Survey of Nursing Faculty Preparation for Guiding DNP Quality Improvement Projects.

Background: Quality improvement (QI) projects comprise the majority of University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) projects.

Methods: An online survey was completed by 51% (n = 38) of faculty, who teach or mentor DNP students, and was analyzed using quantitative and descriptive methods.

Results: Faculty were somewhat or not familiar with developing a QI charter 68.4%, human error theory and error proofing 63.2%, driver diagrams 60.5%, characteristics of high-reliability organizations 60.5%, and Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE) guidelines 55.3%. The faculty were most interested in learning more about (n = 97 responses) were human error theory and error proofing (28.9%), SQUIRE guidelines (26.3%), statistical process control (21.1%), and implementation strategies and tactics (21.1%). The most commonly identified challenges included identifying QI projects (24%), project time constraints (16%), keeping up-to-date on QI concepts, methods, and tools (12%), and balancing professional workload (10%).

Conclusions: Gaps in self-reported QI knowledge indicate there is a need for further development of DNP and PhD prepared faculty at the UMSON.