Nursing Practice: Technology, Standards, and Process Improvement in Clinical Settings

In the dynamic field of healthcare, BSN-prepared nurses play a pivotal role in integrating cutting-edge technology to optimize patient care processes and uphold professional standards. This assessment empowers you to explore how innovative tools can address real-world clinical challenges at your practicum site, fostering better outcomes for patients and teams alike. By examining interprofessional collaboration and regulatory guidelines, you’ll develop strategies that position nursing at the forefront of healthcare transformation.

Practicum Site Analysis: Applying Technology and Professional Standards

Analyze the application of technology and professional standards related to your health process issue at your practicum site in a 4–6 page paper, and submit your required practicum hours. Drawing from your hands-on experiences, this reflection helps solidify your understanding of how these elements intersect in daily practice.

In your previous assessment, you defined and analyzed your health process issue in the context of your practicum site. Now that you’ve gained more experience, continue to build on the information you’ve gathered about your practicum site and research your chosen issue. Gaining these insights often reveals unexpected connections that enrich your professional growth. In Assessment 3, you’ll focus on the application of technology and professional standards. Your ultimate goal at the end of the course will be to present a strategy for improving your selected process issue. Celebrating these milestones reminds us of the profound impact nurses can have on healthcare systems.

Instructions

• Explain aspects of your role in process change and professional standards.

  • Explain the aspects of the role of the BSN-prepared RN in process change and professional standards. Embracing this responsibility opens doors to collaborative leadership in your field.

  • Identify your potential role in process change at your existing practicum. If so, describe that role.

  • If your role is limited, explain how you would envision your role in process change if you were a nurse at this site. Imagining these scenarios can spark creative solutions tailored to your environment.

  • Summarize what your state’s nurse practice act says related to the nurses role and process change. (The Find Your Nurse Practice Act website in your Assessment 3 resources provides a search function to assist you in finding individual state nurse practice acts.)

• Explain what interprofessional collaboration you have and will implement. Building these partnerships not only enhances efficiency but also creates a supportive network for ongoing learning.

  • What opportunities for collaboration do you see?

  • Are you able to implement some of them in your current role at your practicum site? If not, how would you implement interprofessional collaboration as a nurse at this site? Envisioning these steps can make the abstract feel achievable and exciting.

• Review government agencies associated with your process of concern. Explain the recommendations.

  • Examples of agencies include:

    • Joint Commission.
    • NDNQI.
    • CMC.

• Describe current technology used in your practicum site to address your practice issue. Observing these tools in action often uncovers both strengths and areas ripe for enhancement.

  • What are they currently using? Did you notice any problems or issues with the use of this technology?

• Review the literature to determine technology available and recommended for your practice issue. Summarize the recommendations. Diving into recent studies can inspire fresh perspectives on what’s possible in your setting.

  • Do you see new technology that isn’t being used?

• Describe any potential implementation issues you see for using the new technology? Anticipating these hurdles equips you to navigate them with greater ease and foresight.

Additional Requirements

• Format: Format your paper using APA style. Refer to APA Style Paper Tutorial [DOCX] for guidance in writing and formatting your paper. Be sure to include the following:

  • A title page and reference page. An abstract is not required.
  • Appropriate section headings.

• Length: Your paper should be approximately 4–6 pages in length, not including the reference page.

• Supporting evidence: Cite at least five sources of scholarly or professional evidence that support your central ideas. Resources should be no more than five years old. Provide in-text citations and references in APA format.

• Proofreading: Proofread your paper, before you submit it, to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it more difficult for them to focus on its substance. Taking this extra step honors the dedication you’ve poured into your work.

Practicum Hours Submission

Reflective Journaling

Submission Checklist

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 1: Lead people and processes to improve patient, systems, and population outcomes.

  • Explain aspects of one’s role in process change and professional standards.

• Competency 4: Apply health information and patient care technology to improve patient and systems outcomes.

  • Explain the recommendations of government agencies that apply to a practice issue or problem at a specific clinical site.
  • Describe current technology used in a clinical site to address a practice issue, including issues with use of the technology.
  • Summarize the technology available and recommended for a clinical practice issue based on the literature.

• Competency 5: Collaborate interprofessionally to improve patient and population outcomes.

  • Explain what interprofessional collaboration one has and will implement at a specific clinical site.

• Competency 6: Implement patient centered care to improve quality of care and the patient experience.

  • Describe any potential implementation issues for using the new technology.

• Competency 8: Apply professional, scholarly, evidence-based strategies to create effective written and oral communications.

  • Organize content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions.
  • Apply APA style and formatting to scholarly writing.
  • Complete a minimum 20–25 MORE hours of clinical practicum. Submit clinical hour documentation to CAPS.

Scoring Guide

Use the scoring guide to understand how your assessment will be evaluated.

