Professional nurses, as they gain expertise and pursue scholarship, are in a unique position to synthesize knowledge from their clinical practice and their RN-BSN course work. The purpose of the Capstone proposal is to identify an area of interest on a clinical topic or healthcare organizational topic that relates to the students’ area of nursing practice; search pertinent literature from evidence-based practice and clinical practice guidelines; and propose a plan, implementation method, evaluation, and dissemination of this information to colleagues in the work setting and/or community.
The student will develop a written proposal paper for their capstone topic of choice. This proposal is derived from evidence-based practice that will enhance clinical outcomes and should demonstrate a link between research and practice. Topics of interest may be selected from such areas as a potential change to a clinical practice, a clinical dilemma that would be likely to improve patient care outcomes, or a cost-benefit analysis of clinical practice. The topic should be related to your clinical practice area or general nursing practice.
The Capstone Project/Proposal paper will be submitted for grading in periodic deliverables as outlined below. The FINAL Capstone Project/ Proposal assignment will be to collate all the documents into one, cohesive document that represents your best quality work. The final submitted document should be inclusive of the feedback and recommendations for improvement provided to you by your instructor. The major components of the Capstone Project/Proposal will include the chapters listed below. The weighting of the chapters follows with the total project representative of 40% of the final grade.
Component Percentage of Grade
Introduction & Discussion of Topic of Interest 8%
Literature Review 8%
Methodology (Plan, Implementation, Evaluation, Dissemination) 16%
Discussion and Concluding Remarks 4%
Final Cohesive Document Submission 4%
MAXIMUM page limits for each section are established in the rubric and do not include the title and reference pages. Students are expected to use a scholarly, academic writing style and APA (6th edition) formatting when writing this paper. Sources used for this paper must be properly cited to avoid plagiarism.
Examples of Capstone Proposal Topics from past BSN students include:
“The Effectiveness of Using Complimentary Interventions in Patients with Chronic Illnesses”
“Understanding the Role of Nurse-Performed Education in Patient Self-Management”
“An Evaluation of Barcode Medication Administration in an Acute Care Setting”
“Using SBAR for Safe and Effective Patient Handoffs”
“The Power of Medication Reconciliation to Reduce Medication Errors”
“Patient and Family Centered Rounding: Clinical Implications for Intensive Care Units
I have added the grading rubric at the bottom
