NURS 626 is the nursing administration capstone in Liberty's MSN. Its graded writing runs on three tracks: a four-part capstone project, a leadership development project built on the Leadership Practices Inventory, and a professional portfolio, plus two blogs. Practicum logs and evaluations have no guides here.
Liberty's catalog lists the course as NURS 626 Nursing Administration IV: Nursing Administration Capstone, 3 credit hours; Canvas and the course guide file print it as NURS626.
What NURS 626 covers
The catalog description: This practicum course provides students an opportunity to demonstrate competencies in key elements of the Nurse Administrator role and apply the advanced practice role to a variety of professional practice settings. Students will integrate standards of professional nursing performance, ethical, legal and regulatory compliance to practice during a capstone project and experience.
The capstone asks students to demonstrate the nurse administrator competencies and apply the advanced role across practice settings, integrating professional standards and ethical, legal and regulatory compliance. The texts are Kouzes and Posner, The Leadership Challenge, and Roussel et al., Management and Leadership for Nurse Administrators.
Three projects run in parallel. The capstone project moves from topic selection to annotated bibliography, outline and a visual presentation. The leadership development project moves from a reflection on your leadership style through the 30-item Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) and a group discussion to a six-month performance development plan. The professional portfolio starts with a curriculum vitae and ends with a full portfolio. The LPI self-assessment itself (15 points) is a scored inventory with nothing to write, so it has no guide here.
Textbook named in the published guide: Kouzes & Posner, The Leadership Challenge (2017). Roussel et al., Management and Leadership for Nurse Administrators (2020). Check the current edition in your Canvas section.
NURS 626 assignments, week by week
Every graded written assignment in the published guide has its own how-to guide below. Quizzes, exams, checklists and class introductions are left out because there is nothing to write.
| Week | Assignment | Points | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blog 1 | 50 | Post at least 500 words |
| 2 | Capstone Project Part 1 Topic Selection | 25 | 1 to 2 pages |
| 2 | Leadership Style Reflection | 100 | 5 to 7 pages (body) |
| 3 | LPI Group Discussion Board Forum | 60 | Answer every question in the prompt (no word count set in the guide) |
| 3 | Curriculum Vitae | 50 | Comprehensive CV (no page count set in the guide) |
| 4 | Blog 2 | 50 | Post at least 500 words |
| 4 | Capstone Project Part 2 Annotated Bibliography | 50 | 8 to 10 annotations of at least 150 words each, plus a title page |
| 5 | Capstone Project Part 3 Outline | 75 | 3 to 5 pages |
| 6 | Professional Portfolio | 100 | All required portfolio elements (no page count set in the guide) |
| 7 | Capstone Project Part 4 Visual Presentation | 175 | Video 15 to 20 minutes; narrated presentation 10 to 15 minutes with 1,000 or more written words; or visual presentation with a 2,000 to 2,500-word essay |
| 8 | Performance Development Plan | 100 | A complete six-month plan in the form you choose |
Week 1: Blog 1
A 500-word post with a recent peer-reviewed article and biblical principles, plus three challenging 250-word replies. How to write NURS 626 Week 1 Blog 1.
Week 2: Capstone Project Part 1 Topic Selection
A 1 to 2-page paper introducing your capstone topic with a rationale and naming the visual format for the final presentation. How to write NURS 626 Week 2 Capstone Project Part 1 Topic Selection.
Week 2: Leadership Style Reflection
Part 1 of the leadership development project: a 5 to 7-page reflection on the influences that shaped your leadership style. How to write NURS 626 Week 2 Leadership Style Reflection.
Week 3: LPI Group Discussion Board Forum
Part 3 of the leadership development project: a group forum reflecting on your Leadership Practices Inventory results. How to write NURS 626 Week 3 LPI Group Discussion Board Forum.