Expand All

Criterion 1
Explain aspects of one’s role in process change and professional standards.
Distinguished
Explains aspects of one’s role in process change and professional standards, providing examples.
Proficient
Explains aspects of one’s role in process change and professional standards.
Basic
Identifies aspects of one’s role in process change and professional standards.
Non Performance
Does not explain aspects of one’s role in process change and professional standards.

Criterion 2
Explain what interprofessional collaboration one has and will implement at a specific clinical site.
Distinguished
Explains what interprofessional collaboration one has and will implement at a specific clinical site, and includes the benefits of this collaboration.
Proficient
Explains what interprofessional collaboration one has and will implement at a specific clinical site.
Basic
Identifies opportunities for collaboration.
Non Performance
Does not explain what interprofessional collaboration one has and will implement at a specific clinical site.

Criterion 3
Explain the recommendations of government agencies that apply to a practice issue or problem at a specific clinical site.
Distinguished
Explains the recommendations of government agencies that apply to a practice issue or problem at a specific clinical site, explaining the assumptions on which the recommendations are based.
Proficient
Explains the recommendations of government agencies that apply to a practice issue or problem at a specific clinical site.
Basic
Explains the recommendations of government agencies, though it’s unclear how they apply to a practice issue or problem at a specific clinical site.
Non Performance
Does not explain the recommendations of government agencies that apply to a practice issue or problem at a specific clinical site.

Criterion 4
Describe current technology used in a clinical site to address a practice issue, including issues with use of the technology.
Distinguished
Describes current technology used in a clinical site to address a practice issue, including issues with use of the technology, as well as the impact of the technology on outcomes for the site.
Proficient
Describes current technology used in a clinical site to address a practice issue, including issues with use of the technology.
Basic
Describes current technology used in a clinical site to address a practice issue.
Non Performance
Does not describe current technology used in a clinical site to address a practice issue, including issues with use of the technology.

Criterion 5
Summarize the technology available and recommended for a clinical practice issue based on the literature.
Distinguished
Summarizes the technology available and recommended for a clinical practice issue based on the literature, outlining pros and cons.
Proficient
Summarizes the technology available and recommended for a clinical practice issue based on the literature.
Basic
Summarizes technology available for a clinical practice issue, though the recommendation is not based on the literature.
Non Performance
Does not summarize the technology available and recommended for a clinical practice issue based on the literature.

Criterion 6
Describe any potential implementation issues for using the new technology.
Distinguished
Describes any potential implementation issues for using the new technology and how those issues might be addressed.
Proficient
Describes any potential implementation issues for using the new technology.
Basic
Identifies any potential implementation issues for using the new technology.
Non Performance
Does not describe any potential implementation issues for using the new technology.

Criterion 7
Organize content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions.
Distinguished
Organizes content so clarity is enhanced and all ideas flow logically with smooth transitions.
Proficient
Organizes content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions.
Basic
Organizes content with some logical flow and smooth transitions.
Non Performance
Does not organize content for ideas to flow logically with smooth transitions.

Criterion 8
Apply APA style and formatting to scholarly writing.
Distinguished
Applies APA style and formatting to scholarly writing. Exhibits strict and nearly flawless adherence to stylistic conventions, document structure, and source attributions.
Proficient
Applies APA style and formatting to scholarly writing.
Basic
Applies APA style and formatting to scholarly writing incorrectly or inconsistently, detracting noticeably from good scholarship.
Non Performance
Does not apply APA style and formatting to scholarly writing.

Criterion 9
Complete a minimum 20–25 MORE hours of clinical practicum. Submit clinical hour documentation to CAPS.
Distinguished
Completes a total of more than 20–25 more hours of clinical practicum. Submits clinical hour documentation to CAPS.
Proficient
Completes a minimum 20–25 MORE hours of clinical practicum. Submits clinical hour documentation to CAPS.
Basic
Completes fewer than 20 more hours of clinical practicum.
Non Performance
Does not complete a minimum of 20 more hours of clinical practicum, and does not submit clinical hour documentation to CAPS.

References

1. Vasquez, B., Moreno-Lacalle, R., Soriano, G. P., Juntasoopeepun, P., Locsin, R. C., & Evangelista, L. S. (2023). Technological machines and artificial intelligence in nursing practice. Nursing & Health Sciences, 25(3), 474–481. https://doi.org/10.1111/nhs.13029
2. Shepherd, J., & McCarthy, A. (2025). Advancing nursing practice through artificial intelligence: Unlocking its transformative impact. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 30(2). https://ojin.nursingworld.org/table-of-contents/volume-30-2025/number-2-may-2025/advancing-nursing-practice-through-artificial-intelligence-unlocking-its-transformative-impact/
3. Wei, Q., Pan, S., Liu, X., Hong, M., Nong, C., & Zhang, W. (2025). The integration of AI in nursing: Addressing current applications, challenges, and future directions. Frontiers in Medicine, 12, Article 1545420. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2025.1545420
4. McGrow, K. (2025). Artificial intelligence in nursing: A journey from data to wisdom. Nursing, 55(4), 16–24. https://doi.org/10.1097/NSG.0000000000000165