Curriculum
DNP Curriculum
The DNP curriculum is based upon the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice. The DNP curriculum will comply with accreditation standards set by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) which ensures the quality and integrity of baccalaureate and graduate programs in nursing.
| First Fall Semester |
First Spring Semester |
| Population Health & Epidemiology (3 credits) |
Evaluation of Health Care Outcomes 1 (5 credits) |
| Foundations of Clinical Scholarship (3 credits) |
Health Care Finance (3 credits) |
| Biostatistics (3 credits) |
Research Utilization Project 1 (3 credits) |
| Semester Total: 9 credits | Semester Total: 11 credits |
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| Summer |
| Utilize feedback from IRB evaluation of research utilization project to prepare for fall implementation. |
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| Second Fall Semester |
Second Spring Semester |
| Evaluation of Health Care Outcomes 2 (3 credits) |
Health Care Policy (3 credits) |
| Leadership & Management of Organizations & Systems (2 credits) |
Education of Diverse Populations (3 credits) |
| Research Utilization Project 2 (5 credits) |
Research Utilization Project 3 (3 credits) |
| Semester Total: 11 credits | Semester Total: 9 credits |
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Course Descriptions
NUR6110 Biostatistics - This course provides students with broad foundational knowledge and skills to apply advanced biostatistical concepts to the evaluation of health outcomes.
NUR6240 Education of Diverse Populations - This course provides an overview and application of various teaching/learning strategies to populations in diverse settings.
NUR6150 Evaluation of Health Care Outcomes 1 - This course will provide students with the knowledge and tools to support, promote, and implement evidence-based practice, to conduct strategic problem analyses, and to develop projects. Students will evaluate models and analyze the implications of model implementation, utilizing various change theories.
NUR6200 Evaluation of Health Care Outcomes 2 - The course will provide students with the tools to evaluate and improve programs, to develop feasible and reliable program evaluation designs, and to analyze variations in patterns and outcomes. The course will emphasize program evaluation for improvement including outcomes, efficiency, resource allocation, and economic viability.
NUR6120 Foundations of Clinical Scholarship - Each student will identify a circumscribed body of literature, and then immerse in the identified literature in order to analyze its strengths and weaknesses, to identify conceptual gaps, and to evaluate proposed strategies. Through literature immersion, the student will also develop a philosophical basis for resolution of a defined population health problem.
NUR6140 Health Care Finance - This course provides students with an overview of health care finance principles such as economic theory, reimbursement issues, and cost/benefit analysis, with application of these principles in various health care financial settings.
NUR6220 Health Care Policy - This course provides students with an in-depth analysis of health policy formation including the socio-political underpinnings and contemporary issues of the US health care system. The course will also focus on the impact of various regulatory systems and the emerging role of the DNP as a leader in health policy design and implementation.
NUR6210 Leadership & Management of Organizations & Systems - This course provides an opportunity for the students to explore evidence-based concepts and leadership and organizational theories and frameworks to be effective leaders at the population, organizational, and system levels. Students will analyze spheres of influence important to the practice environment in the delivery of health care and the role of interprofessional collaboration to achieve optimal health outcomes in complex health care systems.
NUR6100 Population Health & Epidemiology - This course provides the students with knowledge and skills to define and describe population health. Students will examine the implications of various health related states and aggregate data.
NUR6130 Research Utilization Project 1 - This course will assist the student to select a health care problem, and to explore the problem from multiple perspectives. Based on the selection and exploration, the student will identify, adapt or create, and adopt a model that is appropriate for the identified problem. The student will develop a research utilization project with system-wide impact.
NUR6230 Research Utilization Project 2 - This course will facilitate the student’s implementation of an evidence-based model in a research utilization project. The project will incorporate multiple levels of evidence and will employ theories related to change and translations of evidence in its implementation. The project will require sophisticated leadership skills working with diverse groups in implementation.
NUR6250 Research Utilization Project 3 - This course will assist the student in evaluation of the implemented research utilization project. The student will disseminate the project outcomes through written and oral presentations as a part of the translation of evidence process.