Purpose & Structure

The purpose of the DNP degree program in nursing is to prepare nursing leaders for the highest level of clinical nursing practice. The core DNP essentials include translation of research into practice, transformational leadership, and advanced expert nursing practice. To support these essentials, coursework includes nursing/change theory, foundations of advanced nursing practice, health policy, informatics, leadership, and population-based health. The pinnacle experience of the program is an evidence-based scholarly practice project. The goal of the project is to produce an actual, deliverable product that has originated from practice experience. Students will identify a problem and use evidence-based research to develop a proposal to implement and evaluate a practice change initiative. Practice change projects include pilot studies, program evaluations, quality improvement projects, evaluation of new practice models, or consulting projects. Projects may be clinical or systems in nature. The theme that links these forms of scholarly experiences is the use of evidence to improve either practice, patient, or systems outcomes.  

The DNP degree is for nurses with either a bachelor’s degree with a major in nursing or a master’s degree with a major in nursing who plan to continue in a practice role (versus an academic/research role). This degree aligns with national guidelines and organizations that pronounced this degree as the terminal practice degree for all nurse administrators and advanced practice nurses, including nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse midwives, and nurse anesthetists. 

The purpose of the DNP program is to:  

1. Prepare transformational nursing leaders to improve health and healthcare outcomes  

2. Prepare a cadre of highly qualified advanced practice nurses to lead the translation of research into practice and deliver expert nursing care 

3. Fulfill the practice mission of the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing as a unit within the University

The program outcomes for the DNP include the ability to: 

1. Design and evaluate new models of care based on integration of theoretical and empirical knowledge from nursing and related disciplines.

2. Translate evidence to guide practice and improve outcomes of care.

3. Analyze data which predicts and explains variations in practice.

4. Provide inter-professional leadership within an increasingly complex health care delivery system.

5. Prepare leaders to use information systems and technology to support and improve patient care and health care systems.

6. Prepare leaders to direct and deliver high quality, cost-effective care for diverse populations.

7. Shape health policy and systems of health care in the local, regional, state, national, and international forums.

8. Perform independently at the most advanced level of ethical specialty nursing practice.

GCAC-705 English Competence Professional Doctorate

A candidate for a doctoral degree at Penn State is required to demonstrate high-level competence in the use of the English language. This includes reading, writing, and speaking, as part of the language and communication requirements for the doctoral degree. Programs are expected to establish mechanisms for assessing and improving competence of both domestic and international students. Assessments should include pieces of original writing. Programs and advisers should identify any deficiencies before or at the time of the qualifying examination and direct students into appropriate remedial activities. The program must formally attest competence before the doctoral comprehensive examination is scheduled. (International students should note that passage of the minimal TOEFL requirement does not demonstrate the level of competence expected of a doctoral degree from Penn State.) 

The DNP. program of study is built on the DNP Essentials that were developed by the American Association of Ross and Carol Nese Colleges of Nursing and used as a basis for program accreditation.  

The goal for the DNP graduate is to encompass all ten of the DNP Essentials (2021) into routine practice. Practicum hours and the DNP project should align with these elements and competencies: 

• Domain 1: Knowledge for Nursing Practice - Descriptor: Integration, translation, and application of established and evolving disciplinary nursing knowledge and ways of knowing, as well as knowledge from other disciplines, including a foundation in liberal arts and natural and social sciences. This distinguishes the practice of professional nursing and forms the basis for clinical judgment and innovation in nursing practice.

• Domain 2: Person-Centered Care - Descriptor: Person-centered care focuses on the individual within multiple complicated contexts, including family and/or important others. Person-centered care is holistic, individualized, just, respectful, compassionate, coordinated, evidence-based, and developmentally appropriate. Person-centered care builds on a scientific body of knowledge that guides nursing practice regardless of specialty or functional area.

• Domain 3: Population Health - Descriptor: Population health spans the healthcare delivery continuum from public health prevention to disease management of populations and describes collaborative activities with both traditional and non-traditional partnerships from affected communities, public health, industry, academia, health care, local government entities, and others for the improvement of equitable population health outcomes.

• Domain 4: Scholarship for Nursing Discipline - Descriptor: The generation, synthesis, translation, application, and dissemination of nursing knowledge to improve health and transform health care.

• Domain 5: Quality and Safety - Descriptor: Employment of established and emerging principles of safety and improvement science. Quality and safety, as core values of nursing practice, enhance quality and minimize risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performance.

•  Domain 6: Interprofessional Partnerships - Descriptor: Intentional collaboration across professions and with care team members, patients, families, communities, and other stakeholders to optimize care, enhance the healthcare experience, and strengthen outcomes.

• Domain 7: Systems-Based Practice - Descriptor: Responding to and leading within complex systems of health care. Nurses effectively and proactively coordinate resources to provide safe, quality, equitable care to diverse populations.

• Domain 8: Informatics and Healthcare Technologies - Descriptor: Information and communication technologies and informatics processes are used to provide care, gather data, form information to drive decision making, and support professionals as they expand knowledge and wisdom for practice. Informatics processes and technologies are used to manage and improve the delivery of safe, high-quality, and efficient healthcare services in accordance with best practice and professional and regulatory standards.

•  Domain 9: Professionalism - Descriptor: Formation and cultivation of a sustainable professional nursing identity, accountability, perspective, collaborative disposition, and comportment that reflects nursing’s characteristics and values.

• Domain 10: Personal, Professional, and Leadership Development - Descriptor: Participation in activities and self-reflection that foster personal health, resilience, and well-being, lifelong learning, and support the acquisition of nursing expertise and assertion of leadership.

https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Publications/Essentials-2021.pdf

The DNP degree requires a minimum of 38 semester credits beyond the master’s degree, of which a minimum of 30 credits must be earned at Penn State, or a minimum of 55 credits beyond the B.S.N. Graduate credits earned at other institutions may be offered in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the DNP degree. The Director of the DNP program will evaluate courses accepted for transfer credit individually relative to the program requirements and the student’s plan of study. 

The Graduate Faculty of the College of Nursing adopted a policy to ensure that doctoral studies are based on current science and are completed in a timely fashion (Graduate Affairs; March 31, 2014). Under this policy, a DNP student is required to complete the qualifying examination within three semesters of admission. The program must be completed, including acceptance of the project, within five semesters from the date of successful completion of passing the qualifying examination. All coursework must be completed within 5 years of admission to the D.N.P. program. Students must carefully monitor progression in order to meet this limitation. 

GCAC-708 Time Limitations Professional Doctorate

All resident professional doctoral programs require a period of residency to ensure that students acquire the full range of knowledge, skills, and professional attributes specific to their discipline. For more details regarding the number of days students must be present on campus, please refer to the GCAC 701 Residency Requirement for Professional Doctorate Policy. 

Students are expected to attend five days of on-campus residency. This includes orientation at University Park, in-person attendance at the comprehensive exam for Leadership students at University Park, and participation in summer intensives for NP students at Hershey.