Walden – NURS-6001 Foundations for Graduate Study
NURS-6001 Foundations for Graduate Study Week 1 Discussion Mission, Vision, and Personal Goals Are you familiar with Walden University’s vision and mission?
Were they a factor in selecting this University?
How do they relate to your professional and academic goals? Does it matter if there is a tight or loose relationship or one at all?
This week’s Discussion asks you to think about how the Walden mission and vision and the School of Nursing (SON) mission and vision apply to your professional and academic goals. Is there a match?
How does Walden’s mission and vision relate to your becoming a scholar-practitioner committed to social change?
To prepare:
Review the Walden and SON mission and vision statements, Walden’s goals and University Outcomes, and the MSN Program Learning Outcomes presented in this week’s Learning Resources.
Reflect on your professional and academic goals as they relate to your program/specialization. Consider how the information in the documents, identified above, fit with your own goals and to your becoming a scholar-practitioner.
Think about how you will incorporate your commitment to social change into your professional and academic goals, particularly as it relates to the area(s) of interest represented by your program/specialization.
NURS 6001: Foundations of Graduate Study
NURS 6001 Week 1 Discussion: Mission, Vision, and Personal Goals
Are you familiar with Walden University’s vision and mission? Were they a factor in selecting this University? How do they relate to your professional and academic goals? Does it matter if there is a tight or loose relationship or one at all? This week’s Discussion asks you to think about how the Walden mission and vision and the School of Nursing (SON) mission and vision apply to your professional and academic goals. Is there a match? How does Walden’s mission and vision relate to your becoming a scholar-practitioner committed to social change?
To prepare:
Review the Walden and SON mission and vision statements, Walden’s goals and University Outcomes, and the MSN Program Learning Outcomes presented in this week’s Learning Resources.
Reflect on your professional and academic goals as they relate to your program/specialization.
Consider how the information in the documents, identified above, fit with your own goals and to your becoming a scholar-practitioner.
Think about how you will incorporate your commitment to social change into your professional and academic goals, particularly as it relates to the area(s) of interest represented by your program/specialization.
By Day 3
Post a description of one or more significant ways in which Walden’s and the School of Nursing’s perspectives (i.e., vision, mission, social change message, and outcomes) relate to your professional and academic goals and to your becoming a scholar-practitioner. Include how you plan to incorporate social change into your professional and academic goals.
Support your Discussion assignment with specific resources used in its preparation using APA formatting. You are asked to provide a reference for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.
By Day 6
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days in one or more of the following ways:
Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information, evidence or research.
Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
Offer and support an alternative perspective using readings from the classroom or from your own research in the Walden Library.
Validate an idea with your own experience and additional research.
Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.
Expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional insights or contrasting perspectives based on readings and evidence.
Click on the Reply button below to reveal the textbox for entering your message. Then click on the Submit button to post your message
NURS 6001 Week 1 Discussion Sample Postings
My Goals and Walden University Vision and Mission
As a nurse for over 10 years and with the advances in technology applied to the health care arena, I have become more interested in the role of a nurse within informatics. My professional goal is to work full-time in the area of nursing informatics. Unfortunately, I knew that obtain this position, I needed to advance my degree. I began looking into various colleges and universities that can provide me with the education needed to obtain an advanced degree with a focus in nursing informatics. After several months of investigating, I located Walden University. At first, I was drawn to Walden because it offered the flexibility that I needed. However, as I investigated the university further, Walden’s mission and vision statement resonated with me. I knew I had made the right choice. The School of Nursing (SON) vision and mission statements described what I felt and thought yet could not put into words. According to the Walden University SON (2011a), their vision is for graduates to transform nursing to meet the needs of communities. Technology is transforming health care and the degree I will obtain at Walden will help me to assist my organization with this transformation. Another reason I was drawn to Walden University was the high standards they have for all students. The SON stated in their mission that their program is “academically rigorous…contextually relevant…” (Walden University, 2011a, para. 4). This statement matches my academic goal. I am not looking for just a piece of paper at the end, I am looking to gain the necessary knowledge that I need to make an impact within my organization.
