Assignment

PURPOSE

The purpose of this paper is to present the story of your inquiry process thus far on the road to developing your DNP project. An inquiry essay differs from other traditional academic essays in that its purpose is not to argue for a specific idea, but rather to illustrate your inquiry and thinking process, and to demonstrate your understanding of how theoretical and process models guide your DNP project development

COURSE OUTCOMES

This assignment provides documentation of student ability to meet the following course outcomes:

Identify practice problems at the microsystem, mesosystem and macrosystem levels of health care systems.

Assimilate nursing's ways of knowing and the development of nursing science.

Analyze the implementation of selected theoretical perspectives into evidence-based practice.

Summarize scientific knowledge to determine the nature and significance of a practice problem.

REQUIREMENTS

1. To complete this application, you will need to access to the following databases: CINAHL, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and the Joanna Briggs Institute. You may access these databases through the Chamberlain College of Nursing Online Library. The PDF tutorials for database searches are in the "Need Help?" box on every library page. To ask for assistance from a librarian, use one of the contact methods in the "Ask A Librarian" box at the top right of every page.

2. When clicked, it reveals a list of "Tools" or PDFs on how to do conduct various searches of the required databases (CINAHL, MEDLINE, Cochrane, and JBI) through the portals (EBSCO and OVID) provided.

3. The Inquiry Paper is worth 275 points and will be graded on the required components as summarized in the directions and grading criteria/rubric.

4. Create your manuscript using the version of Microsoft Word required by Chamberlain College of Nursing. You can tell that the document is saved as a MS Word document because it will end in ".docx"

5. Follow the directions and grading criteria closely. Any questions about this paper may be posted under the Q & A Forum.

6. The length of the paper will be 5 pages excluding title page and reference pages.

7. A minimum of 5 scholarly references (not your text books but primary sources of theory and research).

a. The textbook required for this course may be used as a reference for this assignment but does not count towards the required minimum number of scholarly references.

8. APA format and effective writing is required for the paper. Use your APA manual or Purdue Owl to check and correct your formatting. Use Grammarly, Tutor.com found under General Resources on the Course Resources page or in the student portal, the grammar and spelling check on your Word Processor and criteria for effective writing (available through the Writing Call and Coaches) to assure that your paper well written.

PREPARING THE PAPER

The following are best practices for preparing this paper:

1. Outline your paper at the beginning of the term and begin adding notes to the content headings as you read critically and begin to synthesize and as insights occur in your mind. Following your outline will help you establish and maintain context throughout the paper.

2. Review your studies, discussion and exercises from week 1 forward in this class. Keep the MEAL plan in mind as you begin drafting paragraphs.

3. Create purposeful structure throughout your paper and in your paragraphs, having a sense of introduction, development and conclusion. Your outline and notes will facilitate this purposeful structure.

4. Be sure that your content is original and appropriate to the topic as assigned. Validate your ideas with substantiated thinking and appropriate use of valid sources. In other words, provide evidence and examples to illustrate your statements.

5. Assure proper conventions and content: Check the usage, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, format, citing and so on using tools such as Grammarly, Word Spell and Grammar Check, APA manual, Purdue Owl, Listening to the Writing Calls, Contacting your faculty or using a writing coach if necessary.

6. An effective conclusion should include the main ideas and major conclusions. Do not add new information in the conclusion.