Formative and Summative Evaluation of a Practice Doctorate Program

Opening doors: The practice degree that changes practice

This descriptive, qualitative research study describes the educational experience and preparation for future practice of the initial three cohorts of DNP graduates of a Northwest university. "Opening doors: The practice degree that changes practice" was the overarching theme identified. Five additional themes included students and faculty as colearners; explaining the DNP; thinking differently about practice; navigating the capstone; and building bonds/collegial connections.

Contributions of advanced practice nurses with a DNP degree during palliative and end-of-life care of children with cancer

The doctorate in nursing practice (DNP) degree is recommended as the terminal degree for advanced practice nurses by 2015. Improvement in the quality of palliative and end-of-life care for children with cancer is recognized as a health care priority. The purpose of this article is to describe: (a) how the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's 8 core elements and competencies can be used by DNP-advanced practice nurses in pediatric oncology settings and (b) the DNP-advanced practice nurses' leadership role to advocate translation of evidence in the care of pediatric oncology patients and to promote interdisciplinary collaboration to improve health care outcomes for pediatric oncology patients.

Nurse Practitioner preparation: is it time to move beyond masters level entry in Australia?

Nurse Practitioner education in Australia currently requires a post graduate qualification at masters level for endorsement by national registration bodies and entry into practice. This paper reviews the evidence and debate in America that saw the education of Nurse Practitioners advance to the doctoral level in 2004. Consideration will then be given to the similarities between the American and Australian context, in order to open the debate about whether it is timely for Australian universities to consider the need to advance Australia Nurse Practitioner education to the Doctor of Nursing Practice.

Community/public health nursing practice leaders' views of the doctorate of nursing practice

OBJECTIVES

This paper presents thoughts of practice leaders in the community/public health nursing (C/PHN) specialty on advanced nursing practice (ANP) and the necessary educational preparation for such practice.

DESIGN AND SAMPLE

Practice leaders were engaged in conversations specifically focused on the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) as preparation for ANP in their specialties, and asked to consider the benefits of, and challenges to, this educational program.

MEASURES AND RESULTS

The resulting remarks were then assessed for themes by the interviewers and these are presented along with thoughts on the future of education for ANP.

CONCLUSION

Overall, there was much agreement among the practice leaders interviewed about the importance of a broad skill set for ANP in the specialty. However, the practice leaders interviewed here also identified the practical challenges involved in educating nurses at the DNP level in the C/PHN specialty, as well as some concerns about the definitions of ANP for the future.

Preliminary evaluation of the learning outcome achieved by a nursing research seminar course for doctoral students

Educational evaluation is a priority policy of the Ministry of Education and student learning outcome is an important criterion used in educational evaluation work. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the learning outcome of a newly developed course for doctoral students entitled, Nursing Research Seminar. The course was one semester in length and required students to attend 2 hours of class per week. Student learning outcome was evaluated based on the level of understanding students had of course objectives. The six objectives of this course were: evaluating and integrating research papers; enhancing critical thinking skills; gaining an in-depth understanding of the literature related to topics of interest; enhancing ability to construct research proposals; guiding student dissertation work; and refining critical research skills. Data were collected from the responses provided by 25 students on a 5-point Likert-type evaluation form based on course objectives filled out during the last class of the semester. Descriptive and non-parametric statistics were adopted. Results showed: (1) The average post-course score (24.76 +/- 2.89) was significantly higher than the pre-course score (18.40 +/- 5.52); (2) Students realized significant improvements in all six objectives at the end of the course; (3) There were statistically significant differences in improvement scores in all six objectives for students in different years of their doctoral program; (4) The lower the year in the program, the higher the improvement scores for each course objective; (5) The two objectives of the six that saw the most significant improvements were "gaining an in-depth understanding of the literature related to topics of interest", and "enhancing critical thinking skills". Because of the small sample size, conclusions drawn from this study should be treated as tentative. Findings provide preliminary information supporting the importance and necessity of offering the Nursing Research Seminar course to nursing doctoral students. The course provided different benefits to students at different years in the program and, overall, research results encourage that this course continue to be offered.