MSN Capstone

[MSNI]

I am a current MSN Informatics student contemplating Capstone Project ideas. My clinical background is perioperative services (preop, circulating and pacu). Ideally, I'd like to complete a project that improves an aspect of surgical services, perhaps using data analytics. For those of you out there with a Masters of Science in Nursing Informatics, what kinds of Capstone Projects did you complete? Any ideas are welcome!

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

I transitioned our ED from using handwritten discharge instructions (seriously antiquated, we were using carbonless copy paper and instructions weren't always legible) to a fillable PDF form that included ED visit information recommended by best practice standards. It was awesome! They were still using my form earlier this year the last time I visited my old peeps. :)

Do you have an OR where you can do a project? I would talk to leadership first and find out what they think they need; sometimes that will give you a nugget of information to get you started. Most of the time with OR projects, I see informatics students working on flow and room turnover, that kind of thing. You could work to improve the percentage of on-time case starts, for example.

Welcome to allnurses and I hope you enjoy your capstone! I loved mine, totally didn't expect to but it was a great project.