| Course | NURS 6001 Foundations of Graduate Study |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 1 |
| Paper type | Academic network roster |
| Length | About 570 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NURS 6001 Week 1
Academic and Professional Network Roster for MSN Study
Student Name
College of Nursing, Walden University
NURS 6001: Foundations of Graduate Study
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Academic and Professional Network Roster for MSN Study
Graduate study adds roughly 15 to 20 hours a week to a full-time nursing schedule, and the people around me will absorb some of that load whether I plan for it or not. This roster plans for it. Jeffreys (2022) describes nursing student persistence as shaped not only by academic ability but by factors outside the classroom, such as work hours and family responsibilities, and by professional integration, such as advisement and peer support. Table 1 names six supports by role, what each offers, how I will reach them and when I will first use them.
Table 1
Support Network by Role
| Role | Support offered | Channel | First use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academic advisor | Program of study, registration, policy questions | Advising portal and scheduled phone appointments | Week 2: confirm course sequence through the first practicum term |
| Library nursing liaison | Database searching, finding full text, search strategy review | Library chat and a booked research consultation | Week 3: review of my first search strategy |
| Writing Center | Paper reviews, APA guidance, paragraph structure | Online appointment and recorded webinars | Week 5: review of my first graded paper draft |
| Nurse manager | Schedule requests and predictable shifts in exam and due-date weeks | Monthly one-to-one meeting | Week 1: request fixed shifts for the term |
| Colleague with an MSN | Practical advice on workload and course expectations | Coffee after shared shifts; text | Week 2: talk through time management |
| Spouse at home | Evening childcare and protected study time | Weekly Sunday planning conversation | Week 1: agree on two protected evenings a week |
Why Each Support
Academic advisor. I chose the advisor over relying on the online program guide because the guide cannot tell me how a transfer credit or a leave of absence would change my sequence. One conversation early prevents a late surprise.
Library nursing liaison. My last academic searching was during my BSN, and databases have changed. The liaison offers a review of a search strategy, which is more useful than general tutorials because it starts from my actual question (Walden University Library, n.d.).
Writing Center. The Writing Center offers paper reviews and APA guidance built around graduate writing expectations (Walden University Writing Center, n.d.). I chose it over asking a colleague to proofread because I need to learn the rules, not only have errors fixed.
Nurse manager. My schedule is the single biggest threat to my study time. A predictable pattern of shifts in the weeks when papers are due is worth more than any study technique, and only my manager can grant it.
Colleague with an MSN. She finished her degree two years ago while working full time. I chose her over an online forum because she knows both the program and our unit's workload.
Spouse. Evening study is impossible without someone else handling bedtime for our children. Naming this support in the plan, and agreeing on specific evenings, makes the arrangement explicit rather than a favor asked every week.
The Gap
The network has one clear gap: a mentor in my intended specialty, adult-gerontology primary care. No one in my current workplace practices in that role. I will fill the gap in two ways. First, I will ask my advisor whether the program can connect me with an alumnus in the specialty. Second, by Week 6 I will take out a student membership in our state's nurse practitioner organization and attend one of its regional meetings, where I can meet practicing nurse practitioners before I need a preceptor.
References
Jeffreys, M. R. (2022). Nursing Universal Retention and Success (NURS) model: A holistic, discipline-focused framework. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 24(3), 650-675. https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025120939254
Walden University Library. (n.d.). Library home. https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/library
Walden University Writing Center. (n.d.). Writing Center home. https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter
Reading the NURS 6001 Week 1 instructions
The first NURS 6001 assignment typically asks you to identify the academic and professional supports you will rely on in graduate study. You list each support, say what it provides, connect it to your own obstacles and identify any gap. Faculty reward specificity and the link between support and obstacle. Cite a model of student success in APA 7. Real names are not needed; roles are enough. Family members can count when they provide concrete help. This section often feeds later parts of a success plan. NURS 6001 faculty want each support listed with the help it gives, such as the Writing Center for draft review or a charge nurse who can flex shifts, and the obstacle it answers.
