The Nursing Honors Program

The honors program is a 3-semester program for ambitious nursing students to focus additional studies in an area of significance to nursing. In conjunction with a faculty mentor, students will plan, carry out, and write about an honors thesis project. Nursing Honors students will stand out from peers on graduate school and job applications with a transcript that states “With Honors.

Application Process and Eligibility

Students who have earned an overall 3.7 cumulative grade point average (GPA) and a 3.6 GPA in nursing courses after their sophomore year are eligible to apply for the program in the fall of junior year. An information session will be held in fall for interested students. To apply for the Nursing Honors Program, students need to submit: 1) a 500-word personal statement that includes why they are interested in taking part in the honors program and a brief overview of their preliminary ideas for the honors project (research or evidence-based practice project) and 2) a completed recommendation form from a faculty member. Applications should be submitted by 11:59 pm on Oct. 15 to the Director of the Honors Program, Dr. Melanie Turk, at turkmFREEDUQUESNE. Applicants will be reviewed for eligibility based on the quality of the application materials. Notifications of acceptance into the program will be sent by Dec. 1.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about the Nursing Honors Program

The Honors Program takes place in three semesters—spring of junior year, fall of senior year and spring of senior year. Students work with 1-2 other honors students and their faculty mentor to develop their ideas about their Honors Project. Projects should demonstrate evidence of critical thinking related to a clinical problem in nursing and may take the form of either an evidence-based practice project or an original research project. In the first semester, students work with their faculty mentor to decide on a topic for the project and begin to search the literature. During the second semester (fall of senior year), students work with the faculty mentor to carry out the project and begin to analyze the collected data. The final semester (Senior Elective- Honors) is when the student writes the Honors Thesis paper and presents the project at the University Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium.
The faculty mentor will guide you through the development and completion of your Honors Thesis project. This process involves regular meetings and feedback to guide and evaluate your work. Students will register for a 0-credit elective during the spring of their junior year to work with the faculty mentor on project development and a 0-credit elective during fall of senior year for project implementation. The 3-credit senior elective will be taken with the faculty mentor in the spring of senior year and fills the requirement for a writing-intensive course. The faculty mentor determines satisfactory completion of the honors project, thesis paper, and presentation.
With the guidance of their faculty mentor, nursing honors students will complete an Honors Thesis describing the evidence-based practice project or research project that they completed. Students will write their thesis paper in the format of a publishable manuscript under the supervision of their faculty mentor. Students will work with their faculty mentor to select a journal for publication of the thesis.

Honors students will submit an abstract of their project to the University Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium for poster or podium presentation in the spring of their senior year. Students selected for poster presentation will prepare a poster and be available by their poster during the scheduled sessions to explain their work and respond to questions. Students selected for podium presentation will give a brief oral presentation of their project and respond to audience questions. Faculty mentors will assist with the preparation of abstracts and the development of either the poster or podium presentation.

Contact

For questions and applications, please contact Dr. Melanie Turk.

Dr. Melanie Turk

Associate Professor and Director of the Nursing Honors Program

School of Nursing

Dr. Melanie Turk