Senior Nursing Students Lead Pilot Quality Improvement Projects

Senior nursing students at UNC Charlotte’s School of Nursing recently completed pilot Quality Improvement (QI) projects designed to strengthen their research and scholarly skills. The initiative, introduced this semester, prepares students for their final capstone course, NURS 4900: Nursing Research, by immersing them in real-world clinical challenges.

The QI assignment asked students to apply evidence-based practice, systems thinking, and leadership principles to address a clinical quality issue and propose actionable improvement plans. By engaging in this process, students not only identified workplace problems but also developed the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to address them using established evidence-based frameworks.

Deliverables from the projects were presented to respective clinical units, resulting in sustainable and ongoing education for staff and teams. The initiative also increased student awareness of the complexities of healthcare systems while reinforcing their role as future leaders in advancing patient care.