Incorporation of Social Change
Walden University (2011b) defined positive social change as a “deliberate process of creating and applying ideas, strategies, and actions to promote the worth, dignity, and development of individuals, communities, organizations, institutions, cultures, and societies” (para. 4). I have always had a feeling that I want my life to mean something and to have an effect on those around me whether it is directly or indirectly. As a nurse, the will to help others is a core foundation of why I got into nursing in the first place. I plan to incorporate social change with the knowledge gained at Walden University by “putting that knowledge into practice” (Walden University, 2010b, para. 3). I plan to contribute to my field when I graduate by helping lead my coworkers and my organization through the computerized changes and advancement of technology at work. While helping others, I will be part of the clinical informatics team as the team transitions the organization into new computerized programs. References Walden University. (2011a). About the school. Retrieved from
http://www.waldenu.edu/Colleges-and-Schools/College-of-Health-Sciences/15863.htm Walden University. (2011b). Vision, mission, and goals. Retrieved from
http://catalog.waldenu.edu/content.php?catoid=21&navoid=2450
NURS 6001 Week 2 Discussion: Online Learning Strategies
Completing courses in the absence of a physical classroom and frequent face-to-face contact can be challenging, even for those who are comfortable with technology and the online environment. You need to be able to plan and manage your time well, particularly since there is no structured “class time”; communicate clearly and effectively where there is no visual or nonverbal feedback; and use technology effectively. This Discussion provides you with an opportunity to think about your skills in the above areas, to explore strategies for successful online learning, and exchange strategies with your colleagues.
To prepare:
Review this Week’s assigned readings from the Walden e-Guide and the document, “Technical Tips for Learning at Walden,” in the Learning Resources.
Review this week’s media program, “Tips for Effective Online Composition and Communication.”
Think about some strategies you have used, or read about, that may be beneficial for effective planning, time management, communication, and technology use.
Consider how the strategies you have identified can contribute to being a successful online learner.
By Day 3
Post a description of at least one strategy for each of the following areas related to online success: planning, time management, communication, and technology use. Explain how/why you think use of each strategy will contribute to your success as an online learner.
Support your Discussion assignment with specific resources used in its preparation using APA formatting. You are asked to provide a reference for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.
By Day 6
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days in one or more of the following ways:
Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information, evidence or research.
Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
Offer and support an alternative perspective using readings from the classroom or from your own research in the Walden Library.
Validate an idea with your own experience and additional research.
Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.
Expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional insights or contrasting perspectives based on readings and evidence.
Click on the Reply button below to reveal the textbox for entering your message. Then click on the Submit button to post your message.
NURS 6001 Week 3 Discussion: Scholarly Writing and Plagiarism
As a nurse embarking on an advanced degree, you are developing the characteristics of a scholar-practitioner, which includes strong communication skills. Writing in a scholarly manner involves supporting your thoughts with evidence from the literature and appropriately using APA.
One of the challenges of scholarly writing is paraphrasing the thoughts of others in your work. Paraphrasing, and correctly citing the original author for his or her ideas, allows you to take the ideas of others, summarize them, and incorporate them into your own writing. When summarizing the ideas of others, it is important to avoid plagiarizing (copying the words and ideas of others as though they were your own). In addition to expanding your knowledge of APA, this week’s Learning Resources help you to distinguish between paraphrasing and plagiarizing.
To prepare:
Think about the sometimes subtle difference between plagiarizing and paraphrasing.
Read the following paragraphs, which were written by Patricia O’Conner:
A good writer is one you can read without breaking a sweat. If you want a workout, you don’t lift a book—you lift weights. Yet we’re brainwashed to believe that the more brilliant the writer, the tougher the going.
The truth is that the reader is always right. Chances are, if something you’re reading doesn’t make sense, it’s not your fault—it’s the writer’s. And if something you write doesn’t get your point across, it’s probably not the reader’s fault—it’s yours. Too many readers are intimidated and humbled by what they can’t understand, and in some cases that’s precisely the effect the writer is after. But confusion is not complexity; it’s just confusion. A venerable tradition, dating back to the ancient Greek orators, teaches that if you don’t know what you’re talking about, just ratchet up the level of difficulty and no one will ever know.
Don’t confuse simplicity, though, with simplemindedness. A good writer can express an extremely complicated idea clearly and make the job look effortless. But such simplicity is a difficult thing to achieve because to be clear in your writing you have to be clear in your thinking. This is why the simplest and clearest writing has the greatest power to delight, surprise, inform, and move the reader. You can’t have this kind of shared understanding if writer and reader are in an adversary relationship. (pp. 195–196)
Source: O’Conner, P. (2003). Woe is I: The grammarphobe’s guide to better English in plain English. New York: Riverhead Books.
Paraphrase this passage from O’Conner using no more than 75–100 words. Remember that paraphrasing means summarizing the essence of the original text. It does not mean creating a thesaurus-based revision of the author’s original words or copying the piece, or any part of it, word for word. For this activity, do not use any direct quotes.
