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Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

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Walsh’s DNP curriculum builds on traditional master's programs by providing education in evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and systems leadership, among other key areas. The online, e-learning format allows students to complete the requirements for the DNP with relative ease and on their own schedule. Faculty and support staff are available to help students through each step of the journey. Each student is challenged to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to meet client needs in a variety of health care settings.

Program Philosophy

The Nursing Graduate Programs at Walsh University prepares advanced generalist nurses to assume leadership positions in a variety of roles. We believe that it is the responsibility of the faculty to provide an environment that stimulates the learner to think critically, communicate effectively and act compassionately. We hold to the ideal of providing quality care to clients and fulfilling our responsibility as a contributing members of the profession and society.

Program Outcomes

The goal of the DNP program is to prepare graduates that are leaders in nursing practice. As a graduate of the DNP program the student will be able to:

Practice at the highest level of clinical nursing by integrating and applying knowledge from the sciences within the fields of organizational management, ethics, health policy, and information technology.
Demonstrate leadership skills in organizational and health systems management to improve the safety and quality of health care
Apply analytical skills and translational science methodologies to practice-focused scholarship
Provide leadership in interdisciplinary collaborative teams to improve health outcomes for individuals, populations, and systems
Utilize strategies of risk reduction, illness prevention, health promotion, and health maintenance for individuals and populations
Develop skill in the analysis and shaping of health care policy that shapes health
Demonstrate skill in the application of ethical decision-making frameworks to resolve ethical dilemmas

Degree Requirements

The DNP program consists of a minimum of 38 credits beyond the master’s-level specialty content. The core and research courses are taken by all students. After completing the core and research courses, students move into specialty content that will support the completion of the practicum and residency project.

Core Courses (9 Credit Hours)

NURS 701	Nursing Science in Advance Practice: Theories & Foundations	3
NURS 706	Health Care Policy, Organization, and Financing	3
NURS 718	Health Informatics (30 clinical hours)	3

Research Courses (11 Credit Hours)

NURS 702	Advanced Clinical Nursing Research	3
NURS 703	Biostatistics for Outcomes Evaluation	3
NURS 705	Applications of Epidemiology to Health Services	3
NURS 708	Translating Evidence to Clinical Practice	2

Specialty Content Courses (9 Credit Hours)

NURS 710	Nursing Leadership Role & Ethics in Complex Health Care Systems	3
NURS 721	Management for Quality Improvement & Health Care Outcomes Evaluation	3
NURS 720	Organizational System Analysis and Design (150 clinical hours)	3-4(^)
	OR
NURS 725	Advanced Leadership in Clinical Practice (150 clinical hours)	3-4(^)

Capstone Project Courses

NURS 730	Residency Practicum (210 clinical hours)	6-10(*^)
NURS 731	DNP Scholarly Project (150 clinical hours)	1-4

Total Credit hours^: 38-45

Total Clinical Hours: 540*

*^Depending on the number of clinical hours that a student had in their master’s degree program, some students may require an additional number of clinical practice hours post masters to reach the minimum number of hours mandated by the AACN for a DNP degree. AACN requires the DNP graduate to have a minimum of 1000 clinical practicum hours post-baccalaureate.

Registration Procedures

Students who are fully admitted to the program may register by one of the following methods:

Graduate students may register on-line via the Walsh University Cavalier Center (www.walsh.edu.) To register on-line, the student must obtain an alternate PIN from their assigned academic advisor and resolve any holds that may prevent registration.
Obtain a form from the website (www.walsh.edu ). Click on "Academics" then "Office of the Registrar" then "Forms" to find the Graduate Registration Form. Download a copy and fax (330) 490-7372, mail or present the completed form to the Registrar’s Office (located in Farrell Hall).

Academic Advising

Upon admission to the DNP program, the student is assigned to an initial graduate faculty member who will then work with the student to develop a plan that will allow the student to progress through the program as efficiently as possible. Students are encouraged to meet with their advisors prior to registration each semester to confirm their program plan. Upon development of the DNP Proposal, students are then assigned to an advisor who will work with them throughout the program on the DNP Scholarly project.

Maintaining Quality and Rigor in the Walsh DNP program

The DNP Essentials provides the guidelines regarding the quality and rigor of the DNP curriculum, particularly in comparison to the master’s advanced generalist programs.

According to the AACN DNP Roadmap Task Force Report, (October 20, 2006) Quality and rigor in DNP programs requires that the curriculum focuses on "providing leadership for evidence-based practice. This requires competence in translating research in practice, evaluating evidence, applying research in decision-making, and implementing viable clinical innovations to change practice. Considerable emphasis is placed on a population perspective, how to obtain assessment data on populations or cohorts, how to use data to make programmatic decisions, and program evaluation."

The post master’s DNP curriculum is designed to include the higher level and expanded content defined in the DNP Essentials. However, consideration will also be given to the variability that exists in master’s level nursing programs. Therefore, faculty will need to assess each candidate’s previous educational program to determine the unique learning experiences required to meet the end-of-program competencies.

The rigor and academic content of the doctoral degree program is progressively more advanced than the master program as is demonstrated in program learning outcomes and course syllabi, as well as the depth and breadth of assignments found in the courses. In addition, courses are evaluated using a rubric from "Quality Matters" a program intended to provide guidelines for maintaining quality of online courses. At Walsh, the committee that utilizes the rubric is made up of faculty both inside and outside the discipline. Nursing committee members evaluate the courses in the master’s and doctoral program regarding the content and whether the material is appropriate for the level of course.

Doctoral Project Requirements

All Walsh Division of Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students must complete a DNP Scholarly project. The project is a faculty-guided scholarly experience that provides evidence of your critical thinking ability to apply research principles through problem identification, proposal development, implementation, and evaluation of a problem significant to nursing practice.

Prior to starting any project you must complete the Human Subjects Review Board. Specific links for this training are as follows (all links and information can be found on our website at http://www.walsh.edu/human-subjects-review.):

The project committee requires a minimum of three members. The Project committee chair must be a doctorally prepared faculty member in the Division of Nursing. One committee member must be external to the Division of Nursing. Committee members should have a minimum of a Master’s degree with appropriate expertise in the topic area, e.g. clinical experts, business, or budget experts. Students must submit the names of committee members to their faculty project chairperson for approval then fill out the Project Approval form.

The Project Proposal should include a needs assessment, rationale, and problem statement for the project. The project should also include the following:

Scope of Project: Introduction, Goals and Objectives, Problem Identification.
Review of literature as to why this project is significant to nursing. Must be synthesis and analysis of research, not summary.
Projected timetable.
Project methods.
Project implementation including resources needed and plan to obtain needed resources; letters of support to implement project at proposed setting.
Evaluation/outcome plan actual and predicted implications and conclusions.

Steps 1-5 are written in support of the project. These must be completed before the project approval meeting is set by the candidate.

Formal implementation of the project may not begin until HSR approval is obtained from Walsh University and setting of project. In addition, a candidate must also (where/when appropriate) have a completed project approval form on file at Walsh University School of Nursing office.

The project should be in American Psychological Association (APA) format and adhere to the most recent edition.

Students will follow the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s (AACN) DNP Essentials for "Clinical Scholarship and Analytical Methods for Evidenced-Based Practice" http://www.aacn.nche.edu/DNP/pdf/Essentials.pdf.

Interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches are encouraged.

The project proposal should not exceed 15 pages double-spaced exclusive of table of contents, references, and appendices. Detailed information is found in the Graduate Student Handbook, and will be reviewed with the student prior to development of the project.