DNP 820 Week 1: the Individual Success Plan
The ISP is a negotiated agreement rather than a form, and the section that actually earns marks is the honest account of the challenges you expect and how you would meet them.
Editorial process
Last reviewed · August 15, 2026
A negotiated contract, not a form to complete
Read the word collaboration in the first line, because it changes what this document is. The ISP is an agreement between you and your faculty about what you will deliver, not a form you complete and file, and the plan you write is one your chair may negotiate with rather than simply accept. It covers three programmatic requirements: completion of required practice immersion hours, completion of work associated with the programme competencies, and work toward your Direct Practice Improvement Project. Identify what falls due in this specific course rather than restating the programme, and check the DNP Program Milestones document, since not every course carries a milestone and claiming one that does not exist is an obvious error to a reader who knows the programme. A reader who knows the programme will spot that immediately, and it suggests the document was not checked before submission.
The challenges section is the one that separates a filled-in template from a plan. Vague answers about time management do nothing; specific ones let your chair actually help. Realistic challenges at this stage are concrete — a practice site that has not yet confirmed access, a mentor arrangement that is not settled, a project topic that may not survive the literature search, a shift pattern that makes synchronous meetings hard, and a data source you have not confirmed you can reach. Say what you would do about each, since a challenge with no proposed response is a complaint. Then treat the practice hours seriously: the arithmetic of how many hours you need against how many you can realistically log per week determines whether the plan is achievable, and it is far better to discover a shortfall in week one than in week eight. Complete the contact table and signature, and note that this deliverable goes to the Learner Dissertation Page too.
Likely learning objectives
Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.
- 01Treat a success plan as a negotiated agreement with faculty.
- 02Identify which programme milestones apply to this specific course.
- 03Plan practice immersion hours against a realistic weekly capacity.
- 04State challenges specifically enough for a chair to act on.
Read the full question
Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.
Turn the brief into deliverables
- 01A completed Individual Success Plan document.
- 02Deliverables and milestones identified for this course.
- 03Planned practice experiences and hours per competency.
- 04Expected challenges with proposed responses.
- 05A completed contact table with signature and date, uploaded to both destinations.
Deliverables, milestones, hours, then the challenges
Deliverables for this course
Identify what falls due here rather than restating the programme.
Milestones and competencies
Map planned practice experiences onto the competencies they address.
The hours plan
Set out hours required against hours available per week.
Challenges and responses
Name specific obstacles and what you would do about each.
The documents the plan has to align with
Recommended databases
- DC Network DNP resources
- DNP Program Milestones document
- AACN Essentials
- Typhon
Search sequence
- 1.Read the DNP Program Milestones document before claiming any milestone.
- 2.Check the practice immersion hour requirement for this course specifically.
- 3.Confirm your practice site and mentor arrangements before writing the plan.
- 4.Look at your own Typhon totals to date so the hours arithmetic is real.
Reference shortlist
These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.
Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.
- 01
AACN Essentials
American Association of Colleges of Nursing · 2024
The competency framework the plan maps practice experiences onto.
- 02
Nursing Scope and Standards of Practice
American Nurses Association · 2021
The professional standards behind what counts as an appropriate practice experience.
- 03
Nursing Professional Development Evidence-Based Practice
StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2024
Professional development framing for planning learning against competencies rather than against hours alone.
- 04
Asking Focused Questions
Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, University of Oxford · 2024
The framing discipline your DPI work will need, worth planning time for early.
Review before submission
Common mistakes
- Treating the ISP as a form rather than as a negotiated plan.
- Claiming a milestone that this course does not carry.
- Listing time management as the expected challenge.
- Stating challenges with no proposed response.
- Uploading to the dropbox but not to the Learner Dissertation Page.
Submission checklist
- Have you checked which milestones apply to this course?
- Does the hours plan survive arithmetic against your weekly capacity?
- Is each challenge specific and paired with a response?
- Is the contact table signed and dated?
- Has it gone to both required destinations?
Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read our academic-integrity policy.
Written by
Aaron Bishop
MA, Education
assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines
Aaron leads the EssayCrackers editorial desk. He works on how assignment briefs are read — what a rubric is actually asking for, and where students most often answer a different question than the one set.
Reviewed by
Dr. Nathan Cole
PhD, Rhetoric & Composition
Argumentation and thesis development
Nathan teaches first-year composition and directs a university writing center. He reviews EssayCrackers guides for argumentative soundness and citation accuracy.