Turn your paraphrase into Grammarly and Safe Assign.
Review your reports.
Review the other tools, resources, and services available to you through the Walden Writing Center that support your growth as a scholarly writer.
Consider which of these resources you find to be most useful.
Review learning resources on APA formatting rules and information within the Walden Writing Center on APA.
By Day 3
Post a description of your experience of using Grammarly and Safe Assign and share at least one insight you gained about paraphrasing and avoiding plagiarism as a matter of academic integrity. Recommend at least one other online resource that supports scholarly writing, and explain your rationale. Lastly, share two APA formatting rules with the class and a specific page number in the APA manual where this rule can be located
Support your Discussion assignment with specific resources used in its preparation using APA formatting. You are asked to provide a reference for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.
By Day 6
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days in one or more of the following ways:
Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information, evidence or research.
Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
Offer and support an alternative perspective using readings from the classroom or from your own research in the Walden Library.
Validate an idea with your own experience and additional research.
Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.
Expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional insights or contrasting perspectives based on readings and evidence.
Click on the Reply button below to reveal the textbox for entering your message. Then click on the Submit button to post your message.
NURS 6001 Week 4 Discussion: Using the Walden Library
Where can you find evidence to inform your thoughts and scholarly writing? Throughout your degree program, you will use the research literature to explore ideas, guide your thinking, and gain new insights. As you search the research literature, it is important to use resources that are peer-reviewed and from scholarly journals. You may already have some favorite online resources and databases that you use or have found useful in the past. For this Discussion and this week’s Assignment, you explore databases available through the Walden Library.
Note: Review the Assignment and complete the relevant items in the To prepare section prior to engaging in the Discussion.
To prepare:
Review the information presented in the Learning Resources for using the Walden Library, searching the databases, and evaluating online resources.
Begin searching for a peer-reviewed article that pertains to your practice area and is of particular interest to you.
Identify the database that you used to search for a peer-reviewed article in your area of practice and interest.
Reflect on your experience with searching the database. Did you note any difficulties when searching for an article? What steps/strategies did you find helpful for locating a peer-reviewed article? Would this database be useful to your colleagues? Would you recommend this database?
Once you have select your peer-reviewed article, evaluate its strengths and weaknesses in terms of scholarly writing, bias, opinion, quality of evidence, and appropriateness to its target audience.
By Day 3
Post a brief summary of your peer-reviewed article, the database you located your article in, your database searching experience, key words utilized in the search, and analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the article.
Support your Discussion assignment with specific resources used in its preparation using APA formatting. You are asked to provide a reference for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.
By Day 6
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days in one or more of the following ways:
Offer insights or strategies for locating research articles using the Walden Library.
Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
Validate an idea with your own experience and additional research.
Click on the Reply button below to reveal the textbox for entering your message. Then click on the Submit button to post your message.
NURS 6001 Week 6 Discussion: Critical Thinking
Recall your early clinical nursing experiences—what guided your decisions? Did you practice nursing ‘by the book’? Now, consider how you make decisions today. How have your clinical experiences fostered a greater depth of knowledge and critical thinking?
This week’s Learning Resources explore skill development and levels of knowledge acquisition based on clinical experience. For example, Benner suggests that as a nurse gains more experience, knowledge and skill level increases. Nurses move from novices—making decisions based on rules—to experts who are able to see connections between actions and outcomes using critical thinking. This Discussion focuses on the role of critical thinking in nursing practice and the connection between critical thinking, clinical competence, and scholarship.
To prepare:
Review the Learning Resources focusing on critical thinking and Benner’s interpretation of the Novice to Expert theory.
Reflect on how critical thinking is used in clinical practice. How does critical thinking relate to, or support, clinical competence?
What critical thinking strategies do you use to improve your clinical competence and thus move from novice to expert?
Consider the connection between critical thinking, nursing practice, and scholarship.
By Day 3
Post your observations on how critical thinking is used in clinical practice (provide examples); how you employ critical thinking strategies to improve clinical competence; and your thoughts on the connections between critical thinking, scholarship, and practice.
Support your Discussion assignment with specific resources used in its preparation using APA formatting. You are asked to provide a reference for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.
By Day 6
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days in one or more of the following ways:
Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information, evidence or research.
Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
Offer and support an alternative perspective using readings from the classroom or from your own research in the Walden Library.
Validate an idea with your own experience and additional research.
Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.
Expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional insights or contrasting perspectives based on readings and evidence.
Click on the Reply button below to reveal the textbox for entering your message. Then click on the Submit button to post your message.
NURS 6001 Week 5 ssignment: Assignment: Application: Professional Development Plan
The Program of Study (POS) for your specialization and the Professional Development Plan (PDP) help you to become familiar with the courses you will take, when they will be completed, and how the degree program fits into your overall academic and professional goals. For this Assignment, you write a Professional Development Plan to submit to the Week 5 Assignment submission link.
Throughout your degree program you will create a professional portfolio. In each course, one Assignment will be designated for inclusion in your portfolio. This portfolio provides a rich opportunity to evidence your growth as a scholar-practitioner. For this course, your PDP will serve as the artifact for your Portfolio.
Note: As you progress through the program, ensure that you save all of your portfolio assignments on your computer and to backup those files to a secure device such as a flash drive or external hard drive. You will have a variety of Instructors throughout your program, and it is your responsibility to save these assignments for your portfolio.
TIP: Create a new folder for each course on your computer’s hard drive using the course number and title. Within each course folder, create an additional folder and label it “Portfolio.” Then, save the Portfolio assignment with a clear title such as “Professional Development Plan.”
To prepare:
Review the information on the Program of Study (POS) and Professional Development Plan (PDP) presented in this week’s Learning Resources.
Review the Week 5 Assignment Rubric presented in this week’s Learning Resources.
Develop your Professional Development Plan (PDP) following the example presented in the Learning Resources and the assignment grading rubric criteria. Ensure that all content required is included in paper.
SAMPLE PAPER – NURS 6001 : Assignment: Application: Professional Development Plan
Professional Development Plan
Name
Institution Affiliation
Course
Date
Introduction
The professional development plan is a program developed in the nursing field with a crucial goal of ensuring smooth and effective transition for all nursing graduates from education to the work practice. The students are required to express ethical and professional contents obtained and the graduate achievements through the entire learning process. The plan is beneficial as it is filled for potential employers. The program gives the graduate confidence in their selected field of profession and makes them focused on bringing together professional and personal skills in the nursing practice. This paper explores the personal and professional goals I expect in the entire learning program.
Personal background
My life in the education and professional aspects has been fascinating. My name is Collins Stevens from Illinois. Currently living in California. Enrolling to a university to undertake a degree course has been my dream. It’s not by chance that I found myself in the profession. It has been my career aspiration due to my desire to serve the public by offering quality healthcare attending to all patients’ needs and demands. Over my learning period, I have demonstrated an interest in the profession, and my educators have always recommended me to go with the aspiration.
I am expecting to graduate with a bachelor of science in nursing. Throughout my lifetime have been volunteering in the health centres though with no professional knowledge in the field. I seek to enhance through personal and professional skills which will make me competent in the nursing profession. I am seeking to obtain specific competencies in urology, surgery, home health and nursing field research. I also aim to be a team leader, educator and a competent health practitioner in the nursing sector.
Professional goals
My all-time personal goal has been to transform people lives offering quality healthcare to all patients. I am aiming at scaling the height of education in the health sector. In the next 15 years, my education goal is to achieve a master of science in nursing. This professional goal is consistent with the University goals in nurturing competent professional in the health sector. I plan to perfect my services to the public as is gain the required learning at the university.
Individual achievements
Graduating with a bachelor’s degree in nursing will be my most significant achievement. Throughout the learning process, I will have achieved a broad knowledge in nursing. My fields of interest are neurology, surgery, health research, and leadership. My career and education in nursing make me realize my professional goals. The course makes me develop essential nursing skills. The nursing course skills I expect to achieve are critical thinking skills, decision making, communication, physical and mental endurance among others.
Course outcomes
The course is expected to nurture and develop nursing skills which include healthcare communication skills, ethical skills, critical thinking and research skills as well as instilling confidence in my work practice. The skills will make me competent in delivering quality services to all people all the time. Apart from the skills, the course is expected to improve my time management and academic research skills.
The course will offer a guideline on the incorporation of professional practice into nursing workplace ensuring all the learned skills and altitudes are effectively utilized to improve health delivery. Quality healthcare has been the goal of all healthcare institutions, and thus the course helps develop right attitude in the profession. Positive attitude with enhanced experience determines the quality of health delivery.
