| Course | NUR-6320 Nursing Administration Standards and Structures |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 1 |
| Paper type | Scope and standards application |
| Length | About 1,062 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | M.S., Nursing Administration Concentration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NUR 6320 Module 1
One Director, Every Standard: Applying the Nursing Administration Scope and Standards of Practice in a 25-Bed Critical Access Hospital
Student Name
M.S., Nursing Administration Concentration, Thomas Edison State University
NUR-6320: Nursing Administration: Standards and Structures
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
One Director, Every Standard: Applying the Nursing Administration Scope and Standards of Practice in a 25-Bed Critical Access Hospital
In a large health system, nursing administration is divided among a chief nursing officer, directors and managers. In a small rural hospital, it often belongs to one person. This paper applies the nursing administration scope and standards (American Nurses Association, 2016) to that situation: a composite registered nurse newly appointed director of nursing at a 25-bed critical access hospital in rural central Pennsylvania, responsible for the inpatient and swing beds, the emergency department, the infusion clinic and the nursing staff who move between them. It summarizes the scope of nurse administrators' practice, applies the standards of practice and of professional performance to the role, and identifies the director's priorities for the first year.
The Scope of Nursing Administration
The ANA scope and standards describe nurse administrators as registered nurses who lead and manage nursing practice and the environments in which it occurs, at levels from unit manager to executive. Their scope includes planning, organizing, directing and evaluating nursing services, managing human and financial resources, promoting a culture of safety and quality, and representing nursing within the organization and the community. The document applies across settings, and its competencies are written to be scaled to the size and complexity of the organization rather than fixed to a title.
That scaling matters here. The critical access hospital's director of nursing reports to the chief executive officer and sits on the senior leadership team, works shifts in the emergency department when coverage fails, signs the nursing budget and chairs the nursing practice council. The scope of nursing administration in this setting is therefore executive in its decisions and frontline in its demands.
Standards of Practice
The standards of practice follow the nursing process, adapted to administration: assessment, identification of issues, outcomes identification, planning, implementation and evaluation. In the director's first ninety days, assessment means collecting data on staffing, turnover, quality measures, patient experience, budget performance and regulatory findings. The hospital's most recent survey identified gaps in competency documentation for staff floating between the emergency department and inpatient beds, and turnover among registered nurses was above the state average.
Identification of issues and outcomes follows from the data. The director identified three issues: incomplete cross-training records, dependence on agency nurses for night shifts, and lower performance on some quality measures compared with larger hospitals. Joynt et al. (2011) found that critical access hospitals nationally had fewer clinical capabilities, lower performance on process measures and more deaths within thirty days among patients admitted with the three conditions studied than other hospitals, which places the director's quality concerns in a wider context without assuming that this hospital shares every gap. Planning and implementation translate the issues into a one-year plan with named owners, and evaluation sets measures and review dates for each goal.
Standards of Professional Performance
The professional performance standards describe the administrator's conduct and competence. Several stand out in this role. The ethics standard requires the director to advocate for patients and staff, which in a small hospital includes protecting staff from being asked to work beyond their competence when coverage is short. The communication and collaboration standards matter in a setting where nursing, the medical staff, the emergency medical service and the regional referral hospital depend on one another every day. The education standard applies to the director's own learning and to the staff's; the director plans to complete certification in executive nursing practice and to build a cross-training program.
The leadership standard asks administrators to influence and inspire as well as manage. Cummings et al. (2018) pooled 129 studies and reported that leaders who attend to relationships, through support, recognition and shared decisions, tend to have more satisfied nurses, while leadership aimed only at getting tasks done tends to go with lower satisfaction. For a director facing turnover, this evidence supports investing time in staff relationships, recognition and participation in decisions, not only schedules and policies. The resource utilization standard asks the director to use resources responsibly, which here means reducing agency spending by stabilizing the core night staff.
The standards of practice also include evaluation, which the director treats as a habit rather than an annual event. Each goal in the plan carries a measure, a target and a review date, and the director reports progress monthly to the chief executive officer. The standards describe evaluation as a continuous process that feeds back into assessment, so if agency use or turnover does not improve within six months, the director will return to the data and revise the plan instead of waiting for the year to end.
Priorities for the First Year
From this analysis, the director set four priorities. The first is a competency and cross-training program with documented validation for every nurse who floats between departments, completed before the next survey. The second is a retention plan built on the relational leadership evidence, including regular rounding with staff on every shift, a schedule that gives night nurses more predictability and a path into the practice council. The third is a quality plan focused on the measures where the hospital lags, with monthly review by the practice council. The fourth is the director's own development, including peer support from directors at other rural hospitals through the state's critical access network.
