| Course | DNP 899 DNP Project Capstone |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 7 |
| Paper type | Defense slides with speaker notes |
| Length | About 920 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 slide deck with speaker notes |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | DNP |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for DNP 899 Module 7
Asking About the Mother at the Baby's Visit: Defense of a Postpartum Depression Screening DNP Project
Student Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, Aspen University
DNP 899: DNP Project Capstone
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Slide 2: Why Ask About the Mother Here
Up to one mother in five depressed after birth
Mothers see the pediatrician more than their own clinician
Pediatric guidance: screen at 1, 2, 4 and 6 months
Speaker notes: I will start with why a pediatric practice should ask about a mother's mood at all. Reviews estimate that up to about one mother in five experiences depression in the first months after birth (Gavin et al., 2005). In those months, mothers bring their babies to us far more often than they see their own clinicians, and national pediatric guidance calls for screening mothers repeatedly across those early checkups (Earls et al., 2019).
Slide 3: The Gap at Our Practice
Screening documented at 14% of eligible visits
No protocol for a positive screen
No routine way to learn of self-harm risk
Speaker notes: Before the project, screening happened at about one eligible visit in seven, when a clinician thought to ask. There was no agreed step after a positive screen, and nothing that would reliably tell us a mother was at risk of harming herself.
Slide 4: The Aim
Screen at 80% or more of eligible visits
Same-day warm handoff for positive screens
Connect mothers to care within 30 days
Speaker notes: The aim was to screen at four of five eligible visits or more, to get every positive-screening mother in front of our social worker before she left, and to connect her to care within a month.
Slide 5: The Program
Ten-item questionnaire at check-in, English or Spanish
Score 10 or more: same-day social worker
Self-harm item: same-day safety assessment
Nurse call at two weeks
Speaker notes: Medical assistants gave the ten-item questionnaire at check-in. A score of ten or more led to a same-day meeting with the social worker, in person or by video. Any answer on the self-harm item led to a safety assessment before the family left. Our nurse called two weeks later to check on connection to care.
Slide 6: Why a Cut-Off of 10
Sensitivity about 0.85, specificity about 0.84
11 or higher balances the two best
We chose to miss fewer mothers
Speaker notes: The committee asked about the threshold. A large meta-analysis found that a score of ten or higher had sensitivity near eighty-five percent and specificity near eighty-four percent, while eleven or higher balanced the two best (Levis et al., 2020). Because the next step was a conversation rather than a diagnosis, we chose ten.
Slide 7: Screening Reached Mothers
1,042 of 1,212 eligible visits screened: 86%
Up from 14% before
31 mothers declined
Speaker notes: Over sixteen weeks we screened at one thousand and forty-two of one thousand two hundred and twelve eligible visits, eighty-six percent, up from fourteen. Thirty-one mothers declined, most at the one-month visit.
Slide 8: Positive Screens and Handoffs
118 positive screens: 11.3%
81 same-day handoffs
88 connected to care within 30 days: 75%
Speaker notes: One hundred and eighteen screens were positive. Eighty-one mothers met the social worker the same day, and eighty-eight, three in four, were connected to care within thirty days.
Slide 9: Safety
9 mothers marked the self-harm item
All 9 assessed the same day
2 referred for urgent evaluation
Speaker notes: Nine mothers marked the self-harm item. All nine were assessed the same day, and two were referred for urgent psychiatric evaluation. One early delay led us to flag this item before the baby's exam begins.
Slide 10: Rescreening
64 positive mothers rescreened at next visit
Mean score 14.2 to 9.1
34 showed reliable change and fell below 10
Speaker notes: Sixty-four of the mothers who screened positive completed the questionnaire again at the next visit. Their mean fell from about fourteen to about nine, and thirty-four showed a reliable change that took them below the cut-off. These are the mothers who returned, so this is a favorable group.
Slide 11: What I Cannot Claim
No comparison group
Rescreened mothers may differ from others
Scores fall over time for many mothers
One practice, sixteen weeks
Speaker notes: I cannot claim that the program caused mothers to improve. There was no comparison group, the rescreened mothers may have been doing better, and symptoms often ease over the postpartum months. What the project shows most firmly is screening and connection to care.
Slide 12: What It Took
About two minutes of assistant time per screen
About 15 minutes per warm handoff
Nurse follow-up calls: under 10 minutes each
Speaker notes: Leaders asked what the program costs in staff time. Giving and scoring the questionnaire took medical assistants about two minutes per visit. Warm handoffs took the social worker about fifteen minutes each, and the nurse's follow-up calls under ten. Across sixteen weeks that came to roughly seventy staff hours, about half of it medical assistant time spread thinly across many visits, and the social worker's share is the part a practice without one on site must plan for.
Slide 13: What Continues
Screening at all four visits
Video handoffs when the social worker is off site
Toolkit shared with three practices
Speaker notes: The practice has kept the program, offers video handoffs when the social worker is away and has shared a toolkit with the health system's other three practices, one of which starts next quarter.
