Advanced practice nurses study long and hard to achieve the skills and knowledge necessary to provide safe and cost-effective patient-centered care across a variety of practice settings. As experts in a practice discipline, advanced practice nurses are practice scholars. This book is intended to support that scholarship. The intended audience are advanced practice nurses, students in advanced nursing practice programs, and doctoral students interested in conducting clinically based projects. The book is presented in two sections, wholly devoted to doctor of nursing practice (DNP) scholarly practice and the DNP project. The first section is about scholarship. Chapter 1 is about being a scholar and engaging in scholarly inquiry. Chapter 2 is about scholarly inquiry and the domains of scholarship. Chapters 3 and 4 are new to this second edition. Chapter 3 describes the DNP project. Chapter 4 is about searching the literature for evidence to support a project and critically appraising that literature. The second section is on the methods of scholarly inquiry that lend themselves to clinical projects. Chapter 5 introduces action research. Chapter 6 is about constructing a case study. Chapter 7 is about qualitative descriptive projects. Chapter 8 is about clinical interventional projects. Chapter 9 is about systematic review. Chapter 10 describes integrative review. Chapter 11 is on quality improvement. Chapter 12 is about program evaluation. Chapters 13 and 14 are new to this edition. Chapter 13 describes descriptive observational projects within the framework of time, place, and person. Chapter 14 is about disseminating the findings of the DNP project. Advance practice nurses can develop clinically focused practice projects that not only advance nursing practice but also inform the redesign of healthcare considering new and emerging healthcare mandates. The aim of the second edition is to provide a foundation to accomplish this goal and disseminate the results.
