Doctor of Nursing Practice and Post-Masters Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate

This dual option provides students the opportunity to earn a Post-Masters Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate and Doctor of Nursing Practice simultaneously. The Post-Masters Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate and Doctor of Nursing Practice combined option provides a solid academic and practical foundation for master’s prepared nurses without current certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner.

Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate

The Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate is designed for nurses who already hold a master’s degree in nursing and offers an educational pathway to specialization as a primary care provider. Upon completion of the Post-Masters Certificate, students will be eligible for Family Nurse Practitioner national certification through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB).

For more information regarding the Post-Masters Certificate Family Nurse Practitioner Program including application deadlines, please refer to: https://www.wilmu.edu/health/family-nurse-practitioner-certificate.aspx

Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree

The Doctor of Nursing Practice program is designed for nurses who hold a master’s degree in nursing and offers an educational pathway to earn the highest clinically focused doctoral degree in nursing. Upon completion of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, students will possess forward thinking clinical and systems leadership skills to promote the application of evidence-based practice to address the nation’s increasingly complex healthcare needs.

For more information regarding the Doctor of Nursing Practice program, please refer to: https://www.wilmu.edu/health/dnp.aspx

Program Information 

Admission, progression, and graduation requirements are a coordinated effort within the College of Health Professions and Natural Sciences graduate and doctoral programs. The combined Post-Masters Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate and Doctor of Nursing Practice program is 63 credits. This includes 30 credits and 500 clinical hours for the Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate and 33 credits and 500 experiential engagement hours for the Doctor of Nursing Practice program. Students will be dual advised by the MSN NP Program Chair and DNP Program Chair.

Specific to the Post-Masters Nurse Practitioner Certificate, three (3) courses (nine (9) credits) may be accepted as transfer credit: MSN 6603: Advanced Pathophysiology, MSN 7702: Advanced Adult Health Assessment, and MSN 7703: Advanced Pharmacology. 

Specific to the Doctor of Nursing Practice program, a maximum of six (6) credits may be transferred for doctoral credit in accordance with the Wilmington University catalog.

Admission Requirements

Students must meet admission requirements for both the Post-Masters Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate as well as the Doctor of Nursing Practice programs.

In addition, this program requires two applications, one to the Post-Masters Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certificate program and one for the Doctor of Nursing Practice program. Acceptance to one program does not guarantee acceptance to the other.