A Doctor of Nursing Practice project applies scholarship to a practice problem. It connects evidence, a proposed response and evaluation within the student's area of preparation.
The 2026 AACN Essentials identifies core elements, while the school determines its specific requirements and faculty evaluate the final work. Begin with the current program handbook and an agreed project scope rather than choosing a topic solely because it sounds important.
Define a problem the setting can address
Describe the problem, the affected population and the setting where a change is possible. Ask what local evidence establishes the need and who has authority to support the work.
For example, a hypothetical project might examine missing follow-up instructions in one clinic's discharge process. Before proposing a solution, the student would need to understand the existing workflow, available information and staff concerns.
Set boundaries that fit the educational timeline. Identify the project sponsor, necessary collaborators and decisions that are outside the student's control.
Use evidence to justify the response
AACN's framework includes identifying the problem, evaluating and synthesizing evidence, developing a strategy, planning implementation and evaluating outcomes, processes or experience.
A literature review that lacks practical applicability and the other required elements is insufficient under that framework. A portfolio may help present the work, but cannot be its sole scholarly product.
Compare the evidence with the local circumstances. Explain why the proposed approach fits the setting and where the evidence is weak, indirect or uncertain. Keep an organized record of sources and the reasoning behind major choices.
Resolve approvals before beginning
Ask faculty and the practice site which academic, operational, privacy and research-review processes apply before collecting information or changing care.
Calling a project quality improvement does not settle whether it also involves human-subjects research. OHRP explains that some improvement activities have a research purpose; an intention to publish is not, by itself, decisive.
Obtain the appropriate institutional determination rather than making that decision alone. Clarify approved access, storage, reporting and disposal of information.
If the project changes substantially, ask whether the existing approvals still cover it.
Plan evaluation alongside implementation
For the hypothetical discharge project, a process measure might examine completion of agreed instructions. A separate measure could explore patient understanding, while another checks for added discharge delays.
Choose measures with faculty and site partners. Define what is counted, which encounters are included, the observation period and how missing information will be handled.
Do not invent baseline data or select only favorable results. Distinguish evidence that a process changed from evidence that the change caused a clinical benefit.
AACN allows implementation planning and actual implementation when possible within its framework; your program may set additional expectations. Resolve those expectations before committing to an approach.
Leave something usable
Plan how findings and limitations will reach the people responsible for the work. Agree on an appropriate written or presentation format and what the setting can realistically continue after graduation.
Identify who will maintain materials, monitor the process or decide whether to stop or revise it. Report an unsuccessful or inconclusive result honestly.
The DNP degree overview explains the broader qualification. A well-scoped project demonstrates how the student can connect scholarship with a practical decision and explain what the resulting evidence does—and does not—show.
Sources
- AACN: The Essentials, 2026 edition (accessed 2026-09-17) — DNP Scholarly Project/Product.
- AACN: DNP Tool Kit (accessed 2026-09-17)
- HHS OHRP: Quality Improvement Activities FAQs (accessed 2026-09-17)