DNP 751 Week 5 Implementation Plan, Timeline and Resources Example

Reviewed by Lenora Whitcombe, MSN, RN · University of Phoenix · Updated

This DNP 751 Week 5 example writes the implementation plan of a DNP applied project proposal, with its timeline and resources, as a complete APA 7 paper. In the fifth week of University of Phoenix DNP 751 (course code DNP/751, DNP Applied Project II), doctoral nursing students plan how the practice change will actually roll out, week by week, and what it will need. The sample lays out the rollout of a diabetes distress screening pathway at a safety-net clinic across four phases taken from the Iowa sustainability framework, from building interest to sustained use. It names the implementation strategies in each phase, justifies a medical assistant champion with an integrative review of champion research, and plans weekly audit and feedback based on Cochrane evidence. A 24-week timeline, a communication plan, a resource budget and contingency plans complete the DNP section.

CourseDNP 751 DNP Applied Project II (DNP/751)
Week5
Paper typeImplementation plan
Lengthabout 1,088 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references
FormatAPA 7 student paper
SchoolUniversity of Phoenix
ProgramDNP
UpdatedSeptember 2026

Free sample paper for DNP 751 Week 5

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From Launch Week to Week Twelve: An Implementation Plan With Phased Strategies, a Named Champion, Weekly Feedback, a Timeline and a Resource Budget for Diabetes Distress Screening

[Student Name]

University of Phoenix

DNP/751: DNP Applied Project II

Week 5 Assignment: Proposal Section 5 Draft

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The health center, staff and figures are composites written for a model paper.

What this part is doingThe title covers the whole span of the rollout and names its main supports, so the reader can see this is a plan rather than a description.
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Overview

The rollout of the Distress Check and Response pathway will run for 24 weeks: eight weeks of preparation during this course and the start of DNP 752, followed by a 12-week pilot and four weeks of analysis and reporting. Implementation strategies are drawn from the four phases of the Iowa Implementation for Sustainability Framework (Cullen et al., 2022), matched to the step of the rollout where each is most useful. The project lead coordinates all phases; each strategy below has a named owner.

Phase 1: Create Awareness and Interest (Weeks 1 to 3)

The goal is for every staff member at the site to know what diabetes distress is, why the clinic is adding a screen and what will change for them. Strategies: present the site's own figures, including the care managers' log of unprompted comments about diabetes burden, at the monthly all-staff meeting (owner: project lead); share one patient's account, with written permission, in the staff newsletter (owner: nurse practitioner lead); and invite staff to a 20-minute open question session (owner: project lead). Staff questions from this phase will be recorded and answered in writing before training.

Phase 2: Build Knowledge and Commitment (Weeks 4 to 8)

The goal is readiness to deliver the pathway. Strategies: role-specific training sessions for medical assistants, care managers and clinicians (owner: project lead); a printed response guide at each care manager workstation (owner: project lead); a dry run of the tablet form with staff playing patients (owner: electronic health record analyst); and the appointment of a medical assistant champion.

The champion deserves its own explanation. Miech et al. (2018) reviewed 199 articles on champions in health care implementation and found that the term is used for many different roles and is usually studied only as present or absent, with few trials testing its effect. The evidence, in other words, supports champions as a common and plausible strategy but not as a proven one, so this plan defines the champion's tasks precisely and records what the champion actually does, rather than assuming that naming one is enough. The champion will be a medical assistant with at least two years at the site, will receive two hours of protected time a week, and will coach peers at rooming, time 20 visits in each improvement cycle, observe five screening encounters per cycle for fidelity and bring medical assistant concerns to the Friday huddle.

What this part is doingThe champion is justified with evidence that is honest about its limits, and the role is written as tasks with time attached.
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Phase 3: Promote Action and Adoption (Weeks 9 to 20, the Pilot)

The goal is consistent delivery of the pathway at every eligible visit. Strategies: an automatic prompt that opens the full scale after a positive screen (owner: analyst); three Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, the first with one medical assistant and one clinician for a week, the second across all morning clinics, the third across the whole site with phone completion for patients who leave early (owner: project lead); and weekly audit and feedback.

Audit and feedback is the main strategy for keeping screening and follow-up rates high. Ivers et al. (2012) reviewed 140 studies and found that audit and feedback produced a median absolute improvement of 4.3% in desired professional practice, with a wide range and larger effects when baseline performance was low and when feedback was given more than once, in both spoken and written form, with clear targets and an action plan. The plan follows those features. Every Monday the run charts for screening rate, timely follow-up and rooming time will be posted in the staff room and sent by email, with the target line marked. Every Friday a 15-minute huddle will review the week, name one thing to try next and record it in the cycle log.

Phase 4: Pursue Integration and Sustained Use (Weeks 21 to 24 and After)

The goal is for the pathway to become part of the site's routine rather than the project lead's project. Strategies: write the screen into the rooming protocol and the care manager job description (owner: nurse practitioner lead); add the screening and follow-up rates to the monthly quality dashboard (owner: quality coordinator); and present results to the medical director and quality committee for the adoption decision (owner: project lead).

Timeline

Week 1: all-staff presentation. Week 2: newsletter story; analyst begins the form. Week 3: open question session. Week 4: champion named; response guide drafted. Weeks 5 and 6: training sessions; Spanish instruments reviewed by interpreters. Week 7: dry run of the form. Week 8: baseline data extracted; final go or no-go check with the medical director. Week 9: pilot begins with the first cycle. Weeks 10 to 20: second and third cycles, weekly feedback, Friday huddles; repeat full scales from week 17 on. Weeks 21 and 22: final data extraction and analysis. Week 23: results to the quality committee. Week 24: protocol updated; manuscript and poster drafted.

