DNP - Doctor of Nursing Practice

This course lays the foundation for students to communicate effectively and disseminate knowledge in scholarly formats.

This course will define concepts that prescribe the framework of primary care nursing in advanced practice. Professional and cultural issues unique to the role of the nurse practitioner will be addressed. The nurse practitioner student will begin to build and shape strategies related to the role assimilation, positive and negative role influences, and important health care issues in primary care nursing. Christian perspectives will be integrated throughout the course.

Designed to utilize reflective practice to explore concepts essential to the highest level of nursing practice. Applies theories across disciplines within a philosophical, ethical, and a Christian world view.

Explores various pharmacological agents used to treat common recurrent health problems; indications, contraindications, side, and interactive effects of commonly prescribed drugs. Legal and prescriptive regulations will be considered.

Provides understanding of disease and its treatment as a basis for advanced nursing management of patient care. Major disease entities will be examined.

Explore the knowledge base and skills necessary to become a systems and organizational leader. Examine the relationship of complexity and systems to organizational decision making, practice roles, quality, and leadership.

This course provides a focused study of the assessment and prescribing parameters of pharmacologic interventions commonly used to manage neurobiopathology.

This course explores how the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner applies clinical judgment to inform practice. Emphasis is on processing client information in a systematic manner.

Provides a strategic view of population health management to improve healthcare outcomes beyond the individual to encompass global communities. Social determinants of health will be examined to minimize the impact of illness on various populations. Students will incorporate an evidence-based approach to care for multicultural communities.

Introduces the basics of epidemiology to assist DNP nurses to better understand, characterize, and promote health at the population level.

Examine leadership skills utilized in information management to establish an effective ethical organizational culture. Information technologies and how they can best be utilized to impact the healthcare environment will be explored. Analysis of the knowledge base and advanced skills required in healthcare information evaluation will be a focus.

This course enhances the knowledge and skills necessary to perform health assessment across the lifespan with emphasis on the assessment and evaluation of symptom sets associated with psychiatric mental health conditions. (75 practicum hours required)

This course will provide students with the knowledge and skills for clinical decision-making necessary to conduct a culturally sensitive advanced health assessment for clients across the lifespan. Emphasis is placed on advanced techniques in interviewing, history taking, and physical examination. The course will focus on normal versus abnormal findings and interpretation of diagnostic tests.

This course will teach students to complete comprehensive health assessments, develop differential diagnoses, order and interpret diagnostic testing, and document findings. Supervised clinical experiences are required.

This course lays the foundation for students to communicate effectively and disseminate knowledge in scholarly formats.

Designed to prepare the advanced practice student with the theoretical, scientific, and technical foundations required to function as a family nurse practitioner. Emphasis will be placed on health promotion, disease prevention, education, and the diagnosis and management of acute and chronic disease states. Supervised clinical experiences are required.

This is a continuation of theory and clinical practice designed to prepare the advanced practice student to function as a family nurse practitioner. Emphasis will be placed on health promotion, disease prevention, education, and the diagnosis and management of acute and chronic disease states. Supervised clinical experiences are required.

This is the final course of theory and clinical practice designed to prepare the advanced practice student with the theoretical, scientific and technical foundations required to function as a family nurse practitioner. Emphasis will be placed on health promotion, disease prevention, education, and the diagnosis and management of acute and chronic disease states. Supervised clinical experiences are required.

Application of theory to the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner practice. Practicum experiences develop advanced practice nursing skills. Topics explored include health promotion, disease prevention, advocacy, and education of individual patients. (150 practicum hours required)

Designed to strengthen development as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. Practicum experiences guide the student's application of services in a variety of settings. Students incorporate additional strategies for coordinating interprofessional care, expanding their repertoire of modalities, including family and group therapies. (150 practicum hours required)

This course requires the student to demonstrate the ability to function as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. Practicum experiences guide the student to refine skills in assessing, diagnosing, and prescribing interventions for diverse clients with multiple conditions. (150 practicum hours required)

Students demonstrate achievement of the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner outcomes. Students engage in interprofessional simulations and other methodologies designed to demonstrate the knowledge, dispositions, and skills required to be effective in advanced nursing practice. (Onsite intensive)

This course will prepare students to design, develop, and implement projects of change in nursing practice.

