NRS-465

Capstone project proposals in nursing can focus on improving medication reconciliation accuracy at hospital admission and discharge to prevent errors and enhance patient outcomes during care transitions.

Capstone Project Proposal Guidelines

In collaboration with the approved clinical preceptor, students will identify a specific evidence-based topic for the capstone project change proposal.

Collaborating closely allows students to ensure the topic addresses real clinical challenges effectively.

Students should consider the clinical environment in which they are currently employed or have recently worked.

The capstone project topic can be a clinical practice problem, an organizational issue, a leadership or quality improvement initiative, or an unmet educational need specific to a patient population or community.

The selected problem should encourage the student to engage in interprofessional collaborative practice.

Students should select a topic that aligns to their area of interest as well as the clinical practice setting in which practice hours are completed.

Recent initiatives highlight how structured checklists have boosted accuracy in busy hospital settings by involving multiple team members.

Topic: Improving Medication Reconciliation Accuracy at Admission and Discharge

Medication errors often occur during care transitions.

This project could introduce a nurse-led medication reconciliation checklist or electronic workflow enhancement.

Measurable outcomes may include medication discrepancies, readmission rates related to medication errors, and patient understanding of discharge medications.

Pharmacist-led approaches have shown promise in cutting error rates significantly in recent trials across various healthcare systems.

This project is only a proposal and will not be implemented in a practice setting.

Assignment Instructions

Write a 750-word description of your proposed capstone project topic. Include the following:

1. Describe the problem or issue that will be the focus of the change proposal. Explain with which category (leadership or community) the selected topic would best align.
2. Discuss the setting or context in which the problem or issue can be observed and describe the population affected by this problem or issue.
3. Discuss the implications this clinical practice problem or issue has on nursing practice.
4. Based on your needs assessment in Topic 1, describe why this is a priority for the community/clinical site or affected clinical population.
5. Briefly describe the organizational structure (mission, vision, values, leadership structure, etc.) of the practicum site. What internal and external processes will impact care coordination for the selected population or community?
6. How effective has the organization been in addressing the identified problem or issue?

You are required to cite a minimum of three peer-reviewed sources to complete this assignment. Sources must be published within the past 5 years, appropriate for the assignment criteria, and relevant to nursing practice.

Literature Evaluation Table

Student Name:

Faculty Name:

Finalized PICOT Question:

Literature Search Strategy Employed (in 100 words or less describe the library databases that you searched and the keywords that you used to find research articles):

The proposed project centers on reducing medication discrepancies by implementing a nurse-led checklist at transitions, which could lower readmissions by addressing common errors like omissions. Evidence from recent programs indicates that such interventions not only improve accuracy but also foster interprofessional teamwork in hospitals.

Uhlenhopp, D.J., Aguilar, O., Dai, D., Ghosh, A., Shaw, M. and Mitra, C. (2020) ‘Hospital-wide medication reconciliation program: error identification, cost-effectiveness, and detecting high-risk individuals on admission’, Integrated Pharmacy Research and Practice, 9, pp.195–203. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2147/IPRP.S269857.

Jošt, M., Kerec Kos, M., Kos, M. and Knez, L. (2024) ‘Effectiveness of pharmacist-led medication reconciliation on medication errors at hospital discharge and healthcare utilization in the next 30 days: a pragmatic clinical trial’, Frontiers in Pharmacology, 15, 1377781. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2024.1377781.

Ahmed, A.S., Aziz, A. and Sethi, S.M. (2025) ‘Improving medication reconciliation compliance in a tertiary care hospital of a developing country: a quality improvement initiative using the PDSA cycle’, BMJ Open Quality, 14(4), e003487. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjoq-2024-003487.

Alzahrani, A., Abu-Abaid, B., Alqahtani, A., Alqarni, A., Alasmari, S., Alshareef, A., Alotaibi, A., Alasmari, F., Alotaibi, M., Alasmari, M. and Alasmari, A. (2023) ‘Implementation of medication reconciliation at admission and discharge in Ministry of Defense Health Services hospitals: a multicentre study’, BMJ Open Quality, 12(2), e002149. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjoq-2022-002149.

How to develop a nursing capstone project on medication reconciliation accuracy at hospital admission and discharge