Doctor of Nursing Practice
Doctor of Nursing Practice
The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) is a terminal professional degree representing the highest level of clinical nursing competence. The DNP program is designed to provide students the opportunity to assimilate and utilize in-depth knowledge of nursing, biophysical, psychosocial, analytical and organizational sciences, with sophisticated informatics and decision-making technology to develop collaborative strategies that optimize the health of individuals, families, communities and systems. Grounded in the Mercy and Jesuit traditions, the DNP program emphasizes the student’s development as an expert clinician with strong leadership capacity, a commitment to service, and skills to act as change agents, translating clinical research into improved health care.
The post-master’s DNP curriculum is designed to admit master’s-prepared certified APRNs in the following clinical specialties: nurse anesthetist, nurse practitioner, nurse midwife, and clinical nurse specialist and MSN-prepared nurses in specialty areas such as nurse administration, executive leadership and nursing informatics. The DNP program curriculum is based upon the AACN (2006) Essentials of Doctoral Education.
The DNP builds upon the Master of Science in Nursing degree and requires 36 credits hours. The curriculum includes formative coursework that culminates in a practicum and a doctoral project. The program is offered as a hybrid model. We have an online virtual classroom that also supports student participation from remote locations.
Program Outcomes
- Demonstrate professional role practice consistent with the competencies of the Doctor of Nursing Practice.
- Formulate innovative theoretical and conceptual frameworks that ensure optimal health care quality and patient safety outcomes.
- Translate evidence to produce innovative models of care that integrate informatics, health care technology, and interpersonal collaboration to affect population health, outcomes, and support health care policy initiatives.
- Lead health care systems and policy innovation with a focus on preventative care, quality improvement and patient advocacy.
- Integrate the Mercy and Jesuit traditions in providing culturally competent, compassionate, holistic and person-centered care with a commitment to human dignity in the contemporary world.
Degree Requirements for Doctor of Nursing Practice (36 hours)
| NUR 7000: | Advanced Theory and Knowledge Development for Clinical Nursing Practice (3 Credits) |
| ETH 7010: | Ethical Issues in Advance Nursing Practice (3 Credits) |
| HLH 7100: | Health Care Policy, Economics and the Law in Clinical Practice (3 Credits) |
| NUR 7200: | Epidemiology and Population Health (3 Credits) |
| NUR 7300: | Transformational Leadership and Innovation in Advanced Clinical Practice (3 Credits) |
| NUR 7350: | Business Management to Ensure Quality in Health Care (3 Credits) |
| NUR 7400: | Information Management and Decision Support (3 Credits) |
| NUR 7450: | Advanced Statistics for Clinical Practice (3 Credits) |
| NUR 7500: | Evidence-Based Practice: Theory, Design and Methods (3 Credits) |
| NUR 7800: | Project Proposal Development (3 Credits) |
| NUR 7900: | DNP Practicum and Project Implementation (3 Credits, 1 credit clinical seminar and 2 credits clinical practicum) |
| NUR 7920: | DNP Doctoral Project (3 Credits) |
Non-APRN majors require the above courses plus an additional Organizational Leadership Bridge:
| NUR 5170: | Management and Leadership in Nursing (2 Credits) |
| HLH 5040: | Accounting and Financial Management for Nursing Leadership (4 Credits) |
Graduates of McAuley School of Nursing Post BSN to DNP Program with MSN Requirements (24 credits)
There are post-BSN to DNP programs that include an MSN degree along the way. For students in the post-BSN to DNP program, their MSN curriculum includes DNP Integrated Core courses. The FNP, CNS and NHL majors require the completion of eight additional DNP courses to attain the DNP degree (24 credit hours).
The courses include:
| NUR 7200: | Epidemiology and Population Health (3 credits) |
| NUR 7700: | DNP Transition (3 credits) |
| NUR 7350: | Business Management to Ensure Quality in Health Care (3 credits) |
| NUR 7800: | Project Proposal Development (3 credits) |
| NUR 7450: | Analytics for Evidence-Based Practice (3 credits) |
| NUR 7900: | DNP Practicum and Project Implementation (3 credits) |
| ETH 7010: | Ethical Issues in Advanced Nursing Practice (3 credits) |
| NUR 7920: | DNP Doctoral Project (3 credits) |
CNL majors require the above courses plus an additional Organizational Leadership Bridge:
| NUR 5170: | Management and Leadership in Nursing (2 Credits) |
| HLH 5040: | Accounting and Financial Management for Nursing Leadership (4 Credits) |
Program Requirements
- A Master of Science in Nursing or Nurse Anesthesia from an accredited school** with a graduate degree GPA of 3.2 or higher.RNs with a baccalaureate degree in nursing and a master’s degree in another field could qualify for the DNP program. Each application will be individually assessed to determine courses needed to bridge into the DNP program. This gap analysis will determine what additional courses will be required to ensure they have met the prerequisites necessary for DNP.
- A current unencumbered Michigan Registered Nurse license (or state of residence) and privilege to practice as a registered nurse not limited in any way by an employer.
- National Board Certification in area of clinical specialization if applicable.
- Recognized in Michigan (or state of residence) by the Board of Nursing with specialty certification as an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) if applicable.
- Evidence of current clinical practice.
- Three professional letters of recommendation. Letters of support from doctorally-prepared individuals are preferred, including at least: one professional who can attest to the applicant’s clinical practice performance and one professional who can attest to academic ability, such as the dean or a faculty member from the previous graduate degree program.
- Official transcripts from each institution of higher education.
- A professional portfolio including curriculum vitae/resume and an essay (500-1000 words) addressing the applicant’s goals for doctoral study and focused area of clinical interest for the doctoral project.
- An interview with graduate faculty.
**Applicants may require prerequisite coursework to meet the master’s level essentials in nursing.