| Course | NUR 684 Clinical Nurse Leader Capstone |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 10 |
| Paper type | closing reflective journal for a CNL capstone |
| Length | About 410 words, 3 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Southern New Hampshire University |
| Program | MSN |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for NUR 684 Module 10
Module Ten Journal
I Used to Be the One Who Enforced the Rules
Through six years in the charge role, I was the person who reminded everyone to turn their patients every two hours. I said it at huddles, wrote it on the whiteboard and checked the flowsheets at midnight. So it was humbling to read Gillespie et al. (2014) and learn that the trials comparing turning schedules are few and weak and have not established a best interval. Repositioning matters, but the number I had enforced was a convention. My first reaction was defensiveness. My second, which took a week, was relief: I could stop policing a number and start asking what each patient's skin was telling us.
The second moment came from the conflict with our physical therapists. They were leaving heel boots off after sessions so patients could practice transfers, and my first instinct was to go to their manager. Instead, remembering Bender (2014) on the CNL as someone who improves care by integrating the team rather than directing it, I asked one therapist and one nurse to sit with me and design a fix. Within twenty minutes they had agreed on a lighter boot and a rule about replacing it. I had nothing to do with the solution except framing the problem around our shared goal of getting patients walking. That was the first time I understood leadership as something other than being in charge.
The third moment was small. At 3 a.m. in week ten, I heard a nurse in her first year call a hospitalist and say, almost word for word, the SBAR script we had practiced: the heel, the history, the boot that had been off, the request. Haig et al. (2006) describe SBAR as a way of giving clinicians a shared mental model, and hearing a new nurse use it with confidence showed me that the bundle had become the unit's, not mine.
I am taking three commitments into my first year as a CNL. I will ask what the evidence actually says before I enforce any rule. I will bring people who disagree into the room to design the answer rather than escalate. And I will measure whether our routines are delivered, not just written, because a bundle on paper protects no one. I used to be the one who enforced the rules. Now I want to be the one who helps the team decide which rules are worth keeping.
References
Bender, M. (2014). The current evidence base for the clinical nurse leader: A narrative review of the literature. Journal of Professional Nursing, 30(2), 110-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2013.08.006
Gillespie, B. M., Chaboyer, W. P., McInnes, E., Kent, B., Whitty, J. A., & Thalib, L. (2014). Repositioning for pressure ulcer prevention in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2014(4), Article CD009958. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD009958.pub2
Haig, K. M., Sutton, S., & Whittington, J. (2006). SBAR: A shared mental model for improving communication between clinicians. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 32(3), 167-175. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1553-7250(06)32022-3
What the NUR 684 Module 10 instructions ask for
The concluding NUR 684 journal generally asks you to reflect on forming your identity as a clinical nurse leader during the capstone and immersion: how you think about leadership, evidence and teams now, and what you will carry into the role. Use the first person, keep it to roughly 400 to 550 words and support it with two or three scholarly sources in APA 7. Center the entry on a few specific episodes from the immersion or project, describe how you reacted at first and how your view shifted, name the source that helped explain the shift and end with a short set of commitments your future manager or team could watch you practice.
How this NUR 684 Module 10 journal example is built
This journal comes from a former charge nurse who led a heel pressure injury bundle as a CNL student. She describes learning from Gillespie and colleagues' Cochrane review that the two-hour turning rule she enforced for years lacks a firm evidence base, and moving from defensiveness to relief. A conflict with therapists over heel boots, resolved by letting a nurse and therapist design the fix, shows her the lateral integration Bender describes. Overhearing a new nurse use the SBAR script, which Haig and colleagues frame as a shared mental model, shows her the bundle belongs to the unit. Three commitments close the entry. The title captures her shift from enforcing rules to questioning them.
Where the NUR 684 Module 10 rubric puts the points
CNL identity reflections in NUR 684 are usually graded on self-awareness, the link between experience and evidence, understanding of the CNL role as distinct from management, specificity, organization and APA 7. Journals that score well describe moments of discomfort or change, use sources to illuminate those moments and translate the learning into commitments that fit a lateral role. They show how the writer's idea of leadership changed. Journals lose credit when they recount project tasks, describe the CNL in textbook terms without personal insight or promise to be a strong leader without saying what that will look like in daily practice on the unit. Precise citations still matter here.
NUR 684 Module 10 help: the mistakes that cost points
In this last NUR 684 week, journals commonly lose credit for reading like a project report, for citations that do not connect to a moment and for commitments that sound like a manager's rather than a CNL's. Another frequent gap is leaving out a moment when the writer was wrong, which is often the most convincing evidence of growth. Choose a few episodes, admit your first reaction, let a source explain the shift and end with lateral, observable commitments. If your program asks you to link the journal to specific CNL competencies or Essentials domains, list them in your NUR 684 notes and we will address each naturally. Brief drafts are welcome as a starting point.
Get NUR 684 Module 10 written to your instructions
Share your NUR 684 project, the moments from your immersion that changed how you lead and the journal prompt. The entry you receive will be candid, grounded in those moments and the evidence behind them and closed with commitments that fit the CNL role, within 24 to 48 hours, free the first time. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Southern New Hampshire University document.
More NUR 684 papers and related MSN samples
- NUR 684 Module 1 Discussion: What a Clinical Nurse Leader Adds
- NUR 684 Module 2 Microsystem Assessment Paper: A 5P Assessment of an Orthopedic and Surgical Unit
- NUR 684 Module 3 Milestone One: Project Proposal on Heel Pressure Injuries
- NUR 684 Module 4 Evidence Paper: Risk Tools and Repositioning Evidence
- NUR 684 Module 5 Milestone Two: Synthesis of Pressure Injury Prevention Bundles
- NUR 684 Module 6 Lateral Integration Paper: Leading Across the Team
- NUR 684 Module 7 Milestone Three: Implementation and Outcomes Management Plan
- NUR 684 Module 8 Business Case Paper: The Business Case for Pressure Injury Prevention
- NUR 684 Module 9 Final Project: The CNL Scholarly Project on Heel Pressure Injuries
- NUR 651 Module 6 Algorithm Governance Paper: Governing Clinical Algorithms
- NUR 531 Module 10 Journal: Leading People Who Do Not Report to You
- NUR 654 Module 3 Milestone One: The External Frame: Regulation and Accreditation
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NUR 684 Module 10 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NUR 684 Module 10 Journal sample?
The entire journal is on this page: a CNL student reflects on uncertain turning evidence, a therapy conflict, SBAR and leading without authority.
What should a CNL capstone reflection include?
Specific moments from the project or immersion, how your view changed, sources that explain the change and commitments that fit a lateral leadership role.
Is the two-hour turning rule evidence-based?
A Cochrane review found too little reliable trial evidence to establish a best turning interval, though repositioning itself remains important.
How is CNL leadership different from charge nurse leadership?
A CNL leads laterally through evidence, data and team routines for a patient population, rather than directing staff during a shift.
Should I include a mistake in my reflection?
Yes. Describing a moment when you were wrong and what changed afterward is often the clearest evidence of growth.