To transform healthcare delivery, nurse clinicians must design, evaluate, and continually improve the context within which care is delivered. Based upon the growing complexity of healthcare compounded by an escalating demand for services, burgeoning growth in scientific knowledge, and the accelerating advance in technology, the nursing profession's current practice of preparing advanced practice nurses in master's degree programs is no longer sufficient.
The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) at ASU is focused on improving healthcare through facilitating a culture of best practice, and providing the additional skills necessary to develop the advance practice nursing leader for the future. Graduates of this program will be able to facilitate the application and integration of research into clinical practice using innovative approaches across multiple settings to improve healthcare, patient outcomes, and healthcare systems.
entry pathways
The Doctor of Nursing Practice options available to you at ASU include three pathways:
- Post-Baccalaureate
- Post-Master's Entry With Advanced Practice Specialty
- Post-Master's Entry Without Advanced Practice Specialty
(or seeking to add a new specialty)
program objectives
Upon completion of the DNP program, the graduate will be able to:
- Integrate, synthesize, design, and translate theory based nursing and interdisciplinary knowledge to develop and evolve advanced practice nursing.
- Promote culturally sensitive, holistic approaches for provision of advanced practice nursing care and services in a global community.
- Evaluate and apply the best evidence in nursing to translate research into practice.
- Use nursing knowledge and innovations in technology and practice for the purpose of transforming the way healthcare is delivered to maximize healthcare outcomes.
- Demonstrate effective and economically conscientious advanced nursing practice.
- Provide advanced practice nursing knowledge, skills, and leadership locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.
- Implement the advanced practice nursing role according to national standards of advanced nursing practice.
- Mentor other nurses and healthcare professionals in evidence-based practice
Clinical Residency:
Association of Nursing for Critical Care (ANCC) has recommended a minimum of 1000 post-baccalaureate hours for all students completing a DNP. Our program allows post-baccalaureate entry students to complete 630 hours of supervised clinical in their chosen specialty before receiving their Master of Science degree. This will allow students to then meet the requirements for Certification and licensure in their specialty. The additional 450 hours are completed after Certification and licensure while practicing as an advance practice nurse and completing the final DNP courses.
Post-master entry students with advanced practice licensure will complete 540 clinical hours. These hours are not supervised (as students will be practicing under their own license) and will be different for each student depending on the final culminating project that will be completed. Unique experiences outside your clinical work site will be encouraged.
Final Culminating Project:
The culminating document needed for completion of the Doctor of Nursing Practice is an Evidence-Base Mentoring Applied Project. Each student will have a primary mentor and at least one committee member working with them on the project. Clinical practice residency hours will be used to carry out the project in a practice setting (work settings may be included, but specific objectives will be developed that may be different from the student’s job). Each project will be developed individually with each student. Post-master entry applicants should have some ideas for a project already developed before entry.
