Online Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)Contact Information: • 570-408-4234 (T) • 570-408-7846 (F) • Email
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The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) online program is designed in concert with the mission of the University and the School of Nursing. The goal of the doctoral program is to produce knowledgeable, competent, and clinically proficient advanced practice nurses with the skills and dispositions needed to serve in leadership capacities in their respective fields.
The primary elements of the program are applied research and clinical practice. These two elements are embedded in courses throughout the program with opportunities to apply acquired knowledge and skills to problems and practice in the students' respective fields.
The Doctor of Nursing Practice program is designed as a practice-focused doctoral program to prepare clinical experts in a specialized field. The Doctor of Nursing Practice program will have a common core with three concentrations from which non-advanced nursing practice students may select, if needing a clinical specialty.
These concentrations include:
- Adult-Gerontology
- Psychiatric/Mental Health
- Nurse Executive
Nurses who have completed a master’s degree in advanced-practice nursing must complete 30 credits to earn the DNP. Other master’s prepared nurses without an advanced-practice component will be evaluated on an individual basis for the required number of credits.
Nurses entering the program with a bachelor’s degree must complete 68 to 70 credits, depending on the concentration selected. Students with a bachelor’s degree who enroll part-time will be able to complete the degree in about five years.
Students entering the program with a BSN or non-advanced practice MSN are eligible to take the certification exams for Clinical Nurse Specialists and Advanced Nurse Executive by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) on completion of program requirements.
Students will learn to:
- synthesize nursing science to manage complex health problems and improve health outcomes in advanced nursing practice,
- develop and evaluate knowledge and skills in organizational and systems leadership to improve health care practice and policy,
- critically analyze information technology, research methodology, and quality improvement methodology to implement the best evidence-based practice,
- design and analyze patient care technology and information systems to enhance quality of health care delivery,
- evaluate health care policies to improve health care policy outcomes at the local, state and national levels,
- employ specialized knowledge and leadership skills when collaborating and leading other inter-professional health care teams in complex health care delivery systems,
- analyze health disparities, cultural diversity, environmental and societal needs in the care of individuals, aggregates and populations,
- develop, demonstrate and sustain advanced levels of clinical judgment, systems thinking and accountability to implement and evaluate evidence-based care.
Key Features:
- Online program
- Competitive tuition
- Small, private school
Why a DNP?
According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, all new advanced-practice nurses in the United States will be educated at the doctoral level by 2015. Advanced-practice nurses include nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists and clinical nurse specialists. A DNP will prepare nurses for a professional leadership role in the 21st century.
Commitment to Mentoring
Wilkes University is committed to academic excellence through mentoring, and this devotion extends to the DNP. DNP students will benefit from one-on-one advising.
Accreditation
Wilkes University is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
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