What this part is doingThe timeline gives each week a task, so a reader can check that training finishes before launch and repeat measures fall inside the pilot.
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Communication Plan

Leaders will receive a monthly one-page update with run charts and any decisions needed. Staff will receive the Monday charts and the Friday huddle. Patients will receive a one-sentence explanation from the medical assistant and a short handout on why the clinic asks about the stress of living with diabetes, in English and Spanish. The patient advisory council will hear a summary at its quarterly meeting.

Resources and Budget

Staff time: champion, 2 hours a week for 20 weeks (40 hours); analyst, 6 hours; training, about 12 staff hours in total; care manager follow-up within existing hours. Materials: printed guides and handouts, $200; interpreter review of Spanish instruments, $150; training refreshments, $80. Total direct cost: $430, funded from the site's quality improvement budget. Staff time, valued at about $3,600, is contributed by the health center.

Risks and Contingencies

If the form build is late, paper instruments will be used and entered by the champion. If screening rates stall below 60% after two cycles, the team will test having the front desk hand out the tablet at check-in. If care manager follow-up falls behind, contacts will be ordered by subscale, with high emotional burden first. If the champion leaves, a second medical assistant trained as a backup in Phase 2 will step in.

Summary

The rollout moves through four phases with named strategies and owners, supported by a champion with defined tasks and weekly audit and feedback shaped by evidence. The timeline, budget and contingencies show that the pilot can run inside the next course. The following section describes how it will be evaluated.

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References

Cullen, L., Hanrahan, K., Edmonds, S. W., Reisinger, H. S., & Wagner, M. (2022). Iowa Implementation for Sustainability Framework. Implementation Science, 17, Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-021-01157-5

Ivers, N., Jamtvedt, G., Flottorp, S., Young, J. M., Odgaard-Jensen, J., French, S. D., O'Brien, M. A., Johansen, M., Grimshaw, J., & Oxman, A. D. (2012). Audit and feedback: Effects on professional practice and healthcare outcomes. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2012(6), Article CD000259. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD000259.pub3

Miech, E. J., Rattray, N. A., Flanagan, M. E., Damschroder, L., Schmid, A. A., & Damush, T. M. (2018). Inside help: An integrative review of champions in healthcare-related implementation. SAGE Open Medicine, 6. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050312118773261

What the DNP 751 Week 5 instructions ask

DNP 751 Week 5 usually asks students to write the implementation plan for the DNP applied project. Instructions commonly ask for the steps of implementation in order, the strategies that will support adoption, the roles of the project lead and team, a detailed timeline, the resources required with a budget, and a plan for communication with stakeholders. Many sections also ask for anticipated barriers with contingency plans and for a description of how implementation will be monitored. Some faculty request a Gantt chart or table as an appendix. The section typically runs four to eight pages in the proposal. It should follow logically from the framework and methods sections, so the phases and strategies named here should match those described earlier, and every date should fit the DNP 752 calendar.

How this DNP 751 Week 5 example is built

The plan opens with a one-paragraph overview of the rollout and its four phases. Each phase then gets a section listing its dates, its goal and the named strategies that will be used, with a sentence on why each was chosen. The champion role is described in detail, supported by an integrative review of 199 articles on champions in health care. Weekly audit and feedback, the main strategy for keeping screening rates up, is justified with the Cochrane review showing a median 4.3% absolute improvement in practice and larger gains when baseline performance is low. A timeline follows in prose by week, then a communication plan by audience, a resource budget with dollar figures and staff hours, and a table of risks with contingencies written as sentences.

DNP 751 Week 5 grading rubric: where the points go

Implementation plan rubrics usually reward specificity and feasibility most. Faculty look for steps in a logical order, strategies that are named and linked to evidence, clear roles and a timeline detailed enough to be followed. Resources and budget are often a separate criterion, as is the communication plan. Many rubrics include barriers and contingencies, and some grade alignment with the framework chapter. APA format and scholarly writing complete the grade. Plans that list generic strategies such as education and support, with no dates or owners, tend to lose points, while plans that say who will do what by when, and what happens if it slips, earn the most. Evidence for the chosen strategies adds credit.

DNP 751 Week 5 help: mistakes to avoid

A common problem in DNP 751 Week 5 is a plan that restates the intervention instead of describing how it will be introduced. Focus on the rollout: training, launch, feedback and adjustments. Another mistake is naming strategies with no evidence or owner; say who does each task and why the strategy should work. Students also build timelines that ignore holidays, staff vacations and the course calendar, which leaves the pilot short of weeks. Include a budget even when costs are small, and count staff time. Plan communication for each audience separately, since leaders, staff and patients need different messages. Finally, write contingencies for the two or three most likely problems rather than a long list of unlikely ones.

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DNP 751 Week 5 questions, answered

What does DNP/751 Week 5 usually ask for?

Many sections ask students to write the implementation plan for the DNP applied project, with steps, strategies, roles, a timeline, resources, a budget and a communication plan.

Where can I find a free DNP 751 Week 5 sample paper?

Read the whole Week 5 implementation plan above at no cost; it includes phased strategies, a timeline and a budget with margin notes. A custom plan for your own project is free for the first request.

What is an implementation champion?

A champion is a staff member who promotes the change among peers, answers questions and helps solve problems; reviews show the role is widely used, though studies define and measure it in different ways.

Does audit and feedback improve practice?

A Cochrane review of 140 studies found that audit and feedback produced small but potentially important improvements, with a median absolute increase of 4.3% in desired practice, and larger effects when baseline performance was low.

How detailed should a DNP project timeline be?

Detailed enough to follow week by week during implementation, with each task, owner and deadline, and aligned with the course calendar so the pilot fits inside the final project course.

Write yours, or have the desk draft it

This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official University of Phoenix document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.