Project Scope

Discussion

Purpose

The purpose of this discussion is to explore the scope of the DNP project. Scope is the backbone of any project and must be accurately assessed by the project manager. When issues occur during a project, it is frequently related to the scope. A well-defined goal helps keep everyone on track.(Comprehensive Exploration Essay of the DNP Project Scope)

Instructions

Reflect upon your readings and personal or professional experience and address the following:

1. Describe how issues that occur during a project are frequently related to the scope.
2. Examine how poorly defined project scope statements are often linked to project problems or even to failed projects.
3. Propose strategies to manage scope creep.(Comprehensive Exploration Essay of the DNP Project Scope)

Please click on the following link to review the DNP Discussion Guidelines on the Student Resource Center program page:

• Link (webpage): DNP Discussion Guidelines
  

  Links to an external site.

Course Outcomes

This discussion enables the student to meet the following course outcomes:

1. Develop strategies to lead project planning, implementation, management, and evaluation to promote high value healthcare. (POs 3, 5, 7)

Comprehensive Exploration Essay of the DNP Project Scope

Traditionally, a DNP project should demonstrate the translation of acquired knowledge into clinical practice and exhibit the student’s growth in clinical knowledge, expertise, and use of the DNP Essentials and DNP Tool Kit. Although most DNP students struggle to achieve these requirements, various unprecedented issues often occur during the project implantation, which touches on its scope (VanderKooi et al., 2018). In planning, a researcher has to depend on voluntary participation from the target group, which in some cases proves difficult yet an ethical requirements in research (). Since participants, particularly patients, have the right to accept or deny participation and drop out at any project stage, researchers tend to find it challenging to maintain the initial project scope in terms of sample size. The other issue during project planning is the availability of project requirements regarding resources necessary to implement the proposed evidence-based intervention. In this regard, DNP students often depend on their resources or scholarship, which affects the project’s original scope.(Comprehensive Exploration Essay of the DNP Project Scope)

During implementation, researchers face the uncertainty of potential drop-out by the participants from the study (Easpaig et al., 2022). When such happens, the original scope of the project is affected. Researchers also face the challenge of unrefined or ambiguous scope. The other challenge during project implementation is the inconsistency of collecting project requirements or lack of proper project scope. The inability to identify project requirements will likely affect the project schedule or the application of inappropriate tools that jeopardize the research’s robustness. Equally, when a researcher fails to define the project’s scope effectively, they are likely to face the challenge of scope creep, i.e., additional project needs or requirements that were not agreed upon during proposal approval.(Comprehensive Exploration Essay of the DNP Project Scope)

Due to scope creep, a researcher may be forced to change aspects of the project, particularly the methodology, or adopt additional methodological features that were initially agreed upon. While such changes are sometimes crucial, they affect the project schedule and budget and require appropriate measures to ensure they do not compromise the completion of project goals and milestones (VanderKooi et al., 2018). The strategies I would use to manage scope creep include a well-defined and managed scope with precise requirements, setting clear project goals, including features in and out of the scope, and prompt communication of scope changes clinical-academic preceptor/mentor for support.(Comprehensive Exploration Essay of the DNP Project Scope)

References

Easpaig, B. N. G., Zhai, J., Gray, R., Brown, E., & Bressington, D. (2022). Recruitment, attrition and intervention completion in clinical trials of psychosocial interventions involving people with early and emerging psychosis: a systematic review protocol. BMJ open, 12(9), e060863. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-060863(Comprehensive Exploration Essay of the DNP Project Scope)

VanderKooi, M. E., Conrad, D. M., & Spoelstra, S. L. (2018). An enhanced actualized DNP model to improve DNP project placements, rigor, and completion. Nursing education perspectives, 39(5), 299.(Comprehensive Exploration Essay of the DNP Project Scope)