How this NURS 6001 Week 1 example is built
On the page it is a table first and prose second. Six rows, one per support: the academic advisor, the Walden library's nursing liaison, the Writing Center, a nurse manager who controls the schedule, a colleague already holding an MSN, and a person at home who absorbs the evenings graduate study takes. Columns give the role, the support it offers, the channel for reaching it and the first week it will be used. No personal names appear; roles stand in, which keeps the sample transferable and keeps anyone real out of it. Under the table, one short paragraph per row explains why that support was chosen over an alternative. A final paragraph admits the gap in the network, usually a mentor in the chosen specialty, and says how it will be filled.
Where the marks sit in the NURS 6001 Week 1 rubric
Two rows usually carry a Week 1 roster: specificity about what each support provides, and a clear link between that support and the author's own obstacles. Concrete requests settle the first: the example names one per row, a database orientation, a draft review, a schedule change, rather than the word help. It satisfies the second by opening with the author's likely difficulties, working full time and returning to academic writing after years away, and matching supports to them. Credit drains away when a roster reads like a list copied from the orientation page, with every Walden office included and none explained. Rosters that omit workplace and home supports lose on scope, because the rubric usually asks for both academic and professional contacts. A short APA-formatted reference to any Walden resource page cited costs little and is often skipped.
NURS 6001 Week 1 help: mistakes that cost marks
Rosters lose credit when supports are listed without what they provide, such as "my family." Say what each one does for your study. Another common gap is skipping your own obstacles. Name them so supports can match. Writers also forget the gap. State the missing support and your plan to add it. Avoid listing every university office. Choose the ones you will actually use. Cite the retention model. Keep roles rather than names. Close with the first support you will contact this week. Writers also forget online supports such as the library chat. Mention one. Another frequent slip is a gap with no plan. Name the fix.
Get a NURS 6001 Week 1 example written to your instructions
Paste in the Week 1 instructions and whatever rubric your section attached, and add a line about your shifts and your specialty. The desk builds a roster around your real obstacles instead of this invented nurse's. Your first sample is free, delivered within 24 to 48 hours, with every support named by role so you can drop in your own contacts.
More NURS 6001 papers and MSN samples
- NURS 6001 Week 2: Paraphrase Comparison Set
- NURS 6001 Week 3: Boolean Search Trail
- NURS 6001 Week 4: Scholarly Source Screen
- NURS 6001 Week 5: Research Article Pair Analysis
- NURS 6001 Week 6: APA Reference Repair
- NURS 6001 Week 7: Study Time Budget
- NURS 6001 Week 8: Scholarly Paragraph Rebuild
- NURS 6001 Week 9: Three-Source Synthesis
- NURS 6001 Week 10: Program Milestone Map
- NURS 6001 Week 11: MSN Success Plan
- NURS 6002 Week 1: Practice History Narrative
- DNRS 6521 Week 1: Discussion Post
- NURS 6050 Week 1: Policy Agenda Post
- DNRS 6501 Week 1: Discussion Post
NURS 6001 Week 1 questions, answered
Does the roster in the example use real names?
No. Every entry is a role, never a person, because a sample travels and colleagues should not. Your own submission may need names if your instructor asks for them, and adding them is a two-minute job once the structure exists. The roles in the example are chosen to match offices every Walden MSN section can reach, so none of the rows is hypothetical.
Can a family member count as part of an academic network?
Usually yes, and the example includes one for a reason. Graduate study competes with shifts and household time, and a support that protects study hours is doing real academic work. What a rubric may not accept is a family member listed with no explanation. The example ties the home support to a specific need, protected evenings before deadlines, which is what turns it into a defensible entry.
How does this section connect to the later weeks of the plan?
The roster is the first section of a success plan that grows through the term. Later sections on resources, research analysis and time planning refer back to it, and the final assembled plan revises it. That is why the example ends on the gap paragraph: it gives the next section something to answer, and it gives you an obvious place to update the roster when your supports change.
Where can I find a free NURS 6001 Week 1 sample paper?
The MSN network roster is on this page with academic and professional supports, why each matters and the gap in the network.
How many extra hours does NURS 6001 Week 1 plan for?
About 15 to 20 hours a week that graduate study adds to a full-time nursing schedule.