RESUMO
BACKGROUND: AACN published a clarifying document in 2015 to guide Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs' DNP Scholarly Projects. This publication provided specific and general guidance; however, areas of inconsistent interpretation remained. The variability of best practices for DNP projects sparked the idea for a national survey to explore how projects are being carried out and to determine if the varied approaches align with AACN's 2015 recommendations. OBJECTIVE: This nationwide study's purpose was to describe DNP Scholarly Project processes and to determine alignment with AACN's 2015 DNP project recommendations. METHODS: A descriptive survey was deployed to DNP programs across the country. RESULTS: National DNP project practices were identified as well as gaps in alignment with AACN recommendations. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: The results of this study provided a national snapshot of how DNP programs are executing DNP projects. Rich dialogue and ongoing exploration about DNP project best practices continue because of this work.