This course will provide the knowledge and skills essential for the doctorally prepared nurse to evaluate, translate, and integrate extant knowledge into clinical practice. Students will seek to effect change to the practice environment or the delivery of health. The course includes an onsite residency.

This course will focus on synthesizing the evidence relative to the DNP scholarly project. Emphasis is placed on the scientific underpinnings of practice and the framework to support the project.

This course will assist the student to design project plans for scholarly projects. Emphasis is placed on selection of a design to address the phenomenon of interest. An onsite residency is required for the course.

This course is focused on implementation strategies for scholarly projects. Emphasis is placed on project management. IRB approval for the DNP project is required prior to the start of the course.

This course focuses on the implications for practice of scholarly projects and the dissemination of project findings. This course includes an onsite residency.

This course will introduce the student to the doctorally prepared nurse practitioner role and the knowledge necessary to implement an evidence based change project. Students will begin to develop their practice question that will guide their scholarly project. This course includes an onsite residency.

DNP-810 will enable students to conceptualize practice problems. Students will explore the literature and evidence relative to their selected phenomenon of interest. Emphasis will be placed on the systematic appraisal and utilization of nursing and interprofessional knowledge, theoretical frameworks, project effectiveness, and evidence-based practice. Ethical principles are examined. Students will develop and present a proposal for the DNP scholarly project. (Not open to students with credit in DNP-801, DNP-802 or DNP-803) This course includes an onsite residency.

The emphasis of this course is project management and the leadership skills necessary to impact change in a practice setting. Student work will focus on implementation strategies for the scholarly project. This course serves as a progress checkpoint for project implementation.

DNP-812 focuses on implementation and evaluation strategies for the DNP scholarly project. Emphasis is placed on project management for completion of the project and on leadership skills necessary for translating findings into practice. The course culminates with the dissemination of project findings in a public forum appropriate for the project and a written summary of the project development, implementation and evaluation. (Not open to students with credit in DNP-804 or DNP-805)

This independent study course is designed for students who are unprepared to progress into the next project course. Students will continue working on their DNP Project with an assigned advisor to prepare for the next DNP project course. This course may be repeated as needed in compliance with program completion limits. Students will pay the course tuition and required fees. Graded on a CR/NC basis.

Prepares students to critically analyze and influence the cycle of healthcare policy. Focus will be on leadership in the development and implementation of institutional to international healthcare policy as it relates to healthcare reform and strategic planning.

Provides students the opportunity to develop a comprehensive and engaged understanding of global health issues, social determinants of health, and problems associated with healthcare service provision in resource-constrained and marginalized communities. The graduate student will complete a healthcare project focusing on capacity building in collaboration with a global community. International travel is expected in this course.

Provides students with the opportunity to develop a comprehensive and engaged understanding of global health issues, social determinants of health, and the provision of culturally appropriate healthcare. The course will include best practices in healthcare across cultures and ethical global health engagement.

Focuses on the critical analysis of the allocation, management, and evaluation of healthcare resources along the continuum of practice. Emphasizes the art of stewardship and its relevance to healthy client outcomes.

Building upon the foundation of master's level knowledge, this course provides the basis for the scholarship of evidence-based practice in nursing at the doctoral level. Statistics and research methods will provide tools for predicting and analyzing the application of information from diverse sources to complex practice situations. The student will learn methods of evaluation and dissemination of findings from the translation of evidence into practice to improve outcomes in a practice setting or healthcare organization, and participate in collaborative research.

After completion of the DNP courses, students are required to register for continuation each term until the DNP project is successfully completed and approved and all practice hours are completed. Students will continue working on their DNP Project with an assigned advisor. This course may be taken a maximum of six times. Students will pay the course tuition and required fees to maintain continuous enrollment. Prerequisite: DNP-805 or DNP-812 Graded on a CR/NC basis.