Students in the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs at Capella University have, among other coursework, a requirement known as practice immersion. Students spend hundreds of supervised hours in a real-world work environment researching and solving actual health care challenges in their area of interest.<\/p>\n
John Schmidt<\/a>, DNP, RN and Marylee Bressie<\/a>, DNP, RN, CCRN-K, CCNS, CEN, both core faculty members in Capella\u2019s School of Nursing and Health Sciences, offer insight about practice immersion and why it\u2019s valuable.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Practice immersion is an individualized course of study that a student creates and implements in an actual workspace. Students identify areas of interest during coursework and design their immersion experience based on their interest. \u201cThrough their instructional courses, they\u2019ll develop that passion into a clinical question that can be researched,\u201d Schmidt says. \u201cIn the immersion, they\u2019ll study that question and make recommendations for change.\u201d<\/p>\n Students will research not only the topic of interest, but also where best to apply that hands-on research. They may seek out a previous employer or someplace they\u2019d like to work in the future. \u201cThis gives them the opportunity to go to meetings they\u2019d normally not be invited to, like budget, staffing, literature review\u2014the sorts of meetings that will help them learn different aspects of the nursing field,\u201d Bressie says.<\/p>\n Practice immersion is not done in a vacuum. Students will have mentors to guide and advise them through the process, and to answer questions and provide feedback.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Coursework can provide a thorough foundation of knowledge and theory, but some of the best learning can take place in the workplace itself, especially when other people\u2014employees and\/or patients\u2014are involved. \u201cImmersion offers the online student an important chance for hands-on education,\u201d Bressie says.<\/p>\n Schmidt agrees: \u201cImmersion reveals to students the real-life purpose of what these degrees are all about. Admittedly, the nursing profession has evolved into more of a science, and we need to know the scientific underpinnings for what we do. Yet, the real world is always different than the didactic world, which tends to be more black and white. Students go into immersion without a full understanding of how health care really works, and it\u2019s where they fill in those gaps.\u201d<\/p>\n Because immersion marries theory and knowledge to real-life practice, it also provides tremendous credibility with future employers, Schmidt says. \u201cIn the DNP, all candidates create publishable manuscripts for a nursing journal based on their experience.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Denise Shelmerdine, MSN candidate<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe practice immersion course has been a vital component of my graduate education.\u00a0I liked being able to tailor my education to fit the needs of my chosen career path.<\/p>\n \u201cMy advice for future students is to take a proactive and organized approach to this class.\u00a0Choosing the right preceptor is key and you may want to consider someone you can continue to use as a lifelong mentor.<\/p>\n \u201cAlso, I think it\u2019s helpful to consider the goals you want to accomplish (working on areas of personal weakness) prior to starting the class. From the start, lay out what you\u2019ll need to accomplish each week. One hundred hours is a lot of time when you work full-time and have a family (or whatever keeps your individual life busy). Being proactive and organized helped me fulfill all the requirements and meet my goals.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Minnie Davis, DNP candidate<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI was concerned that, without a DNP, job opportunities\u00a0might become scarce in the future. I have never considered myself a scholar\u00a0and was extremely nervous about undertaking a\u00a0doctorate program.\u00a0Capella\u2019s practice immersion requirement allowed me to pursue this\u00a0goal while continuing my bent toward clinical practice.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not to say that it\u2019s been easy,\u00a0quite the contrary. I could not have imagined the hours and work involved in my immersion project. In the end though, it had just enough flexibility that I managed to accomplish the goal while still balancing the\u00a0many other aspects of my life.<\/p>\n \u201cThe importance of knowing what goes into a research project and how it is accomplished cannot be overstated even for, and perhaps especially for, the nurse practitioner who plans a clinical career. I know that I will never look at a journal article or research study in the same way again, and that has thoroughly enriched my understanding of the medical field and the foundation of medical research on which it is built.\u201d Learn more about Capella\u2019s <\/em>Doctor of Nursing Practice<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>Master of Science in Nursing<\/em><\/a> programs.<\/em><\/p>\n MSN and DNP programs at Capella University include an intensive practice immersion requirement. Learn what it is and why it\u2019s important.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":4959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4950"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4950"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4953,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4950\/revisions\/4953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What Is Practice Immersion?<\/h4>\n
Why Is Practice Immersion Valuable?<\/h4>\n
What Students Say about Practice Immersion<\/h4>\n
\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/em><\/h6>\n
See graduation rates, median student debt, and other information at Capella Results<\/a>.<\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"