DNP Scholarly Projects

Abstract

Poor mental health and well-being among undergraduate nursing students negatively affects social dynamics, communication, decision making, and stress management, thus compromising the quality of healthcare delivery and patient care outcomes. It is imperative that nursing programs support students to develop positive self-care, resilience, and mental health skills while in school to foster their well-being, enhance their academic success, and to promote high-quality, patient-centered care in their future practice. The purpose of this Doctor of Nurse Practice (DNP) project was to develop a mental health and well-being practice guideline with a comprehensive set of evidence-based interventions for academic nursing programs to use to support the mental health and well-being of undergraduate nursing students. The Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE-II) framework was utilized to develop and appraise the practice guideline, which introduced two evidence-based recommendations: (1) Implementing a peer-mentoring program for nursing students and (2) Embedding mental health and well-being promotion within the nursing curriculum. An expert panel of five evaluators, including three nursing program deans and two mental health professionals, appraised the practice guideline providing qualitative and quantitative feedback. All expert panel members provided positive feedback, highlighting the guideline’s organization, evidence support, consistency, clarity, quality, feasibility, applicability, and suitability for guiding practice to support undergraduate nursing students’ mental health and well-being. All nursing programs who seek to prioritize the mental health and well-being of their nursing students are encouraged to adopt the practice guideline.

Date

Spring 4-26-2024

First Advisor

Dr. Kathryn Dambrino

Second Advisor

Dr. Julie Honey

Scholarly Project Team Member

Dr. Sara Camp

Scholarly Project Team Member

Dr. R. David Phillippi

Department

Nursing, School of

College

Health Sciences & Nursing, Gordon E. Inman College of

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Degree

Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Degree Level

Doctoral

Degree Grantor

Belmont University

Keywords

Mental health; well-being; nursing education; AGREE-II; practice guideline; undergraduate nursing students; evidence-based; patient outcomes

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