Proposed Doctor of Nursing Practice Program
The entry-level Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Nurse Practitioner degree will be transitioning to a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree in the Fall of 2009, pending approval. This will not affect students entering the MSN program in Fall 2008; students who begin the MSN program in Fall 2008 will be able to finish their MSN program, provided they follow the curriculum as advised by the Department of Nursing.
The new DNP program will be approximately 4 years of part-time study, 80 credits, and taught in a distance-learning (online) format with clinical courses arranged in your local area. Once the DNP program is approved and underway, the MSN program will no longer be offered. An RN/DNP pathway is being developed, similar to the current RN/MSN track, for RNs who do not have a BSN degree.
The need for this change is based on strong national and state trends in the health care environment that require the revision in the curriculum and change in the type of degree offered. The DNP degree will allow students to focus on in-depth professional and clinical studies to meet the ever-increasing practice challenges of providing the highest quality health care in the 21st century. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), which currently represents more than 580 schools of nursing at public and private institutions nationwide, has endorsed the Position Statement on the Practice Doctorate in Nursing which will move the level of preparation necessary for advanced nursing practice from a master’s degree to the doctorate level by the year 2015. All programs planning to meet the needs addressed by the profession, as well as to continue to exist and remain competitive in the marketplace, will find it necessary to provide entry-level education at the doctoral level.
We expect to make a formal announcement about the DNP program following approvals from various governing bodies of the university. Please check this Web site for additional announcements. Please email any questions you may have to Graduate Nursing Programs Director Constance J. Creech at ccreech@umflint.edu.
Updated January 30, 2008