Nursing, D.N.P.

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The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree at USM is a low residency program that prepares graduates to provide the most advanced level of nursing care for individuals and communities. This practice doctorate provides graduates with the skills and tools necessary to assess the evidence gained through nursing research, to evaluate the impact of that research on their practice and, as necessary, make changes to enhance quality of care. This course of study is targeted towards nurses with a master’s degree in advanced practice nursing (nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, nurse midwife), education or leadership. As an integral part of this degree, students must successfully complete a DNP project at the conclusion of this program. This scholarship must demonstrate the students ability to bring evidence-based knowledge into the practice arena and should embrace learning from both coursework and practice application. The competencies attained by this degree are guided by the AACN Level 2 Essentials (AACN, 2021).

The DNP student is required to complete a total of 1000 contact hours. Up to 600 hours (direct) may come from an MS program resulting in national certification (such as the USM APRN degree) leaving many DNP students left to complete 400 DNP contact hours (indirect) as part of the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. Those nurses entering with an Education or Leadership master’s degree will be asked to submit a portfolio and verified practicum clinical hours for contact hour credit toward their 1000 hour requirement .

Most coursework, scholarly research and practice application will take place online. This degree is low residency where the majority of the coursework will be asynchronous distance education. In an effort to create a community of learners who move through the program simultaneously, a cohort approach for engaging students in their final project work will be emphasized.

Program Requirements

Courses are offered in hyflex, asynchronous online and low residency format. To encourage interprofessional collaboration and scholarship, DNP students enroll in courses across the university. A total of 30-33 credits are required for completion of the program; total credit hours may increase if additional credit hours are needed to complete the DNP project. The number of required contact hours in the doctoral program is a minimum of 400 hours. Contact hours are accrued while working on the DNP. project. When added to the clinical hours obtained in the applicant’s master’s program or portfolio credit, the total should be a minimum of 1,000 contact hours.

Required Courses (Minimum 30 Credits)

MPH 545 - Applied Biostatistical Analysis
MPH 670 - Quality Improvement or NUR 692 - Quality Improvement
NUR 606 - Leadership, Health Policy, and Role
NUR 624 - Population Health Leadership
NUR 633 - Health Care Finance, Budgeting, and Planning
NUR 707 - Applied Informatics
NUR 708 - Applied Research
Approved elective for non APRN students (3-9 credits)
NUR 716 - DNP Project I
NUR 717 - DNP Project II
NUR 718 - DNP Project III

Total Credits: 30

Note: In the event the D.N.P. project is not completed by the end of the program, the student may take GRS 701 - Doctoral Continuation Credits (1-3 credits) to complete the project.