated a synthesis of current evidence advocating for structured and narrative data from systems within the EHR to assist in the early diagnosis and treatment of post-partum depression.
Course: NURS 6286: Foundations of Health Care Informatics, Spring 2019
Evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of implementing health information tools in the form of patient-friendly portable tablets or computers. This paper assesses the benefits, barriers, and overall impact of using portable health information tools to assess patient behaviors and provide immediate feedback and recommendations.
Course: NURS 6286: Foundations of Health Care Informatics, Spring 2019
DNP V Essential V: Health Care Policy for Advocacy in Health Care
DNP Essential V Competencies:
Critically analyze health policy proposals, health policies, and related issues from the perspective of consumers, nursing, other health professions, and other stakeholders in policy and public forums.
Demonstrate leadership in the development and implementation of institutional, local, state, federal, and/or international health policy.
Influence policy makers through active participation on committees, boards, or task forces at the institutional, local, state, regional, national, and/or international levels to improve health care delivery and outcomes.
Educate others, including policy makers at all levels, regarding nursing, health policy, and patient care outcomes.
Advocate for the nursing profession within the policy and healthcare communities.
Develop, evaluate, and provide leadership for health care policy that shapes health care financing, regulation, and delivery.
Advocate for social justice, equity, and ethical policies within all healthcare arenas.
Achievement of DNP Essential V
Script developed for a video triangle message critically analyzing Colorado bill HB19-1312 concerning modernizing immunization requirements for school entry to improve vaccination rates. The discussion analyzes the pros and cons of exemptions from vaccinations from the perspective of health care professionals and consumers.
Course: NURS 6633: Advanced Public Health Nursing, Summer 2019
Development of a training module for my DNP Project to educate leadership and staff members of the Buckley Family Medicine Clinic on health equity and social determinants of health. The intent of this training was to build a knowledge base to support the implementation of our social determinants of health screening and referral process.
Course: NURS 8030: DNP Project I, Spring 2020
Policy recommendation memorandum evaluating the risks of implementing work requirements to address the financial burdens Medicaid enrollment has caused for Colorado. In this policy recommendation memorandum, I evaluate the proposals of both Democratic and Republican political leaders on this issue provide a recommendation to the current Colorado Representative for my region.
Course: HSMP 6601: Introduction to Health Systems, Management, and Policy, Fall 2019
The AIM and sub-AIM of my DNP Project specifically advocate for a screening and referral process at the clinical level to assess for social determinants of health needs and health inequities in a target population.
Course: NURS 8050: DNP Project III, Fall 2020
DNP Essential VI: Interprofessional Collaboration for Improving Patient and Population Health Outcomes
DNP Essential VI Competencies:
Employ effective communication and collaborative skills in the development and implementation of practice models, peer review, practice guidelines, health policy, standards of care, and/or other scholarly products.
Lead interprofessional teams in the analysis of complex practice and organizational issues.
Employ consultative and leadership skills with intraprofessional and interprofessional teams to create change in health care and complex healthcare delivery systems.
Achievement of DNP Essential VI
Leader of DNP Project. I led a multidisciplinary project team from two organizations consisting of the chief nurse, the pediatrician, a medical technician, a medical service assistant, and a lead school nurse consultant. I served as the overall project manager and was responsible the research, development, and implementation of the project as well as the small cycles of change.
Course: NURS 8050: DNP Project III, Fall 2020
Personal Leadership Philosophy paper. In this paper, I describe the synthesis of the Army Leadership Model, Situational Leadership Theory, and Servant Leadership which I used to guide my leadership during my DNP Project implementation.
Course: NURS 8050: DNP Project III, Fall 2020
DNP Essential VII: Clinical Prevention and Population Health for Improving the Nation’s Health
DNP Essential VII Competencies:
Analyze epidemiological, biostatistical, environmental, and other appropriate scientific data related to individual, aggregate, and population health.
Synthesize concepts, including psychosocial dimensions and cultural diversity, related to clinical prevention and population health in developing, implementing, and evaluating interventions to address health promotion/disease prevention efforts, improve health status/access patterns, and/or address gaps in care of individuals, aggregates, or populations.
Evaluate care delivery models and/or strategies using concepts related to community, environmental and occupational health, and cultural and socioeconomic dimensions of health.
Achievement of DNP Essential VII
Project evaluating walkability and physical activity environments in urban neighborhoods and the prevention of childhood obesity. This occupational and environmental health focused presentation provides a link between limited physical activity environments and the development of obesity in children. The presentation also discusses limitations in current literature, current challenges, and proposed solutions to the issue.
Course: EHOH 6614: Introduction to Environmental and Occupational Health, Fall 2018
Analysis of the prevalence of adolescent tobacco use in the United States. Prevalence of tobacco use within the public-school system is discussed along with protective factors and risk factors within age groups for this behavioral issue. The paper then describes the utilization of this information to develop effective theory-based programs to prevent adolescent tobacco use.
Course: CBHS 6611: Foundations of Health Behavior, Spring 2019
DNP Project. In the project, I analyzed and implemented strategies to improve access to care and health equity in military families. Through evaluation of Colorado, military, and national population data, I developed and implemented a process to improve patient access and prevent long-term negative health outcomes related to social determinants of health.
Course: NURS 8050: DNP Project III, Fall 2020
DNP Essential VIII: Advanced Nursing Practice
DNP Essential VIII Competencies:
Conduct a comprehensive and systematic assessment of health and illness parameters in complex situations, incorporating diverse and culturally sensitive approaches.
Design, implement, and evaluate therapeutic interventions based on nursing science and other sciences.
Develop and sustain therapeutic relationships and partnerships with patients (individual, family or group) and other professionals to facilitate optimal care and patient outcomes.
Demonstrate advanced levels of clinical judgment, systems thinking, and accountability in designing, delivering, and evaluating evidence-based care to improve patient outcomes.
Guide, mentor, and support other nurses to achieve excellence in nursing practice.
Educate and guide individuals and groups through complex health and situational transitions.
Use conceptual and analytical skills in evaluating the links among practice, organizational, population, fiscal, and policy issues.
Achievement of DNP Essential VIII
Social determinants of health (SDH) screening form. Through an exhaustive evidence review and synthesis of previously employed SDH screening tools, I conducted a survey of military providers to identify the most applicable SDH screening questions to utilize with our screening form. This screening form assesses for SDH needs within eleven domains.
Course: NURS 8030: DNP Project I, Spring 2020
Development of a resource database. To support the DNP Project intervention, I built a comprehensive database of local and military resources that could be provided to patients based on the specific SDH needs identified via our SDH screening form.
Course: NURS 8030: DNP Project I, Spring 2020
Development of a training module for my DNP Project to educate leadership and staff members of the Buckley Family Medicine Clinic (BFMC) on health equity and social determinants of health. The intent of this training was to build a knowledge base to support the implementation of our social determinants of health screening and referral process. This training was also provided to our project organizational partners at Aurora Public Schools (APS) via presentation to all school nurses within APS
Course: NURS 8030: DNP Project I, Spring 2020