Project Proposal form

In this course, you will first submit for topic approval. The topic approval process is designed to ensure that all doctoral projects are aligned with the learner’s program, supported by evidence, and are feasible (meaning there is reasonable likelihood that the project can be accomplished within the timeframe of the degree). This review intentionally seeks the perspective of other qualified academic leaders who are trained to evaluate the appropriateness of the project topic.

For this assessment, complete the Topic Approval Form [DOCX.

PICOT Question:

For the community mental health center providers (P), how does the required per visit implementation of the Alcohol Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) tools (I) compared to current practice (C) affect the Referral rate to Medication-Assisted-Treatment (MAT) program (O) over 12 weeks (T)?

Follow the instructions within the form and make use of the embedded links if you need additional information to complete any of the sections. Important: You must first submit the Topic Approval Form to your faculty within the classroom before submitting it as an assessment. This allows the faculty to provide feedback on the appropriateness of the topic prior for school level review. As topic development is an iterative process, there may be several drafts before it is ready to submit to Assessment 1. Your faculty will indicate where to submit these drafts, which may be in the course message system or a private group discussion thread. Drafts should not be emailed outside of the classroom. Overall, you will be assessed on whether you have met expectations in the following five areas:

• Topic: The topic area fits within the scope of the program.
• Problem: The problem has an identified theoretical orientation.
• Supporting Evidence: The topic and problem are supported by the recent literature and relevant evidence.
• Alignment and Feasibility: Questions align to the topic and problem and the project appears feasible, given current supporting materials reviewed.
• Writing: Writing uses proper paragraph development, transitions, academic tone with proper grammar usage, and mechanics.

Note: If you do not meet expectations in all five areas, you will not pass the assessment. If this happens, review the feedback you received from faculty and make revisions to your form. Then, resubmit for regrading.

NURS-FPX9100 Topic Approval Form
Learner name:
Date:
Iteration:
Faculty Name:
Reviewer’s Name:
Decision:
Date:
LEARNER INSTRUCTIONS
This screening form is intended to help you and your faculty ensure the project topic and
methods meet the requirements for the DNP final project. Include APA Citations where noted in
this form. Please include an APA reference list at the end of the document. Links to relevant
resources have been provided throughout the document. The Faculty/Reviewer will provide
feedback directly on this form along with recording the decision to endorse or defer the topic
WORKING PROJECT TITLE: (Example: Reducing Falls Within an Inpatient Hospital Setting)
Primary Investigator: (Example: Learner name and credentials)
Project Site: Include the name and location of the project site (Example: Mercy Hospital,
Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Sponsor: (Identify the preceptor, and at least one stakeholder contact) Example: Preceptor Sara
Jones DNP, Nursing Professional Development Specialist, Tom Smith, DNP CNO of the
organization, Beth Hanson DHA, Director of Quality and Safety.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
PICOT:
Brief Summary: (Briefly describe the background and significance of the identified problem AT
THE PRACTICE SITE in 100 words or less. Citations required in this section.). Example:
Inpatient falls/falls with injury have trended upwards at the project site. The NDNQI benchmark
for falls for an inpatient setting is XX. The practice site fall rate is XX (personal communication,
date). Inpatient falls account for XX healthcare-related expenses annually (citation). Falls also
impact value-based purchasing resulting in lower reimbursements for the organization (citation).
A falls reduction bundle that includes bedside reporting will be implemented to decrease fall
rates within the inpatient setting.
Primary Objective: (Describe the overarching aim of the project). Example: reduce falls within
an inpatient setting
Secondary Objective: (Describe other objectives the project may have) Example:
1. Improve staff compliance with falls assessment and reassessment.
1
2. Improve RN compliance with bedside reporting.
3. Reduce falls/falls with injury within the medical surgical unit 4 West.
Proposed Evidence-based Intervention(s): (LIST each evidence-based intervention followed
by a citation to show a progression from the literature. Citations required in this section.)
Example:
1. Bedside reporting (XX, et al. 2014).
2. Falls assessment and reassessment (XX, et al. 2017).
3. Leadership rounding (XX, et al. 2015, XX, et al. 2020).
PROJECT DESIGN AND METHODS
Project Design: (Provide one sentence that describes the project design. Research or Action
Research designs are not permissible) Example: Quality Improvement, Formative Program
Evaluation, Quality Collaborative, Value Analysis. Define as quantitative, qualitative, cohort,
prospective.
Model For Improvement: Select a model for improvement (Example: PDSA, LEAN/DMAIC,
RE-AIM).
Target Population Undergoing the Practice Change: Projects involving vulnerable
populations are not permitted. Vulnerable populations include children, prisoners, pregnant
women, mentally disabled persons, or economically or educationally disadvantaged
persons. Example: The target population will be the nursing and ancillary support staff
Inclusion Criteria: (Describe the criteria that will be for eligible participants). Example: All fulltime, part-time, and contract RN and ancillary staff on the medical-surgical unit. Nursing
ancillary staff include nursing aides, and nursing leadership includes charge nurses, nurse
managers, and departmental nursing supervisors.
Exclusion Criteria: (Describe the criteria that will be used to exclude participants, those who
will not participate in the practice or process change). Example: Physicians, respiratory therapy,
pharmacy, social works, and unit clerks will be excluded.
Estimated Project Length (weeks): (DNP projects require a project length between 8-12
weeks, project implementation. The pre-work phase of the project includes staff training and will
last two weeks. The project will be implemented over six weeks. Final data collection and
analysis is anticipated to take two weeks for a total project time frame of 10 weeks.
OUTCOME MEASURES AND ANALYSIS
Primary Outcome Measures: (LIST Primary outcome measure(s). The primary outcome of the
project usually matches the overarching aim of the project). Example: Decrease falls/falls with
injury at the practice site
2
Secondary Outcome Measures (LIST Secondary outcome measures(s). These measures may
include process measures, proxy measures, or other outcome measures). Example: staff
compliance with bedside reporting [process], leadership compliance with purposeful rounding
[process], falls assessment/reassessment [process], patient satisfaction with nurse
communication [outcome]
Data Analysis and Results Reporting: Complete the table for each measure listed above.
Note the type of data you will be collecting (nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio).
MEASURE
MEASURE
TYPE
TYPE OF DATA
COLLECTED
ANALYSIS
METHOD
RESULTS
REPORTINGDATA TYPE
Fall/Fall w/injury
Outcome
Nominal
Descriptive
Statistics
Rate
For more resources, click on this resource: Measuring quality in health care
The rationale for the use of inferential statistics (if applicable). If inferential statistics will be used
to compute the raw data, provide ample reasoning for why inferences must be made from the
results (i.e., project outcomes could impact the organization financially). Identify and describe
the type of stat you intend to use for the analysis (parametric vs. nonparametric). If using a
parametric test including the estimated sample size needed (power analysis). Example: A
students t-test will be used to evaluate staff performance before and after TeamSTEPPS
training. If there is a statistically significant difference (p