Each priority is linked to a standard, which gives the director a way to explain choices to the chief executive officer and the board and a framework for the director's own annual evaluation.
Other professional performance standards apply less visibly but still shape the role. The evidence-based practice standard calls for decisions grounded in research, which in a small hospital often means borrowing evidence from larger settings and judging how well it transfers. The quality standard asks the director to lead improvement, not only report measures, and the environmental health standard reminds the director that staff safety, from workplace violence in the emergency department to safe patient handling on the swing beds, is part of the job.
Conclusion
The nursing administration scope and standards were written for nurse leaders in every setting, and their value in a small rural hospital is that they remind one person carrying many roles what the whole of the job includes. Applied deliberately, they turn a crowded first year into a plan that can be explained, measured and defended.
References
American Nurses Association. (2016). Nursing administration: Scope and standards of practice (2nd ed.). American Nurses Association.
Cummings, G. G., Tate, K., Lee, S., Wong, C. A., Paananen, T., Micaroni, S. P., & Chatterjee, G. E. (2018). Leadership styles and outcome patterns for the nursing workforce and work environment: A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 85, 19-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2018.04.016
Joynt, K. E., Harris, Y., Orav, E. J., & Jha, A. K. (2011). Quality of care and patient outcomes in critical access rural hospitals. JAMA, 306(1), 45-52. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2011.902
What the NUR 6320 Module 1 instructions ask for
NUR-6320 usually opens with the scope and standards of nursing administration, and the first paper may have you summarize the standards, compare them with your current or intended leadership role, conduct a self-assessment, or apply them to an organization you know. Some sections pair the paper with a professional development plan. Check the TESU course site for the edition of the standards required, whether competency frameworks from other bodies must be included, and the length and source expectations. Cite the standards document itself rather than secondary summaries, and keep identifying details of your employer general unless permitted. A short self-rating against each standard, kept in an appendix, is welcome in some sections.
How this NUR 6320 Module 1 example is built
The paper introduces a single role in a small rural hospital and explains why one person holds most administrative work there. The scope section summarizes what nurse administrators do and how the standards scale to the setting. The standards of practice are applied in order to the director's first ninety days, with national data on critical access hospitals framing local quality concerns. The professional performance section selects the standards most relevant to the role and uses systematic review evidence on leadership styles. Four first-year priorities are each tied to a standard, and the conclusion explains the standards' value in a small setting. Each priority is linked to the standard that supports it, which gives the director a way to explain the plan.
Where the marks sit in the NUR 6320 Module 1 rubric
Papers on scope and standards are generally assessed on accurate summary of the standards, application to a specific role or setting, depth of analysis rather than description, use of evidence beyond the standards document, a clear plan or set of priorities, and scholarly writing. Mentors look for each standard to be connected to real tasks or decisions. Citing the standards directly and correctly matters, as does distinguishing standards of practice from standards of professional performance. Papers that show how the standards guide decisions under real constraints, such as small staff or limited budgets, tend to stand out. Graders also notice whether the paper stays within the scope of administration rather than drifting into bedside practice.
NUR 6320 Module 1 help: mistakes that cost marks
This module's papers often go wrong by listing every standard with a one-line definition and no application. Choose a role and show each standard at work. Another problem is confusing the nursing administration standards with the general nursing scope and standards, or with competency frameworks from other organizations; name the source for each idea. Students also ignore setting; a small rural hospital, a large system and a home health agency use the standards differently. Keep your self-assessment honest and specific. The desk can apply the standards to your own role or intended role from your directions. Tie at least one priority to measurable results so the plan can be checked later.
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 Thomas Edison State University 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.
More NUR 6320 and M.S., Nursing Administration Concentration sample papers
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- NUR 6320 Module 5: Leadership and Accountability
- NUR 6320 Module 6: Nursing Services Plan
NUR 6320 Module 1 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NUR 6320 Module 1 sample paper?
An annotated paper applying the nursing administration standards to a critical access hospital director is above. Use its approach of one role and one task per standard for your own setting.
What are the nursing administration standards of practice?
They follow the nursing process adapted for administration: assessment, identification of issues, expected outcomes, planning, implementation and evaluation, used for organizations and nursing services.
How do standards of professional performance differ?
They describe the administrator's conduct and competence, including ethics, communication, collaboration, leadership, education, evidence-based practice, quality and resource use, rather than the steps of practice.
What is a critical access hospital?
A rural hospital with no more than 25 beds and short stays that Medicare pays on a cost basis so isolated communities keep local inpatient care.
Which leadership style is linked to better nurse outcomes?
Across 129 studies in one systematic review, leaders who invested in people saw more satisfied, healthier nursing teams than leaders who managed tasks alone.