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In 2010, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a landmark report, The Future of Nursing, that offered key recommendations to improve the health of the nation (IOM, 2010). One of these recommendations was to provide an improved educational system to promote a seamless academic progression into the nursing workforce (IOM, 2010). One avenue for nursing faculty and students to carry out the IOM's recommendation is through the adoption of journal clubs as a clinical experience for nursing students. Journal clubs are an attractive option for nursing students to attain clinical hours because the practice allows nursing students to implement and lead a traditional in-person journal club or an online collaborative journal club. In addition, nurses should maintain awareness of newly published research and evidence-based practices in their nursing specialties (Davis et al., 2014), and this can be accomplished through the adoption of journal clubs. As the nursing profession embarks on continuing the recommendations from the IOM's Future of Nursing report, the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action is expected to provide additional recommendations geared toward improving health and health equity in the United States (Campaign for Action, n.d.). Journal clubs can continue to be an attractive option for nurse educators and students to bridge the knowledge gap between practice and research. The purpose of this article is to offer an innovative strategy to meet the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Essentials for faculty and students in health systems leadership and population health programs to consider adopting into their education and practice.
Background
DNP faculty are faced with establishing a variety of clinical experiences for graduate nursing students, who are expected to complete a minimum of 1,000 clinical hours for degree conferral. The DNP plan of study is designed to prepare nurses to be clinical implementation specialists. These nurses evaluate research for application into clinical practice and implement best evidence-based initiatives to improve nursing practice and patient outcomes. The DNP student will gain the essential competencies to translate evidence into practice for improved patient outcomes (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2006).
The AACN developed core competencies that must be integrated into DNP curricula for students to attain the DNP degree (AACN, 2006). The depth and focus of clinical experiences vary based on the...