Doctor of Nursing Practice

About This Program

Purpose

Today’s Advanced Practice Registered Nurses need to have forward-thinking clinical expertise and leadership skills at their command to promote the application and implementation of evidence-based practices linked to original scientific research. Accomplishing this goal means linking knowledge about health policy, informatics, and business practices to care of individual clients, families and communities. The Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) at Wilmington University is a terminal degree designed to produce competent advanced nurse clinicians to meet the nation’s increasingly complex health care needs.

Program Competencies

Foundational outcome competencies for the D.N.P. program are derived from The Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice (AACN, 2006). Upon completion of the Doctor in Nursing Practice (D.N.P.), graduates will:

1. Evaluate the scientific underpinnings in clinical practice.
2. Apply organizational and system leadership skills to affect systemic changes in thinking and development of quality improvement activities to improve clinical outcomes.
3. Use analytic methods to critically appraise existing literature and other evidence that translates into the application and evaluation of new science into practice improvements.
4. Appraise and utilize current information systems and technologies to improve health care.
5. Analyze and advocate for health care policies that provide equitable health care and social justice to populations at risk.
6. Function as a collaborative team member to facilitate clinical prevention activities to promote population health.
7. Synthesize and utilize data to promote the highest quality of care.
8. Demonstrate advanced levels of clinical judgment, systems thinking, and accountability in selecting, implementing, and evaluating care.

Program Design

The Doctor of Nursing Practice program is designed to combine theory, practice, and inquiry to enhance students’ interpretation and use of evidence based practice to influence the health care system. Twenty-four credits are designed to build upon graduate nursing education in the areas of population health, quality improvement, and systems leadership, among other key areas. These core courses are delivered in a seven week block format.

The D.N.P. is a rigorous, practice-leadership focused degree. Experiential academic experiences afford students the opportunity to synthesize and utilize theory and research data to promote the highest quality of care at an advanced level of professional nursing practice. Students will complete five hundred (500) self-directed post-graduate experiential scholarship hours aligned with the AACN D.N.P. Essentials. Faculty will provide oversight and guidance while students work one-on-one with an experiential engagement mentor.

The D.N.P. program exists within a framework of professional, academic rigor that culminates with the planning, implementation, and evaluation of a defined doctoral project. The D.N.P. project is nine-credit experiential engagement that is offered over three semesters wherein students work closely with a faculty advisor.

The D.N.P. program is offered 100% online to provide the most flexibility for students. However, three optional synchronous course meetings online via Blackboard Collaborate are available during each course to facilitate student and faculty interaction. There are no on campus residency requirements and students have the option to present their final project virtually or on campus.

 Admission occurs in a cohort format every January and September.

D.N.P. Project

The D.N.P. project highlights the scholarly contribution of doctoral level advanced practice nursing to the ever-changing landscape of health care. Within the framework of evidence-based practice, students identify a pertinent topic to further examine. The project begins in DNP 8000 and culminates with completion in DNP 8002. A majority of the experiential hours are devoted to the doctoral project; however, other courses may incorporate experiential academic engagement hours. The final formal scholarly document details the nature and scope of the project, and requires that students disseminate their findings to the healthcare community. Students are encouraged to individualize their project toward their career focus as a D.N.P.

Doctoral candidacy requires completion of the graduate admission process, a grade point average of 3.0 or greater, and completion of all D.N.P. core courses (24 credit hours). Students will be assigned to a D.N.P. faculty advisor who will serve as the D.N.P. Project Chair, providing guidance and advice throughout the three sequential semesters of project completion. The remaining D.N.P. project team will be mutually agreed upon between the student and faculty advisor.

Qualifications for the Degree

To qualify for the Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) degree, a student must satisfactorily complete the 33-credit post-graduate program. The student must: (1) maintain a minimum 3.0 grade point average, (2) show evidence of dissemination of scholarly work, (3) obtain approval of the student’s D.N.P. project; and (4) successfully complete and present the doctoral project. These requirements must be completed within seven years of matriculation into the program. A petition for reinstatement is necessary if the program is not completed within a seven-year period.

Admission

Please refer to “The Graduate Admissions Process” section for general graduate admission information. For consideration and admission to the Doctor of Nursing Practice program, all applicants must satisfactorily submit the following:

1. Completed Wilmington University graduate (D.N.P.) application accompanied by a non-refundable application fee.
2. Official transcripts from an accredited college or university verifying completion of a bachelor’s and master’s degree which reflect nursing. Send official transcript(s) directly to Wilmington University Graduate Admissions Office from the identified college or university.
3. GPA 3.0 or higher at the graduate level.
4. Copy of a current Professional Resumé or Curriculum Vitae.
5. Proof of current unencumbered RN license, and unencumbered APRN license.
6. One letter of recommendation from a professional colleague or academic professor with a doctorate. Submit the recommendation letter directly to the Office of Graduate Admissions.
7. Submission of a goals statement and response to three prompt questions in the D.N.P. admissions packet.
8. Documentation of Clinical Experience (as defined below):

The D.N.P. is a clinical doctorate requiring 1000 post-baccalaureate clinical hours as delineated in The Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice (AACN, 2006). The 1000 post-baccalaureate clinical hours must be completed in a health care setting prior to doctoral degree conferral.

Five hundred (500) of the 1000 post-baccalaureate clinical hours must be completed prior to enrollment in the D.N.P. program at Wilmington University. The remaining 500 supervised hours will be completed while enrolled in the D.N.P. program.

Therefore, applicants must provide a copy of their current national certification as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse as either a Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Anesthetist, Clinical Nurse Specialist, or Nurse Midwife.