Elaboration: Teaching-learning practices and environments (classroom, clinical, laboratory, simulation, and distance education) support achievement of expected individual student learning outcomes identified in course, unit, and/or level objectives.
Program Response
A variety of traditional and innovative teaching-learning practices appropriate for the adult learner offer SON DNP students numerous opportunities to achieve expected learning outcomes. The SON DNP program is delivered in a face-to-face format enhanced by course management system technologies. Students are required to be on the main San Antonio campus for 55% or more of the program hours. For clinical application hours, students are
assigned to practice sites managed by organizational mentors and monitored by faculty and/or faculty chairs.
All courses in this program are web-supported using course management systems technology. However the use of technology is supplemental to face to face instructions. The institution utilizes the Bb Learn Course Management System for all academic courses offered at the institution. Bb Learn provides students with course-specific information and is a means of communication between the students and course faculty. Bb Learn is also utilized for access to course objectives, class topics and learning outcomes, reading and other class assignments, announcements, discussions, assignment submission and lecture and seminar materials. Email is used to maintain communication among students, faculty, and staff. All students and faculty are provided with a valid university email account. Faculty will keep online and/or phone office hours as well as posted office hours to meet student needs.
Participating faculty members are certified in Online Teaching and Learning UTHSCSA Academic Technology Services Department Faculty. Hence faculty are well prepared to use Bb Learn and create learning activities in an on-line format to meet program outcomes.
Additionally, the SON supports a position of Educational Development Specialist, responsible for faculty consultation during course creation and development.
Program Content
The DNP program content incorporates venues such as seminars, lectures, and clinical experiences. All didactic courses are taught face to face, incorporating the use of technology where necessary; primarily using the Bb Learn course management system. For clinical experiences, the teachings are done in actual clinical practice settings face to face by preceptors, organizational mentors and evaluated by faculty.
Practice Experiences
The SON DNP program provides rich and varied opportunities for practice experiences aimed at helping graduates achieve integration of the DNP competencies. Practice experiences are designed to enhance and expand student competencies for articulating and enacting the tripartite role (practice inquiry, advanced nursing clinical practice, and interprofessional leadership) in a practice setting that is relevant to the student's advanced practice nursing specialty and program plan. Specifically, the purposes of the practice experiences are:
to synthesize and expand knowledge about advanced specialty practice that integrates evidence and leadership;
to broaden the student's clinical set at the doctoral level regardless of role or experience;
to support the inquiry project to translate scientific evidence into practice to improve patient outcomes of care;
to provide students the opportunity to analyze leadership principles to promote communication and collaboration;
to evaluate key issues that affect the advanced practice registered nurses' ability to influence practice, health systems, and policy.
to provide evidence of achievement of end-of-program competencies
In order to achieve the DNP competencies, the program provides the additional
practicum hours needed to meet the post-baccalaureate minimum of 1,000 hours of practice as part of a supervised academic program. There are a minimum number of clinical/practicum hours required for each track in the DNP Program. The Nurse Practitioner Leadership and Public Health Nurse Leader tracks require a minimum of 360 clinical hours, and the Executive Administrative Management track requires 540 clinical hours. Therefore, Nurse Practitioners and Public Health Nurse Leaders must have completed 640 clinical hours in their previous graduate program(s) and Administrative Managers 460 clinical hours to meet AACN's
requirement. Students who do not meet these criteria will be evaluated and may be required to take a clinical application course designed to provide the additional hours needed to complete the required 1,000 clinical hours for the DNP degree.
The SON provides an academic environment that offers substantial access to practice expertise (direct and indirect care) and opportunities for students to work with and learn from a variety of practice experts including advanced practice clinicians, nurse executives,
informaticists, or health policy-makers. A wide variety of public and private organizations are available for students. In general, post-master’s students do not work with preceptors. They do, however, work with an organizational partner, as approved by the student’s faculty advisor or chair who is familiar with the student’s area of interest. An organizational partner serves as an advocate/facilitator for the DNP student and for the DNP Inquiry Project in the organization and to serve as a liaison for the organization to the SON.
