As the end of the semester approaches and the residency program approaches, you will most likely be assigned a thesis or a capstone project. A common misunderstanding among nursing students is the distinction between a capstone and a thesis in nursing. We've got the answers right here. Most nursing programs, both undergraduate and graduate, require students to complete either a nursing thesis or a capstone project. A thesis project is intended to focus on a broad subject and provide insights to the reader, whereas a capstone project is intended to focus on a specific issue, worry, or problem in the field of nursing. In addition, unlike a thesis, which gives a theory or solution, a capstone paper describes the problem using facts. A capstone project is typically assigned to students ranging from undergraduate to graduate level, but a nursing thesis is exclusively assigned to graduate nursing students. Nursing capstone projects are also more concentrated than theses. One of the reasons is that a capstone project demonstrates knowledge of a topic through a rigorous analytical approach. A thesis paper for nursing, on the other hand, comprises developing hypotheses or research questions, doing research, analyzing data, explaining the findings, and concluding as well as advocating evidence-based practice. Despite their distinctions, nursing thesis and capstone projects both serve as foundations for evidence-based nursing practice.