Assignment: Nursing Core Competencies Discussion.

Introduction:

The major assignment in this course is a Professional Nursing Paper focusing on core competencies that are essential for nursing practice. These Nurse of the Future Nursing Core Competencies (NOFNCC) as discussed in Chapter 1 of the textbook* were developed after an extensive review of competency based education, current practice and educational standards, projected healthcare needs, and current literature (Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, 2010). The NOFNCC were designed to ensure the delivery of safe, quality, patient-centered care by nurses with diverse levels of education in all patient care settings (Fater, Weatherford, Ready, Finn & Tangney, 2014).

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Paper Focus:

The purpose of this assignment is for NUR 3825 students to research NOFNCC as they relate to a chosen clinical area. Compare and contrast 3 of the NOFNCC as each relates to the responsibilities, opportunities, and expectations of the BSN in the clinical area after the degree is earned.

Requirements:

This paper will evidence student competency in developing and writing a professional nursing paper to include:

APA format – use 6th APA Style textbook, resources listed under the APA/ Writing Center tab on CANVAS, and others you may find that support your success
Use of 3rd person for this formal paper, it is not a personal essay
Correct grammar, punctuation, spelling and syntax as required with APA format
Appropriate reference citing to avoid plagiarism and maintain academic integrity
Minimum of 5 current references and may include your textbook
- References should be from peer-reviewed professional journals,nursing texts, and refereed materials only (online peer-refereed journals are acceptable). References from printed nursing journals, publications, and books found in the nursing section of Valencia College Library are acceptable.
- Use of professional nursing databases (CINAHL, Ovid, Science Direct, ProQuest) is expected. Librarian contact information and tutorials are included in CANVAS under the APA/Writing Center module.
- Internet sources must be professional sources(peer-reviewed nursing journals, government-maintained health websites, etc.) and MUST be properly referenced.
- Google and Wikipedia are not considered professional research. However, Google Scholar does provide professional resources.
Paper length of 3-4 pages. (A three page paper is to be 3 full pages). No paper is to be longer than 4 pages. The 3-4 page length does NOT include the REQUIRED title page and reference page(s). So your paper should be 5-7 pages INCLUDING a cover page and reference page.
Use Times New Roman 12 point font, double space, with 1 inch margins
Submission of paper as doc or docx file and includes submission label requirements
- Late submissions will be penalized according to policy.
- Papers will be graded per rubric online and returned online

References:

Fater, K. H., Weatherford, B., Ready, R. W., Finn, K., & Tangney, B. (2014). Expanding nurse of the future nursing core competencies across the academic-practice transition: A pilot study. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 45(8), 366-372. doi: 10.3928/00220124-20140716-03

Massachusetts Department of Higher Education. (2010). Creativity and connections: Building the framework for the future of nursing education and practice. Nurse of the Future Nursing Core Competencies. Retrieved from http://www.mass.edu/currentinit/documents/NursingCoreCompetencies.pdf (Links to an external site.)

*A NOFNCC graphic can be found on page 7 of your NUR 3825 L&P textbook.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Assignment: Nursing Core Competencies Discussion.