DeSales University announces its first doctoral program that will be offered starting in January 2012. The program, the doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degree in clinical leadership in advanced practice nursing, is unique to the Lehigh Valley and the surrounding area.
“Just as our first master’s program, the masters of science in nursing (MSN), was a response to requests from the local medical community, our first doctoral program answers to clearly identified needs of the major hospital networks and local healthcare providers,” said Fr. Bernard F. O’Connor, O.S.F.S., president of DeSales University “We are very happy that it is also in the field of nursing, because of the Catholic church’s devotion to the well-being of the whole person, body and soul, mind and spirit.”
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DeSales University’s DNP program was also partly developed in response to a 2005 report from the National Academy of Sciences that called for nursing to develop a “non-research clinical doctorate” to prepare expert practitioners who can fulfill clinical, faculty, and leadership roles.
Traditionally the doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) has been the terminal degree for nurses. “The DNP is a practice doctorate, while the Ph.D. is a research doctorate,” said Dr. Carol Mest, associate professor of nursing and director of the graduate nursing programs. “Students will choose to enter a DNP program because their intention is to remain largely in advanced clinical practice. The Ph.D. student is intent on developing the science of nursing; the DNP student will be prepared to translate the science into clinical practice. Each of these two pathways informs the other.”
Health sector trends have demonstrated the need for nurses with advanced clinical degrees. Reasons cited include increasing numbers of patients with complex, long-term health-care needs, growing categories of patients requiring specialty nursing care, decreasing numbers of physicians practicing as generalists, and an estimated 30 million newly insured patients added to the health care system at the onset of the new national health mandate.
The program will follow the executive educational model with classroom instruction followed by collaborative online completion of the remainder of course activities. A minimum of 10 students will be accepted into the first cohort, and subsequent cohorts will accept a maximum of 20 students.
The curriculum will be based on the sequential completion of eleven 3- or 4-credit courses, conducted by an online learning management system. DNP students will complete 525 supervised and monitored clinical practicum hours as part of two residencies and one capstone course. After an initial four-day residency on campus students are required to be on the Center Valley campus for three days three times per year. Applicants to the DNP Program must possess an MSN degree as well as advanced practice certification.
DeSales University first established a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program in 1974, and established the Department of Nursing and Health that same year. The Department of Nursing and Health offered the first graduate programs on the DeSales University campus with the establishment of the MSN program for Clinical Nurse Specialists in 1984. The nursing programs at DeSales University have consistently maintained full approval by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing and the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission since the time that they were first eligible for approval and accreditation.
Currently 116 students are enrolled in the University’s graduate nursing programs and 221 students are enrolled in the undergraduate nursing programs, including traditional day, accelerated second degree, ACCESS evening/weekend, and RN to BSN and/or MSN programs. Total enrollment at the University is approximately 3,000 students.
For more information about the DNP program at DeSales University, call 610.282.1100, ext. 1664, or visit www.desales.edu/dnp.
Press Release: DeSales University Announces First Doctoral Program | Posted on: 6/10/2011
For more info:
Tom McNamara, Executive Director of Communications
DeSales University | 2255 Station Avenue | Center Valley, PA 18034
610.282.1100 x1219 | Tom.McNamara@desales.edu |
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