Capstone nursing is a research-based project for final-year students. Its main goal is to deeply and creatively study one of the issues of the theory or practice of nursing; to improve and systematize knowledge, skills, and abilities on a specific issue; to master the methods of scientific research, etc. The capstone project is often one of the most important research projects students undertake in their careers.
In the process of carrying out the capstone project, students form and improve a variety of important knowledge and skills, in particular:
- Independently formulate the topic of scientific work;
- Determine the goal, main tasks, subject, and object of research;
- Form skills in working with literary sources, and electronic media;
- Form the skills to operate with facts on the issue;
- Draw logical and reasoned conclusions, and generalizations, and make suggestions;
- Correctly draw up the results of research;
- Form a culture of communication, speech etiquette, and the ability to make a report and conduct a dialogue.
Despite the great importance of the capstone nursing, its implementation is often difficult. Students face difficulties already at the stage of choosing a topic. Many nuances are important to take into consideration when writing a paper. Read on and learn more about it.
Specifics of Choosing a Topic for Capstone Nursing
Choosing a research topic is the most important moment in the capstone nursing project implementation process. The topic of the work should be relevant and correspond to the current state and prospects for the development of nursing. The student must find out what does not suit him in modern scientific knowledge, where he feels the gaps, what theories give conflicting explanations of human behavior, etc. This will help make the right choice.
Regarding the shortcomings in the choice of topics, it can be noted that sometimes students are interested in broad topics and do not want to explore narrower questions. At the same time, capstone papers devoted to broad issues are characterized by superficiality and declarativity. There is no deep and detailed analysis of such projects. It is usually observed when covering narrow topics.
A List of Good Capstone Nursing Topics to Choose From
If you’re having trouble choosing a topic for your capstone project, check out the list below and you’ll find the right one:
- Organizational and pedagogical requirements for improving the professional competence of future nurses;
- Justification of the child injury prevention system;
- Justification of prospective approaches to rationalization of nutrition of students of higher medical educational institutions;
- Pedagogical aspects in the work of a nurse to overcome bad habits;
- Development of graduate nursing education and its implementation in the practical activities of nurses;
- The impact of standardization of the nursing process on the quality of medical care in departments of a surgical profile;
- Standardization of the nursing process in the specialized children’s department of anesthesiology and intensive care;
- The role of the nurse in the prevention of intra-hospital infections in surgical departments;
- Syndrome of emotional burnout in the professional activity of a nurse;
- The influence of a nurse on the state of the reproductive system of a person with endocrine diseases;
- Peculiarities of prevention and rehabilitation of mental diseases in hospital conditions with the participation of a nurse;
- The role of the nurse in the rehabilitation and primary prevention of diabetes;
- Organization of prevention of intra-hospital infections in operating units of multidisciplinary hospitals;
- The role of the nurse in the rehabilitation and primary prevention of children’s posture disorders.
Capstone Project Writing: Introduction, Main Part, and Conclusions
A capstone project has a certain structure that should be followed when writing. The paper usually consists of an introduction, the main part, and conclusions.
The introduction is a short, generalized description of the work. The structure of the introduction consists of the following elements: the relevance of the topic, the goal and task of the research, its object and subject, methods, and approbation of the results.
A capstone paper usually contains several sections. Structuring in separate sections (creating subsections, and points) should be justified from the subject’s logical presentation viewpoint. The universal rule is that the work’s methodological and most general theoretical parts should precede other structural components, primarily empirical ones.
Each of the sections should end with one or more paragraphs of conclusion. They help to provide an interim summary that is important for the development of further consideration.
The conclusion is a concise summary of everything that was done. They do not involve quoting or repeating previous findings that have already been presented. They should be consistent with the subject of research and the tasks set in the introduction.
Common Mistakes in Capstone Nursing Project Implementation
During the execution of capstone nursing projects, typical shortcomings and mistakes should be avoided:
- A formal description of the relevance of the research topic, which is not confirmed by a review of scientific developments on the chosen topic;
- The social significance of the problem, the solution of which is important for society, is not indicated;
- Analytical review of scientific publications has the form of an annotated list and does not reflect the level of study of the topic;
- The object, subject, purpose, and task of the research are not defined (or incorrectly defined), and the methods used are not specified;
- The theoretical part of the study is mainly ascertaining, and the authors limit themselves to a list of known theories and approaches without proper generalization and expression of their own opinion;
- Excessive number of citations (not always correct, without references to authors);
- Congestion of the text with well-known definitions and interpretations, which looks like a chaotic set of different provisions;
- Limitation of the empirical research base;
- Use of outdated statistical data;
- Non-compliance with the scientific style of presentation of the material;
- Stylistic and orthographic inaccuracies, and mistakes in the design of the bibliographic description of the used sources.
Start writing a capstone nursing paper, considering all recommendations mentioned above, and you will succeed in creating the best project!
