Doctor of Nursing Practice
Nurses in advanced practice roles 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 requires the application of health policy, informatics, population health, and business practices to the care of individuals, families, and communities. The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) is a terminal degree designed to prepare advanced nurses to meet the nation's increasingly complex health care needs.
Program Competencies
Outcome competencies for the DNP program are derived from The Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice (AACN, 2006). Upon completion of the DNP program, graduates will be able to:
1. Evaluate the scientific underpinnings of practice.
2. Apply systems leadership skills to develop and evaluate care delivery approaches while leading quality improvement activities to improve clinical outcomes.
3. Apply clinical scholarship and analytical methods to appraise existing literature and other evidence to determine and implement the best evidence for practice.
4. Appraise information systems technology and patient care technology to transform health care.
5. Serve as a health care policy advocate by critically analyzing health policy proposals, health policies, and related issues.
6. Lead inter-professional teams in the analysis of complex practice and organizational issues to improve patient and population health outcomes.
7. Synthesize and utilize individual, aggregate, and population 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 Information
WilmU's DNP program delivers an innovative curriculum emphasizing healthcare engineering and interdisciplinary collaboration among clinicians, educators, health systems, community leaders, and policy makers. Students learn to utilize both theory and evidence-based data to promote the highest level of professional practice.
To best serve working nurse professionals, WilmU offers flexible schedules that enable students to balance work, personal, and educational commitments. The DNP program can be completed full-time in 20 months (5 semesters), culminating with a 9-credit, year-long, evidence-based doctoral project. Core courses are offered two at a time in 7-week blocks. DNP project courses are offered in 15-week semesters.
Students may also wish to complete the DNP program part-time in 28 months (7 semesters), culminating with a 9-credit, year-long, evidence-based doctoral project. Core courses are offered one at a time in 7-week blocks. DNP project courses are offered in 15-week semesters.
The DNP program is offered in two formats: (1)100% online to provide the most flexibility for students. However, two optional online synchronous course meetings are offered 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 doctoral project virtually or on campus. (2) Hybrid with weekend intensives at the Brandywine campus in Wilmington, Delaware. The hybrid option requires one weekend of on-site classes per semester.
Online cohorts begin every Spring, Summer and Fall. Weekend intensive hybrid cohorts begin every Fall and Spring.
Students must earn a B or better in all DNP courses, maintain a 3.0 GPA or higher, and complete all degree requirements within seven (7) years. If less than a B is earned in a DNP course, students may re-take the course one (1) time and a maximum of two (2) courses may be repeated. Continuous enrollment is required during the DNP Project phase of the program (DNP 8000, DNP 8001, DNP 8002 and DNP 8004 as needed).
DNP Project
The DNP program exists within a framework of professional, academic rigor that requires planning, implementing, and evaluating an evidence-based doctoral project. The DNP Project highlights the scholarly contribution of DNP-prepared nurses to the ever-changing health care landscape. Within the framework of evidence-based practice, students identify a pertinent topic to further study, most commonly within their workplace. 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 do incorporate experiential academic engagement hours. The final project manuscript details the nature and scope of the project, and students are required to disseminate their findings to the health care community. Students are encouraged to individualize their project toward their career focus as a DNP-prepared nurse and will be assigned to a DNP faculty advisor who will serve as the DNP Project Chair, providing guidance throughout the three sequential semesters of project completion. The DNP Project Team will be mutually agreed upon between the student and faculty advisor.
Advanced Practice Concentration
Admission Requirements
Interested candidates must have a master's degree with current national board certification as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN).
Experiential Engagement Hours
The DNP is a rigorous, practice-leadership focused degree. Experiential engagement 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 currently licensed as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse will complete five hundred (500) experiential engagement hours aligned with the AACN DNP Essentials (2006). Doctoral faculty will provide oversight and guidance while students work closely with an experiential engagement mentor.
Course Requirements
The DNP curriculum builds upon master's preparation for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses. Students will complete core courses taught by scholar practitioners in preparation for a year-long DNP Project designed to bridge the gap between original research and clinical practice. Advanced Practice Registered Nurses are required to complete 33 credits and 500 experiential engagement hours.
DNP Core Courses
| DNP 7000 | Bioethics for Advanced Nursing Practice | 3 |
| DNP 7101 | Epidemiology for Advanced Nursing Practice | 3 |
| DNP 7103 | Population Health (20 experiential engagement hours) | 3 |
| DNP 7104 | Politics and Policy in the Healthcare System | 3 |
| DNP 7105 | Healthcare Economics and the Business of Practice | 3 |
| DNP 7106 | Healthcare Informatics | 3 |
| DNP 7107 | Applied Evidence-Based Practice | 3 |
| DNP 7108 | Quality Improvement in Healthcare (35 experiential engagement hours) | 3 |
DNP Project Courses
| DNP 8000 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Project I (145 experiential engagement hours) | 3 |
| DNP 8001 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Project II (150 experiential engagement hours) | 3 |
| DNP 8002 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Project III (150 experiential engagement hours) | 3 |
Leadership Concentration
Admission Requirements
Interested candidates must have a master’s degree in nursing or a related field and be actively employed in an area of advanced nursing practice (i.e. informatics, executive leadership, health policy, or population health). National board certification (i.e. NE-BC, NEA-BC, CNML, CPHIMS) for nurse leaders is recommended, but not required.
Experiential Engagement Hours
The DNP is a rigorous, practice-leadership focused degree. Experiential engagement 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. Leadership students will complete one thousand (1,000) experiential engagement hours aligned with the AACN DNP Essentials (2006) and AONL Nurse Executive Competencies (2015). Doctoral faculty will provide oversight and guidance while students work closely with an experiential engagement mentor.
Course Requirements
The DNP curriculum builds upon master's preparation for nurses prepared in an advanced nursing practice specialty. All students take eight (8) core courses and four (4) experiential engagement courses taught by scholar practitioners in preparation for a year-long DNP project designed to bridge the gap between original research and clinical practice. Nurse Leaders are required to complete 45 credits and 1,000 experiential engagement hours.
DNP Core Courses
| DNP 7000 | Bioethics for Advanced Nursing Practice | 3 |
| DNP 7101 | Epidemiology for Advanced Nursing Practice | 3 |
| DNP 7103 | Population Health (20 experiential engagement hours) | 3 |
| DNP 7104 | Politics and Policy in the Healthcare System | 3 |
| DNP 7105 | Healthcare Economics and the Business of Practice | 3 |
| DNP 7106 | Healthcare Informatics | 3 |
| DNP 7107 | Applied Evidence-Based Practice | 3 |
| DNP 7108 | Quality Improvement in Healthcare (35 experiential engagement hours) | 3 |
DNP Project Courses
| DNP 8000 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Project I (145 experiential engagement hours) | 3 |
| DNP 8001 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Project II (150 experiential engagement hours) | 3 |
| DNP 8002 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Project III (150 experiential engagement hours) | 3 |
Experiential Engagement Courses
| DNP 9001 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Experiential Engagement I (125 experiential engagement hours) | 3 |
| DNP 9002 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Experiential Engagement II (125 experiential engagement hours) | 3 |
| DNP 9003 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Experiential Engagement III (125 experiential engagement hours) | 3 |
| DNP 9004 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Experiential Engagement IV (125 experiential engagement hours) | 3 |