Selecting an Organizational Partner
Organizational partners can present a variety of skills, educational credentials and expertise and may be selected from a variety of disciplines. The decision on what constitutes an appropriate organizational partner will depend on the route and area of academic and clinical interest of the student. The organizational partner must hold a position in the organization where he/she can facilitate the DNP student’s access to clinical services, organizational information, decision makers, and other personnel in order to meet the DNP student’s clinical experience objectives and implement the Inquiry Project during the practicum within the
organization. Organizational partners are recruited by the faculty. Students may also recruit a mentor for consideration by the faculty.
Individuals who serve as mentors for graduate students in the Post-Master’s DNP program should meet the following qualifications:
1. Formal education and professional experience as required for the professional role and practice; preferably an earned graduate degree or its equivalent in a specialty area of practice.
2. State licensure as required for the professional role and practice area if applicable.
3. Administrative or management expertise derived from practical and theoretical preparation for individuals in administrative or public health positions.
4. Commitment to assist students to meet defined learning objectives as established by the program of study.
When possible and practical, the DNP student is encouraged to select an organizational partner outside of their current work setting. In large organizations the DNP student should conduct their practicum hours outside the department or unit where they are employed if possible. The line between current employment and clinical application hours and project(s) must be clear to the organization, the organizational mentor, the faculty, the DNP Inquiry Project Committee, and the DNP student.
Evaluation of Clinical Application Hours
When students are enrolled in their clinical application courses, they are required to maintain a log which records hours completed and a reflective journal of their experiences.
Throughout the semester students are required to submit their journals via Bb Learn and they are reviewed by the faculty for meeting the clinical hour requirements and content. At the end of the semester, the clinical application will be graded on a pass/fail basis.
In conclusion, the SON has faculty members, practice resources, and an academic infrastructure that supports a high quality educational program and provides students with the opportunities to develop expertise in nursing practice. The SON also provides infrastructure for extensive collaborative relationships with practice systems or sites and provides practice leadership in nursing and other fields.
DNP Scholarly Inquiry Project Process
All DNP students will prepare an Inquiry Project that demonstrates the student’s in-depth knowledge of one's area of specialty practice and the synthesis of the student’s coursework and practice application. The Inquiry Project is guided and evaluated by a faculty committee chair and inquiry project committee. The Inquiry Project results in a scholarly paper and presentation.
The focus of all DNP Inquiry Projects is on knowledge translation in an area of specialty practice at multiple system levels.
Early in their program, students work with faculty to begin exploring concepts related to their area of interest while evaluating sources of evidence related to the problem/need. The inquiry is further defined throughout the program and the proposal written during the DNP Advanced Nursing Seminar (NURS 7111) course. Based upon an assessment and evaluation of the evidence, the plan and design will be developed for an Inquiry Project initiative. During the final semester the students will implement and report on their Inquiry Project. At the end of this final semester the student will present and defend their completed Inquiry Project. Students work closely with their Inquiry Project Committee, under the direction of the Committee Chair.
The Committee is engaged in all aspects of the process.
Selection of Inquiry Project Committee Chair and Committee
The Inquiry Project is supervised by a faculty committee comprised of a minimum of two qualified members which includes the chair. The chair for the student’s scholarly Inquiry Project must be a member of the School of Nursing faculty with the requisite expertise and experience to provide substantive assistance and direction to the student. Selection of the chair will be done by the student in consultation with either his/her student advisor, course faculty and/or Program Director. The Committee Chair must be faculty of the School of Nursing (SON) and hold a doctoral degree. The Chair is selected to match the scholarly interest and/or method of inquiry identified by the student. The Chair will meet with the student to plan the Inquiry Project and discuss the organizational partner and practicum site for the project, if not previously selected.
Additional member(s) for the Inquiry Project Committee are selected based on their specific strengths and perspective they will bring to the problem or topic being addressed in the Inquiry Project. The Chair will assist the student in selecting the other committee member(s).
The other member may be a SON faculty or an outside expert or organizational mentor. It is recommended that the second committee member is from the organization where the student is implementing the Inquiry Project as this member will serve as an advocate/facilitator for the student in the organization. Students may select more members for their committee based on project needs.
