An exciting aspect of the NR 715 was selecting a practice problem during the fir

An exciting aspect of the NR 715 was selecting a practice problem during the first week of the course. I selected the practice problem of safety – immunizations and narrowed the topic further to vaccine hesitancy. As a practice problem, vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic is timely, and I hope my future project will positively impact my community. Also, the module one discussion clarified the roles of the Doctor of Philosophy and a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) nurse, which was very helpful in envisioning the practicum project experience.
The content in module two provided an opportunity to explore nursing theories and enhanced my understanding of using theories or models as guidelines for nursing practice. The weeks of modules three and four provided opportunities to explore the research about vaccine hesitancy, specifically, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. I learned to determine a research article’s quality and research level using the John Hopkins Appraisal Tool, which will help me critique a research article’s value to the practice. Also, in weeks three and four, conducting an organized library search and summarizing and critiquing research articles assisted me in understanding the different components of the research process. In addition, weeks three and four provided an opportunity to review scholarly writing and the updated APA rules.
Weeks five and seven were the most challenging as much of the focus was synthesizing research information. The John Hopkins Summary Table helped organize the research data. As a visual tool, using a synthesis table highlights whether the research article provides sufficient or significant evidence to support a practice problem or change (Milner et al., 2019). As a DNP student, learning to synthesize information is essential. However, even synthesizing three research articles in the last paper was difficult for me and will require continued practice.
I am still conflicted about whether the topic of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is too narrow for a DNP project or if the project should address overall vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine hesitancy is still a global issue and was a problem before the COVID-19 pandemic (World Health Organization, 2019). However, currently, only 57.1% of eligible individuals are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 nationally (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021). I will need to explore both topics to determine which approach would be best for a DNP project as I progress in future courses.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, October 15). COVID data tracker: United States at a glance. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations_vacc-total-admin-rate-total
Milner, K., Zonsius, M., Alexander, C., & Zellefrow, C. (2019). Doctor of nursing practice project advisement: A roadmap for faculty and student success. Journal of Nursing Education, 58(12), 728-32. http://dx.doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20191120-09
https://chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fscholarly-journals%2Fdoctor-nursing-practice-project-advisement%2Fdocview%2F2321215643%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D147674
World Health Organization. (2019). Ten threats to global health in 2019. https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-2019