Discussion Problem: The DNP-Prepared Nurse and Their Communities of practice
You are probably familiar with the term community of practice. But what exactly is a community of practice, and how do you become part of one? A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people that share a common concern, a set of problems, or an interest in a topic and who come together to fulfill both individual and group goals (Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium, n.d.).
For example, a community of practice might relate to a specific population such as children or older adults, or a specific setting such as the Salvation Army or the local food kitchen. As a DNP prepared nurse, you will likely belong to multiple communities of practice above and beyond the organization for which you work. Your academic preparation, and your ability to understand and engage in evidence-based practice, will position you to lead and transform your communities of practice. How do you envision yourself contributing to your future communities of practice to improve health outcomes and catalyze positive social change?
Reference:
Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium. (n.d.). Creating communities of practice: What is a community of practice? [Multimedia].
- The need for vaccine and immunization clinics for school age children with a school district
- The need for nutritional assistance programs pre-K students in a state-funded early childhood education program
- The need for diabetes education for elderly outpatients in a community health clinic
- The need to reduce the number of re-admits of patients who have had outpatient procedures in freestanding outpatient clinics
- The need to reduce the number of post-operative patient falls on an acute care in-patient hospital unit
These are just a few examples of the needs, challenges, and issues that may exist within a community of practice, and that merit the attention and require the knowledge, experience, and advocacy of a DNP-prepared nurse.
As a DNP-prepared nurse, you will likely belong to multiple communities of practice related to the various contexts and populations with which you are involved. Within each, you may work in a variety of ways to improve health outcomes and catalyze positive social change-at the individual patient level, as well as on increasingly larger scales within your organization, and potentially even at the national or global level.
Resources:
- Document: Communities of Practice Template (Word) Download Communities of Practice Template (Word)
- American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2021). The essentials: Core competencies for professional nursing education. AACN.
- Healthy People 2030. (n.d.). Healthy people in action
Communities of Practice Resources
- Adler, R. H., &Sickora, C. (2023). Research, practice and teaching united: Implementing AACN academic guidelines in a community based behavioral health setting. Journal of Professional Nursing, 49, 21-25.
- Bekemeier, B., Kuehnert, P., Zahner, S. J., Johnson, K. H., Kaneshiro, J., & Swider, S. M. (2021). A critical gap: Advanced practice nurses focused on the public's health. Nursing Outlook, 69(5), 865-874.
- Corbo, S. A., &Flatekval, A. M. (2022). An academic-practice partnership to provide community vaccinations. Nursing Management, 53(3), 36-42.
- Goglio, K., Crespin-Mazet, F., Simon, L., Cohendet, P., & Wenger-Trayner, E. (2023). Managing with communities for innovation, agility, and resilience. European Management Journal, 41(4), 534-539.
- Groff, A. (2023). Community of practice (CoP). Salem Press Encyclopedia.
- Shirey, M. R., Bruck, M., Patton, E., Bowers, D., & Watts, P. I. (2022). COVID-19 telehealth fair partnership for capacity building in primary care nursing. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 46(2), 113-124.
- Truax, F. N., Low, J., Mochizuki, T., Asfaha, S., Nguyen, T. N., Carson, M., Katrak, S., Shah, N., & Nguyen, D. (2022). Latent tuberculosis infection testing and treatment at a federally qualified health center in Southern California: A quality improvement project. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 37(2), 155-161.
- UC Davis Health School of Medicine. (n.d.). Communities of practice: A toolkit.
To prepare:
- Review this week's Learning Resources, paying special attention to the various examples communities of practice you encounter.
- Use the Communities of Practice template, located in this week's Learning Resources, to help you identify the various communities of practice with which you are currently involved and those you may want to become involved with in the future.
- Select one of these communities of practice on which to focus for this Discussion.
- Consider the most important needs, challenges, or issues facing the community of practice you selected.
- Select one of these needs, challenges, or issues on which to focus for this Discussion.
- Using Walden Library and the internet, search for and identify three scholarly, peer-reviewed articles (within the last 5 years) that address the need, challenge, or issue you selected.
- Consider the kinds of practice changes you might recommend to address this need, challenge, or issue.
- Consider how your recommendations align with specific Domains from The Essentials.
Post the following:
- Describe the community of practice and associated need, challenge, or issue you selected for this Discussion.
- From your perspective as a future DNP-prepared nurse, explain why this need, challenge, or issue is important and merits attention. Be specific and provide examples.
- Citing the three scholarly articles you identified, describe at least two practice changes you recommend to address the need, challenge, or issue facing the community of practice you selected.
- Explain how your recommendations align with at least three specific Domains from The Essentials
Note: Your posts should be substantial (500 words minimum), supported with scholarly evidence from your research and/or the Learning Resources, and properly cited using APA Style. Personal anecdotes are acceptable as part of a meaningful post but cannot stand alone as the entire post.