Summary
The program will help me achieve my career ambitions. It is a path to my full potential as it offers the highest standards of patient care. It guides the development of core skills, knowledge, experience and expertise in the work practice. I seek to be a competent health professional in the healthcare sector meeting patient needs and demands. Patient satisfaction is depended on the training and knowledge acquired in the classroom.
References
Bassendowski, S., & Petrucka, P. (2009). Perceptions of Select Registered Nurses of the Continuing Competence Program of the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses’ Association. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 40(12), 553-559. doi:10.3928/00220124-20091119-05
Maloney, P. (2016). ANPD Strategic Plan. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 32(2), 112-114. doi:10.1097/nnd.0000000000000243
Thompson, T. L. (2011). Electronic Portfolios for Professional Advancement. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 25(4), 169-170. doi:10.1097/nur.0b013e318222a680
By Day 7
To complete:
Utilizing Microsoft Word, begin by formatting the paper in correct APA (i.e. title page, double space, Times New Roman size 12 font, headers, page numbers, headings).
To ensure that all content required is included in the paper, review Week 5 Professional Development Plan assignment rubric and the Professional Development Plan example.
Write your PDP using scholarly writing, correct grammar, and proper APA citations. Review the APA Basics Checklist: Citations, Reference List, and Style to make sure that your citations are correct. This document should represent your best professional effort.
Week 1 quiz
QUESTION 1
When will you lose access to your completed courses (excluding this Student Readiness Orientation)?
a. Never
b. 30 days after the course end date
c. 60 days after the course end date
d. 120 days after the course end date
1 points Save Answer
QUESTION 2
When you submit an assignment, when should you have the assignment complete by on the day assigned?
a. 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time (MT)—which is 1:59 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) the next day; the time stamp in the classroom will reflect Eastern Time (ET), regardless of your time zone
b. 11:59 p.m. Central Time (CT)—which is 10:59 p.m. Mountain Time (MT); the time stamp in the classroom will reflect Mountain Time (MT), regardless of your time zone
c. 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET)—which is 8:59 p.m. Pacific Time (PT); the time stamp in the classroom will reflect Pacific Time (PT), regardless of your time zone
d. 10:59 p.m. Mountain Time (MT)—which is 12:59 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) the next day; the time stamp in the classroom will reflect Eastern Time (ET), regardless of your time zone
1 points Save Answer
QUESTION 3
Where in your online course will you find the contact information for your Instructor?
a. Syllabus
b. Student Support
c. Contact the Instructor
1 points Save Answer
QUESTION 4
If you are having trouble accessing your online classroom, what should you do first?
a. Clean your browser’s cookies and cache
b. Check firewall settings
c. Deactivate pop-up blockers
1 points Save Answer
QUESTION 5
In an online course, students can participate in the online classroom and submit assignments whenever it is convenient for them to do so.
True
False
1 points Save Answer
QUESTION 6
In which area will you retrieve written assignments with comments from your instructor?
a. Discussion
b. My Grades area
c. Assignment Link
1 points Save Answer
QUESTION 7
If you have a question about which courses you should register for next term, who should you contact?
a. Student Support Team
b. One of your current instructors
c. Your Academic Advisor
1 points Save Answer
QUESTION 8
As long as you save your work to your home computer’s hard drive, you are safe.
True
False
1 points Save Answer
QUESTION 9
When sending and e-mail to your Instructor or any Walden staff, your e-mail should:
a. Include color stationary as a background
b. USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS SO THEY KNOW YOUR EMAIL IS IMPORTANT
c. Include your full legal name, your program or course, and your Walden ID Number
1 points Save Answer
QUESTION 10
The online classroom area where you can post an assignment and have your classmates and instructor respond to your ideas is called:
a. My Grades area
b. Discussion
c. Assignment Link
1 points Save Answer
QUESTION 11
Students can always edit their posting in Discussion.
True
False
1 points Save Answer
QUESTION 12
Who should you contact with questions about online classroom technical concerns?
a. Your Instructor
b. Walden Academic Advisor
c. Student Support
d. Program Director
1 points Save Answer
QUESTION 13
Since your online classroom could unexpectedly time out on occasion, what should you do before submitting a long Discussion posting?
a. Type and save the assignment as a word-processed document first.
b. Tell your instructor you are going to submit an assignment.
c. Create a new topic.
d. Call the Student Support Team for help.
1 points Save Answer
QUESTION 14
Students should avoid referencing Wikipedia as a scholarly resource in their assignments.
True
False
1 points Save Answer
QUESTION 15
Online students are expected to behave with academic integrity and honesty.
True
False
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