The purpose of the graded collaborative discussions is to engage faculty and students in an interactive dialogue to assist the student in organizing, integrating, applying, and critically appraising knowledge regarding advanced nursing practice. Scholarly information obtained from credible sources as well as professional communication are required. Application of information to professional experiences promotes the analysis and use of principles, knowledge, and information learned and related to real-life professional situations. Meaningful dialogue among faculty and students fosters the development of a learning community as ideas, perspectives, and knowledge are shared.

Activity Learning Outcomes

Through this discussion, the student will demonstrate the ability to:

• Demonstrate logical and creative thinking in the analysis and application of a theory to nursing practice. (PO 2 and 5) Weeks 2, 6
• Examine broad theoretical concepts as foundational to advanced nursing practice roles. (PO 1 and 2) Weeks 1, 2, 4
• Analyze theories from nursing and relevant fields with respect to the components, relationship among the components, and application to advanced nursing practice. (PO 1) Weeks 4, 6

 Due Date:

A 10% late penalty will be imposed for discussions posted after the deadline on Wednesday, regardless of the number of days late. NOTHING will be accepted after 11:59pm MT on Sunday (i.e. student will receive an automatic 0). Week 8 discussion closes on Saturday at 11:59pm MT.

Total Points Possible:  75

Requirements:

Discussion Criteria  

1.  Application of Course Knowledge: The student post contributes unique perspectives or insights gleaned from personal experience or examples from the healthcare field. The student must accurately and fully discuss the topic for the week in addition to providing personal or professional examples. The student must completely answer the entire initial question. 
2.  Engagement in Meaningful Dialogue: The student responds to a student peer and course faculty to further dialogue.
   • Peer Response: The student responds substantively to at least one topic-related post by a student peer. A substantive post adds content or insights or asks a question that will add to the learning experience and/or generate discussion.  
     • A post of “I agree” with a repeat of the other student’s post does not count as a substantive post. A collection of shallow posts does not equal a substantive post. 
     • The peer response must occur on a separate day from the initial posting.   
     • The peer response must occur before Sunday, 11:59 p.m. MT.   
   • Faculty Response: The student responds substantively to at least one question by course faculty. The faculty question may be directed to the student, to another student, or to the entire class.    
     • • A post of “I agree” with a repeat of the faculty’s post does not count as a substantive post. A collection of shallow posts does not equal a substantive post. 
       • The faculty response must occur on a separate day from the initial posting.   
3. Integration of Evidence: The student post provides support from a minimum of one scholarly in-text citation with a matching reference and assigned readings or online lessons, per discussion topic per week.
   • What is a scholarly resource? A scholarly resource is one that comes from a professional, peer-reviewed publication (e.g., journals and government reports such as those from the FDA or CDC). 
     • Contains references for sources cited 
     • Written by a professional or scholar in the field and indicates credentials of the author(s) 
     • Is no more than 5 years old for clinical or research articles 
   • What is not considered a scholarly resource?  
     • Newspaper articles and layperson literature (e.g., Readers Digest, Healthy Life Magazine, Food, and Fitness) 
     • Information from Wikipedia  or any wiki 
     • Textbooks 
     • Website homepages 
     • The weekly lesson 
     • Articles in healthcare and nursing-oriented trade magazines, such as Nursing Made Incredibly Easy and RNMagazine (Source: What is a scholarly article.docx; Created 06/09 CK/CL  Revised: 02/17/11,  09/02/11  nlh/clm) 
   • Can the lesson for the week be used as a scholarly source? 
     • Information from the weekly lesson can be cited in a posting; however, it is not to be the sole source used in the post. 
   • Are resources provided from CU acceptable sources (e.g., the readings for the week)? 
     • Not as a sole source within the post. The textbook and/or assigned (required) articles for the week can be used, but another outside source must be cited for full credit. Textbooks are not considered scholarly sources for the purpose of discussions. 
   • Are websites acceptable as scholarly resources for discussions? 
     • Yes, if they are documents or data cited from credible websites. Credible websites usually end in .gov or .edu; however, some .org sites that belong to professional associations (e.g., American Heart Association, National League for Nursing, American Diabetes Association) are also considered credible websites. Websites ending with .com are not to be used as scholarly resources.
4. Professionalism in Communication: The post presents information in logical, meaningful, and understandable sequence, and is clearly relevant to the discussion topic. Grammar, spelling, and/or punctuation are accurate.
5. Wednesday Participation Requirement: The student provides a substantive response to the graded discussion question(s) or topic(s), posted by the course faculty (not a response to a peer), by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. MT of each week.
6. Total Participation Requirement: The student provides at least three substantive posts (one to the initial question or topic, one to a student peer, and one to a faculty question) on two different days during the week. 

Preparing the Assignment

For many students enrolled in NR501, this is an initial course for nursing theory. So, let’s have a debate. Is nursing theory important to the nursing profession? In particular, is it important for nurse practitioners? Does theory inform nurse practitioner practice? If you believe that it is important, explain why it is useful. If you do not believe that it is useful, explain why nursing theory is not necessary to the profession? 

Sample Discussion Post