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The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program curriculum must address the challenge of developing Competency Based Education (CBE) curriculum for DNP Scholarly Projects tailored to meet variations in nursing learner preparation and practice, from novice bachelor's entry level and master's advanced nurse practice expert entry level pathways. The recent Future of Nursing 2020–2030 : Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity report by the National Academy of Medicine advocates that competency-based education (CBE) approaches in nursing schools should focus upon the advanced practice nursing population within collaborative academic practice partnerships. This article describes an innovative DNP Scholarly Project Curriculum model at an academic health science center that integrates academic partnerships and CBE strategies that have been developed for second degree Bachelor's direct entry to nursing (direct entry), post BS in nursing to DNP (BS to DNP), Post Master's to DNP (PM DNP) entry levels of preparation. The DNP Scholarly Project Curriculum utilizes an innovative, scaffolded approach to fostering CBE for the assessment of learning activities at the doctoral level. The DNP Scholarly Project Curriculum includes domains of quality improvement, critical appraisal of the literature, evidence-based practice models, implementation practice models, policy analysis, and process/outcome evaluations. Preliminary alumni and stakeholder feedback suggests that these projects are not only impacting practice but improving learner competency in quality improvement science. Implementation of this model has led to enhanced CBE-driven curriculum teaching and learning strategies, and sustainable collaborative academic partnerships. • Wide variation in entry levels challenge DNP faculty to educate advanced practice nurses and mentor DNP scholarly projects. • Curriculums must meet the needs of learners from various entry levels and ensure attainment of required competencies. • Scaffolding DNP scholarly project curriculum supports competencies for leaners across various entry levels. • Engaging community partners in DNP scholalry project development fosters bonds while meeting learner competecies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human capital development is one of the goals of higher education and a decrease in open dialogue threatens these ideals and aspirations. A recent survey of undergraduate students showed that many students censor their point of view. There are many potential reasons for this, but it could be secondary to the current sociopolitical climate. Having educators who encourage and model open dialogue while supporting diversity of thought would provide alternative perspectives and innovation. Encouraging diversity of thought will enhance understanding of other's perspectives and unleash creative problem solving to address concerns in nursing practice and facilitate innovative research. The purpose of this article is to present strategies that can be employed to promote diversity of thought among nursing students in a learning environment. Exemplars are presented illustrating some of the strategies discussed. • Students report they censor their point of view, and could be secondary to the current sociopolitical climate. • A decrease in open dialogue decreases human capital development, one of the goals of higher education. • Encouraging diversity of thought can unleash creative problem solving to address concerns in nursing practice and facilitate innovative research. • This article presents strategies to promote diversity of thought among nursing students in a learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To explore next-of-kin’s (NOK’s) perceptions of end-of-life (EOL) care in the nursing home setting and to compare these perceptions for residents receiving hospice care plus usual care versus usual care only. Design: Mailed survey. Setting: Three nursing homes in central Massachusetts. Participants: Nursing home decedents’ NOK Measurements: Nursing home decedents’ NOK were identified from nursing home records. Survey data were collected on NOK demographics and perceptions of decedents’ EOL care. This care included nursing home care and services received by decedents, pain and symptom management, communication about decedents’ care, and advance directives. Results: Of 164 surveys mailed, 114 surveys were returned (70% response rate) with 100 completed (61% used for analysis). NOK reported that nursing home decedents had a high symptom burden, with at least 70% experiencing pain, agitation, and/or anxiety, and 60% having shortness of breath or depression. Most NOK reported good-to-excellent symptom control for decedents (88%), feeling well informed about the decedent’s condition (91%), satisfaction with medical and nursing care (90%), and the decedent having advance directives in place (89%). Respondents’ impressions of decedents’ symptom control, communication about decedents’ care, level of care, or advance directives did not differ significantly between the hospice plus usual care and usual care only groups. Conclusion: In this pilot study, NOK perceived that decedents’ EOL care in the nursing home was of similarly good quality under hospice care plus usual care and usual care only. Our study provides an approach to assessing quality of EOL care in the nursing home setting. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]