Capstone coach
Your capstone as a workspace, not a Word doc. Draft each section with faculty-authored guidance, get an AI critique against a DNP-level rubric, then move on with your evenings intact.
Milestones
Establish the significance of the psychiatric problem you plan to address. Include prevalence, current gaps at the practice site, and why an NP-led intervention matters. Ground every claim in a citation.
Target: 400–700 words · Rubric criteria: 4
Write a single PICOT sentence, then justify each element. Feasibility beats ambition — the question must be answerable at your site within your timeline.
Target: 200–400 words · Rubric criteria: 4
Group sources by theme, not by author. Aim for 15–25 peer-reviewed sources within the last 5 years (seminal work excepted). End with a synthesis paragraph naming the gap your project fills.
Target: 1200–1800 words · Rubric criteria: 4
A reader should be able to reproduce your project from this section alone. Describe design, setting, sample, intervention procedure, and instruments with enough detail that another NP could run it.
Target: 1000–1500 words · Rubric criteria: 4
Name the primary outcome, the validated measure, the timing of measurement, and the analytic plan. If secondary outcomes exist, keep them clearly secondary.
Target: 500–900 words · Rubric criteria: 4
Describe IRB pathway (exempt / expedited / full review) with rationale. Address consent, confidentiality, data storage, and any psychiatric-specific safety considerations (suicidality, decisional capacity, mandated reporting).
Target: 400–700 words · Rubric criteria: 4
Show a week-by-week or month-by-month table. Timeline must fit your practicum window, site holidays, and preceptor availability. Include buffer weeks — real projects always slip.
Target: 300–600 words + table · Rubric criteria: 4
How will results reach the people who need them? Include site presentation, poster or podium at a conference, and — most importantly — the plan for the intervention to persist without you.
Target: 300–500 words · Rubric criteria: 4