Capstone Project Title (Use Upper and Lower Case Throughout)
Author’s First Last Name
Western Governors University
College of Health Professions
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Please note the following:
1. Students are prohibited from administering pre/post-tests, conducting surveys or
questionnaires, collecting or analyzing private/public data, evaluating outcomes,
soliciting feedback, and/or auditing medical records.
2. Avoid the use of first person. Examples of first person are the following: I, me, we, our,
and us. You may refer to yourself as the author, the student or this graduate student.
Clinical/Organizational Problem
Identify a nursing problem within your organization that needs to be addressed with an
evidence-based practice change, quality improvement, or innovation.
Description of Problem
Provide a clear description of the background to the problem with enough contextual
detail to establish why it is important.
Explanation of Causes
Describe the factors, issues, or phenomenon that helped to create the problem. What are
some causes of the problem? What factors contribute to the problem?
Identification of Stakeholders
Your stakeholders are people internal or external to your organization who have a key
interest in or can have a significant impact on your proposed change. Examples of stakeholders
include, but are not limited to patients, nurses, physicians, administrators, support or ancillary
care staff, family members, volunteers, etc. You will need to include the positions or roles each
of the stakeholders hold in your discussion.
Discussion of stakeholders. This section involves a more detailed discussion about the
specific interest, power, and influence that each stakeholder has in relation to your proposed
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change. For example, hospital administration or the administration of a university can be a
stakeholder. The hospital administration has interest in your project as you are planning a change
that will improve patient satisfaction within the organization. The hospital administration has
power in your project as they may approve or deny permission to complete the project. The
hospital administration has influence in your project as their decision and support will influence
other stakeholders. Speak to all 3: interest, power, and influence for each stakeholder, and
explain why or why not the stakeholder possesses each trait.
Explanation of Project
Provide a detailed explanation of the project that you are planning. The explanation
should be logical and appropriately related to the identified problem you are addressing with
your project.
Proposed Solution
This section involves presenting a description of your proposed evidence-based
project. The description must include specific information about what you intend to propose or
implement. The proposed solution should include who will be involved, what will be done, and
where your project will take place. This represents the “What” of your project – the general plan.
Evidence Summary
The evidence summary is preliminary support for the proposed evidence-based
project. This involves a narrative discussion (synthesis of ideas), in paragraph format, identifying
the areas of consensus among researchers. Consider the common themes or best practices among
the group of articles. Write a broad statement describing one common theme/best practice
identified in the literature review. Follow this statement with a discussion from each research
article supporting that common theme/best practice. In the discussion, summarize or paraphrase
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the researchers’ conclusion, including an in-text citation. Continue adding common themes/best
practices along with evidence to support the statement. Use citations to support your assertions
and be sure that all 5 articles are cited at least once. NOTE: All five sources should be
scholarly, peer-reviewed sources/references published within the last five years. Sources
cited in the body (in-text citation) should have a corresponding reference on the Reference
Page (not in the body of the paper).
Plan of Action
This section should provide a detailed plan of action. This is the “How” of your
project and must have great detail. You will need to provide information about the specific steps
that will be required to complete your Capstone project. You will discuss what you will
independently develop and deliver. This section may also include a description of meetings and
agreements (support commitments or negotiations) in preparation for your project, your literature
review, your development plan and content, your delivery plan, and your post-delivery
discussions with stakeholders. While a full launch is not required, you must create a scalable
project and complete a presentation or demonstrate an actual change for your leadership team.
Timeline
Your timeline will involve correlating each of the steps discussed in your plan of action
with a week or weeks in your timeline of when you plan to accomplish each step (do not use
specific dates). You should keep your timeline between 4-6 weeks, and your timeline should be
in accordance with your organization’s timeline and within your term. Remember the
implementation activity that you will focus on may only include the first step of a full scale
implementation plan. For example, Week 1 of the project will include…. Weeks 2-4 will
involve….. Week 5 will involve, etc.
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Required Resources and Personnel
This section involves a narrative discussion about any resources required for your
capstone project. Resources may include equipment, meeting rooms, etc. Personnel will include
an explanation of the roles of any individuals that you may need to assist you in the development
and implementation of your project
Proposed Change Theory
This discussion should identify the specific change theory or model you have chosen to
guide and inform your project. You will need to include the details of the change theory you
believe will be most effective in guiding your change process. You will also discuss how the
steps or concepts of the Change Theory/Model correlate with the actions/activities involved in
your project
Barriers to Implementation
This section involves a detailed discussion about potential barriers you may encounter
with the implementation of your project: resistance to change, organization culture, time, etc.
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References
Please note that this document outline is only a guide. The written paper, including all in-text
citations, must be written in proper APA 6th Edition style. All references (sources) should be
identified using in-text citations in the body (narrative portion) of the paper. All of the sources
included in the body of the paper should be included on the Reference page.
Ball, J.E., Murrells, T., Rafferty, A.M., Morrow, E., & Griffiths, P. (2014) “Care left undone”
during nursing shifts: Associations with workload and perceived quality of care. British
Medical Journal of Quality and Safety, 23(2), 116-125. doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2012-001767
Driscoll, A., Grant, M.J., Carroll, D., Dalton, Deaton, C., Jones, I.,…Astin, F. (2017) The effect
of nurse-to patient ratios on nurse-sensitive patient outcomes in acute specialist units: A
systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 17(1),
https://doi.org/10.1177/1474515117721561
Park, S. H., Boyle, D. K., Bergquist-Beringer, S., Staggs, V. S., & Dunton, N. E. (2014).
Concurrent and lagged effects of registered nurse turnover and staffing on unit-acquired
pressure ulcers. Health Services Research, 49(4), 1205-1225. doi:10.1111/1475-
6773.12158
Shin, S., Park, J., & Bae, S. (2018). Nurse staffing and nurse outcomes: A systematic review and
meta-analysis. Nursing Outlook, 66(3), 273-282. doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2017.12.002
Sullivan-Havens, D., Jones, C. B., & Carlson, J. (2014). Chief nursing office retention &
turnover, 2013: Is the crisis still brewing? Retrieved from
http://www.aone.org/conference2014/Handouts/2014_Concurrent_Handouts/Additional
%20Handouts/S330H_BN2.pdf