Slide 14: My Request
Approve the project
Support a measured start at a second practice
Speaker notes: My request is that the committee approve the project and back a measured start at a second practice, so that the two can be compared. Thank you. I would welcome your questions.
References
Earls, M. F., Yogman, M. W., Mattson, G., Rafferty, J., & Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health. (2019). Incorporating recognition and management of perinatal depression into pediatric practice. Pediatrics, 143(1), Article e20183259. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-3259
Gavin, N. I., Gaynes, B. N., Lohr, K. N., Meltzer-Brody, S., Gartlehner, G., & Swinson, T. (2005). Perinatal depression: A systematic review of prevalence and incidence. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 106(5), 1071-1083. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.AOG.0000183597.31630.db
Levis, B., Negeri, Z., Sun, Y., Benedetti, A., & Thombs, B. D. (2020). Accuracy of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) for screening to detect major depression among pregnant and postpartum women: Systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data. BMJ, 371, Article m4022. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m4022
DNP 899 Module 7 instructions, in plain terms
The defense is where DNP 899 ends. Aspen's catalog states that students defend the project, findings and recommendations before the full committee in this course; because the module prompt is restricted to the classroom, this example follows that statement. Expect to prepare slides and speaker notes that fit the time limit and move through the need, aims, methods, results, limits and recommendations. Your chair may give a template or a maximum number of slides. Some programs record the defense or invite site partners. Check the time you have, rehearse aloud and ask a colleague to time you. Ask whether the committee wants handouts, and bring the results table on paper if so.
Inside the DNP 899 Module 7 example
A title slide and thirteen content slides carry about 910 words, with the speaker notes holding most of them. The first slides explain why pediatric offices should screen mothers and describe the practice's gap. The aims slide sets three numeric targets. The program slide describes the four steps after a score. A slide on the cut-off answers a committee question with a meta-analysis. Four results slides report screening, positive screens and handoffs, safety and rescreening. A limits slide states what cannot be claimed. A staff time slide gives minutes per task. The deck closes on what the practice will keep and a request to the committee.
DNP 899 Module 7 rubric: what earns full marks
Defense presentations are graded on structure, clarity and command of the project. Structure follows need, aims, program, results against aims, limits and a request, and the margin notes explain how stating numeric aims early lets the committee judge each result. Clarity comes from slides of three or four short lines with the explanation in the notes. Command is shown by the cut-off slide, which answers a likely question before it is asked, and by the limits slide. Staff time gives leaders what they need to decide on spread. The final marks cover citations in the notes and a reference slide in APA format. A slide on staff time also shows that the student understands what spreading the program would require.
DNP 899 Module 7 help: mistakes that cost marks
The most common defense mistake is too much text on slides, read aloud. Keep slides short and speak to the committee. Students also present results without reminding the audience of the aims; put targets on an early slide. Another frequent gap is failing to address a choice the committee has already questioned, such as a threshold or comparison. Give it a slide. Some decks end with a thank-you and nothing to decide; end with a request. Finally, rehearse the limits slide until you can deliver it calmly, since how you talk about weaknesses often shapes the committee's view more than the results themselves. Prepare one sentence for each slide that you could say if the projector failed.
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 Aspen 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 DNP 899 and DNP sample papers
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- DNP 899 Module 4: The Project as Scholarship
- DNP 899 Module 5: Leadership Development: Decisions and Conflicts
- DNP 899 Module 6: A Toolkit for the Organization and a Brief for the Profession
- DNP 899 Module 8: Final Reflection on Growth
- DNP 840 Module 7: Variance Analysis and Benchmarking
- DNP 835 Module 4: Project Charter, WBS and Timeline
- DNP880 Module 4: IRB and QI Determination
- DNP 851B Module 7: Recommendations for Practice and Future Work
DNP 899 Module 7 questions, answered
What does DNP 899 Module 7 usually ask for?
Aspen's DNP 899 description says students defend the project before the full committee, so the defense presentation with speaker notes is a typical assignment. Check your classroom for the prompt and time limit.
How should a DNP capstone defense be organized?
Need, aims, intervention, key methods choices, results against the aims, limits, what continues and a request, with one idea per slide and details in the speaker notes.
Should the defense include a slide on limitations?
Yes. A dedicated slide that states what the design cannot show, before questions begin, shows command of the project and usually shortens questioning on that point.
Where can I find a free DNP 899 Module 7 sample paper?
This page presents the complete defense slides and speaker notes with annotations, free to read. It is the seventh DNP 899 sample and draws on the earlier papers about the maternal depression screening capstone.
How many slides does a DNP 899 Module 7 defense need?
Usually 12 to 15 for a 15 to 20 minute defense, with one idea per slide and the explanation in your notes. Include slides on aims, limits and a closing request.