Preparing For the Transition: Preparing Faculty for a Doctor of Nursing Practice Program

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Preparing For the Transition Preparing Faculty
for a Doctor of Nursing Practice Program

• Juliann G. Sebastian, ARNP, PhD, FAAN
• Assistant Dean for Advanced Practice Nursing and
  Professor
• Co-Director, DNP Program
• Carolyn A. Williams, RN, PhD, FAAN
• Dean and Professor
• Marcia Stanhope, RN, DSN, FAAN
• Associate Dean and Professor
• Co-Director, DNP Program
• University of Kentucky College of Nursing

AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Considerations

• Identify faculty groups to include
• Determine types of transitions
• Examine faculty development issues related to the
  nature of the program

AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Context

• Strong commitment to clinical practice
• Faculty practice program initiated in 1984
• Faculty practice plan in 1994
• Practice arrangements include clinical
  appointments within the academic health center,
  College of Nursing owned and operated sites, and
  contracts with clinical agencies

AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Setting the stage

• Deans conversations with Chancellor about the
  concept of a professional practice-oriented
  doctoral program during the couple of years prior
  to convening a planning committee
• Dean discussed the concept of a professional
  practice doctorate with Dean of the Graduate
  School.

AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Stages of transition

• Curriculum transition
• Pre-implementation
• Curriculum implementation
• Program implementation
• Curriculum advancement
• Formative evaluation and enhancement

Farmer, E.A. (2004). Faculty development for
problem-based learning. European Journal of
Dental Education, 8(2), 59-66.
AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Pre-ImplementationFaculty involvement in
curriculum development

• Input into decision to develop a DNP program
  (1998-99)
• Dean convened a planning committee
• Faculty fora and focus groups
• Curriculum committee and faculty meeting
  discussions
• Retreat with planning committee
• Development of program objectives (post MSN),
  curriculum framework and structure, courses,
  admission and progression standards
• Total faculty vote on the program proposal (1999)

AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Program ImplementationDevelopment of the core
faculty group

• DNP Coordinating Committee, 5/01
• Composition
• All faculty members teaching in the DNP program
• All are doctorally prepared
• Director of the PhD program
• All work with both DNP and PhD students
• Two teach PhD courses
• Others advise students as dissertation chairs or
  committee members

AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Functions of DNP Coordinating Committee

• Planning, implementing, and evaluating the DNP
  program
• Admissions
• Operational policies and procedures
• Academic guidelines
• Communication (ex., monthly graduate faculty
  meetings)
• Evaluation
• Formative
• Summative

AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Student Committees
Faculty Advisor
Student
Faculty Committee Member
Clinical Mentor
AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Faculty advisors

• Evidence of understanding and operating from a
  nursing model
• Evidence of scholarship related to clinical
  practice e.g., extramurally funded evaluation
  research, publications, presentations
• Provision of clinical leadership in
  decision-making
• Use of an evidence-based approach to clinical
  decision-making

AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Clinical mentors

• Top level clinical or executive experts with
  responsibility for population-focused health care
  delivery
• Mentors are selected from among a variety of
  disciplines, thereby building the students
  interdisciplinary experiences.

AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Connecting with faculty advisors and clinical
mentors

• Faculty advisors invited to attend course
  discussions
• Course faculty encourage students to work
  directly with faculty advisors committees
• Committees meet regularly to consult with
  students sharing different perspectives from
  practice academe enrich all.

AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Ongoing operationalization of curriculum

• Ongoing, scheduled faculty meetings to discuss
  issues, values and ideas
• Monthly DNP Coordinating Committee meetings
• Discussion of the nature of the curriculum,
  clinical capstone projects, evaluation and
  modification of requirements
• Faculty retreat, Jan., 2005

AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Evolution of the clinical capstone projects

• Faculty discussions of assumptions, goals,
  beliefs
• Examination of various types of clinical change
  projects
• Outcomes evaluation, program evaluation and
  evaluation research

AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Communication strategies

• Monthly reports at Graduate Faculty meetings
• Updates at Total Faculty meetings
• All faculty and students invited to DNP student
  presentations and special lectures, presentations
  by visiting professors
• DNP students encouraged to make Brown Bag
  presentations and to participate in poster
  sessions
• Sharing occurs with faculty members in other
  disciplines via academic council discussions,
  Brown Bag presentations, invitations to visiting
  professor seminars and colloquia

AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Communication strategies (cont.)

• Electronic mail announcements, congratulatory
  messages
• College newsletter
• Print advertisements

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Faculty Involvement in National Meetings

• AACN Doctoral conference
• Regional DNP conferences
• Participation in specialty organization
  discussions

AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Formative Evaluation and Enhancement
AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Formative Evaluation

• Real time changes as student or faculty needs
  indicate
• E.G., addition of Evidence-Based Practice course
  in the first year
• Curricular modifications in 2005
• Balanced clinical hours across the two tracks
• Added economics/finance course for clinical
  students
• Distributed final clinical project over two
  semesters

AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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Summative Evaluation

• Incorporation into the full College academic
  evaluation plan
• End of program surveys, Jan., 2006

AACN Regional DNP Meeting San Diego CA 1/12/06
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