Week 3: Curriculum Vitae
Part 1 of the professional portfolio: a comprehensive CV in current APA, stating fact and reflection concisely. How to write NURS 626 Week 3 Curriculum Vitae.
Week 4: Blog 2
The second blog: a 500-word post with a recent article and biblical principles, and three challenging 250-word replies. How to write NURS 626 Week 4 Blog 2.
Week 4: Capstone Project Part 2 Annotated Bibliography
An annotated bibliography of 8 to 10 recent peer-reviewed references for the capstone, with 150-word annotations and an APA title page. How to write NURS 626 Week 4 Capstone Project Part 2 Annotated Bibliography.
Week 5: Capstone Project Part 3 Outline
A 3 to 5-page Roman numeral outline of the capstone project, with an APA title page and reference page. How to write NURS 626 Week 5 Capstone Project Part 3 Outline.
Week 6: Professional Portfolio
Part 2 of the portfolio: an honest showcase of your accomplishments with expertise summary, leadership philosophy, CV, goals, development and service. How to write NURS 626 Week 6 Professional Portfolio.
Week 7: Capstone Project Part 4 Visual Presentation
The largest item in NURS 626: the capstone presented in your approved visual format, covering findings, evidence, practice application and a Christian worldview. How to write NURS 626 Week 7 Capstone Project Part 4 Visual Presentation.
Week 8: Performance Development Plan
Part 4 of the leadership development project: a six-month plan to strengthen the leadership practice where you scored lowest on the LPI. How to write NURS 626 Week 8 Performance Development Plan.
How NURS 626 is graded
The published guide totals 1,010 points. The capstone visual presentation is 175, the outline 75, the annotated bibliography 50 and the topic selection 25. The leadership style reflection and performance development plan are 100 each, the LPI group forum 60 and the LPI assessment 15. The portfolio is 100 and the CV 50, the two blogs 50 each, three practicum logs 50 each and the checklist 10.
| Graded item | Points |
|---|---|
| Capstone Project Part 4 Visual Presentation | 175 |
| Capstone Part 3 Outline | 75 |
| Capstone Part 2 Annotated Bibliography | 50 |
| Capstone Part 1 Topic Selection | 25 |
| LDP Part 1 Leadership Style Reflection | 100 |
| LDP Part 2 LPI Assessment | 15 |
| LDP Part 3 Group Discussion Board Forum | 60 |
| LDP Part 4 Performance Development Plan | 100 |
| Professional Portfolio Curriculum Vitae | 50 |
| Professional Portfolio | 100 |
| Blogs (2) | 100 |
| Practicum/Clinical Logs (3) | 150 |
| Course Requirements Checklist | 10 |
The published scale puts an A at 940 to 1010 points.
Week timing in the published guide: Each course week begins on Monday morning at 12:00 a.m. (ET) and ends on Sunday night at 11:59 p.m. (ET). The final week ends at 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Friday.
How to approach NURS 626
Choose the capstone topic and its visual format together in Week 1 or 2: the topic selection paper in Week 2 must name the format (Prezi, PowerPoint, Screencast-o-matic, Adobe Spark and others are suggested), and the format sets the requirements for Week 7.
Take the LPI honestly in Week 3. The performance development plan in Week 8 must target the leadership practice where you scored lowest, so an inflated self-score only makes the last assignment harder to write well.
Questions students ask
What are the parts of the NURS 626 capstone project?
Topic selection (Week 2), an annotated bibliography of 8 to 10 recent peer-reviewed references (Week 4), a 3 to 5-page Roman numeral outline (Week 5) and a visual presentation in the format you chose (Week 7), which must incorporate a Christian worldview.
What is the LPI in NURS 626?
The Leadership Practices Inventory, a 30-item self-assessment based on Kouzes and Posner's five practices of exemplary leadership. Your lowest-scoring practice becomes the focus of your six-month performance development plan.
Working through NURS 626 now?
Tell us the week and the assignment. A tutor who knows the course replies with a plan for the draft.