Students will identify their Inquiry Project Committee Chair and committee member(s) and meet with their Chair at least once before they begin the Advanced Nursing Seminar course (NURS 7111). The Chair will also monitor and evaluate the organizational partner and
practicum site. The Inquiry Project Committee is responsible for the following activities:
1. guide the student in the development of the Inquiry Project,
2. critique the readiness of the project proposal for presentation,
3. mentor the student during the implementation and scholarly reporting phases of the project, and
4. evaluate the student’s performance on both the proposal and final Inquiry Project presentation
Review Institutional Board (IRB)
Inquiry Projects may require review by the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSCSA) Institutional Review Board (IRB) to establish benefits and risks and the need for protection of human subjects prior to the implementation of the project. To protect human subjects, IRB review is indicated. The IRB at UTHSCSA policies for human subjects’ protection reflect national standards of compliance with the Office for Human Research Protection of the Department of Health and Human Services (Title 45, Part 46).
Completion of the Human Research Curriculum (CITI –Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative) is required prior to the submission of the online application. This web-based training is available on the UTHSCSA IRB web site: http://research.uthscsa.edu/irb/. The CITI training is usually completed in conjunction with the Design & Analysis for EBP Translational Science II course. The IRB application is submitted only after the Chair has reviewed and approved the application. A copy of the IRB letter of approval must be submitted to the Chair and Program Director before implementation of the project. Additional IRB approvals and CITI training may be required from the agency or institution in which the project will be implemented (see DNP Handbook, pp. 24 and 78-81).
Inquiry Project Proposal
The development of the proposal takes place during the Advanced Nursing Seminar course (NURS 7111). This seminar is structured to include a variety of activities related to the identification of the practice gap, refining their practice question, organizational assessment, literature synthesis and evidence for their theory based organizational intervention at multiple system levels.
The student will provide drafts of the written proposal to the Committee Chair and make revisions based on feedback from the Chair. Once the proposal is finalized and reviewed by the Committee Chair, the student will present the proposal with their full committee in attendance. It is the student’s responsibility to schedule the proposal presentation after coordination with the chair and committee members. The student delivers a 20 minute PowerPoint assisted
presentation to their committee describing the key components of the project proposal. The
student provides a copy of the proposal to each committee member for their review at least two weeks before the proposal presentation.
The DNP student must pass the proposal presentation before they can progress to the implementation phase of their Inquiry Project. A written evaluation with recommendations as appropriate will be given to the student at the completion of the presentation.
Final Defense of the Inquiry Project
The DNP student must successfully complete the final Inquiry Project Paper and oral presentation to be eligible for graduation. The chairperson, in consultation with committee members, determines when the final draft of the Inquiry Project is ready for defense. The DNP Inquiry Project Defense is a public presentation of the completed project. This defense is open to the public, including faculty, students and individuals outside of the University. All committee members are expected to be in attendance. All presentations must be scheduled ahead of time in coordination with the Chair, Committee members, and the DNP Program Director. The presentation will be facilitated by the Committee Chair.
The DNP student will make a PowerPoint presentation of his/her project lasting
approximately 20 minutes and should include a statement of the problem, review and synthesis of the literature, a description of the project implementation to address the problem, the
evaluation results and implications for future work in this area. The presentation is followed by a private question and answer session with the student by the Inquiry Project committee.
Following this session the student is excused and the committee will determine the results of the examination. Results of the examination will be reported to the student at that time. All
members of the committee will sign the DNP Inquiry Project Evaluation Form 703. The form must be submitted to the DNP Program Director who will sign the form and forward it to the Office for Academic Affairs.
The project must be successfully presented at least three weeks prior to semester end for the student to be eligible for graduation. This allows the student time to make any
corrections to the final project that is requested. Once the Committee has agreed that the
student has met all the requirements for graduation, the student will submit an electronic version of the final written paper to the DNP Program Director, Committee Chair, Committee Members and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
Faculty has been discussing how to proceed in the event that a student is unsuccessful passing the final inquiry project presentation. Discussions have included establishing a
mechanism for the student, committee members, and the DNP Program Director to mutually develop a plan for remediation. Consideration to establish a policy that failure to pass the
second presentation would result in dismissal is also been explored. Faculty are in the process of finalizing inquiry project policies for presentation to the COGS.
The project must be successfully presented at least three weeks prior to semester end for the student to be eligible for graduation. Once the Committee has agreed that the student has met all the requirements for graduation, the student will submit an electronic version of the final written paper to the DNP Program Director and the Office of Academic Affairs.
III-E. The curriculum and teaching-learning practices consider the needs and