Throughout the RN-to-BSN program, students are required to participate in scholarly activities outside of clinical practice or professional practice. Examples of scholarly activities include attending conferences, seminars, journal club, grand rounds, morbidity and mortality meetings, interdisciplinary committees, quality improvement committees, and any other opportunities available at your site, within your community, or nationally.

Submit, as the assignment, a summary report of the scholarly activity, including who, what, where, when and any relevant take-home points. Include the appropriate program competencies associated with the scholarly activity as well as future professional goals related to this activity. You may use the “Scholarly Activity Summary” resource to help guide this assignment.

While APA format is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and in-text citations and references should be presented using APA documentation guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

You are not required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.

Scholarly Activity Summary

This document describes the scholarly activity elements that should be included in a five paragraph summary. You may use this resource to help guide the preparation of the Scholarly Activities assignment, due in Topic 10.

Overview 

This section consists of a single paragraph that succinctly describes the scholarly activity that you attended/participated in, the target market for the activity, and the benefit of the activity to you.

Problem 

This section consists of either a short narrative or a list of bullet points that concisely identifies the problems the scholarly activity is designed to solve. Educate: What is the current state of the activity topic? Explain why this is a problem, and for whom is it a problem? Inspire: What could a nurse achieve by participating in the scholarly activity? Use declarative sentences with simple words to communicate each point. Less is more.

Solution 

This section consists of either a short paragraph or a list of bullet points that concisely describes the solution to a proposed practice problem that the scholarly activity addressed and how it addresses the problem outlined in the previous section.

Opportunity 

This section consists of short paragraphs that define the opportunity that the scholarly activity is designed to capture. It is important to cover the objectives and goals that were met. How will attending/participating in this scholarly activity help you grow as a nurse?

Program Competencies Addressed

This section consists of a list of program competencies that were addressed in this scholarly activity. Please use the list from the ISP.

NOTE: The plan that I want you to compile for me would state that I attended a meeting conference at San Antonio State Hospital (SASH) with a Psychiatrist and discussed the action plan for patients with intellectual disabilities. Nursing Scholarly Activities – RN-to-BSN Program

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Scholarly Activities for RN-to-BSN Program

Introduction

If you’re an RN, you know that there’s a ton of information out there. You could spend days or weeks looking through articles, books and journals while still not getting a good grasp on all the things that are relevant to your practice. But if you’re learning along with me — if we both have access to scholarly resources via PubMed — then it’s easy for us to find what we need when we need it. And what better time than now?

Search for evidence-based practice articles on your clinical specialty.

Search for evidence-based practice articles on your clinical specialty.

• Use the library’s databases, such as ProQuest Nursing and MEDLINE. Find articles from the most recent year, month or week (if possible). If you have time to do so, search from 1982 forward; this will give you a broader scope of resources to reference in future papers.

• Use keywords that represent your area of expertise: “skin” might narrow down results quite well while “pressure ulcers” may not be as specific but could still yield some relevant information about how pressure ulcers affect patients’ skin conditions over time.*

Find out what the latest articles say about your specialty.

One of the best ways to stay current on your specialty is by reading articles. Articles are written about what’s happening in the field and how it affects healthcare providers, their patients, and other professionals.

• Find out what the latest articles say about your specialty.

• Find out what the latest research says about your specialty.

See how well the evidence meshes with your own experience.

As you read the evidence, it is important to note whether it meshes with your own experiences. The evidence should be consistent with your own experience and relevant to the population you serve.

You should also ensure that the proposed solution fits within the clinical setting in which you work, and that it addresses a problem which is important to solve for patients or clients.

What’s missing in the literature?

What’s missing in the literature?

• What questions are unanswered?

• What research is needed?

Which issues are not well understood or researched?

• What are the gaps in the literature?

• How can you evaluate and improve your practice if there’s no evidence to support it?

What clinical practices need more support?

As you begin to find your way in the field, it’s important to keep up-to-date with current research and clinical practice. There are many ways to do this:

• Read scholarly articles in journals or books on nursing.

• Read other students’ blogs on their experiences as BSNs.

• Join an outreach group like the National Association of Nurses-to-RNs (NANRN) or [insert name of organization here]. These groups can help you connect with other nurses who are also pursuing a BSN degree or planning one themselves!

Finding scholarly articles for nursing practice will help you become a better nurse.

Research is a way to find out what is already known. It can help you understand the latest trends in nursing practice, evidence, and thinking.

When you are researching for scholarly articles for your nursing program, it is important to read across disciplines and areas of expertise so that you can get a holistic view of what’s happening in your field today.

Conclusion

We hope this article has given you some ideas for finding scholarly articles to read, and we look forward to seeing you in our next course!