KSU gets state approval to offer Doctorate of Nursing Practice

Staff report

kent

Kent State University’s College of Nursing has announced approval from the Ohio Board of Regents to offer the Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree, one of two terminal degrees in nursing.

Kent State already offers the Doctor of Philosophy and beginning this spring will offer the DNP, which prepares advanced practice nurse clinical scholars as leaders in translating research evidence into clinical practice.

According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, transitioning advanced-practice nursing programs from the master’s level to the doctoral level serves as a “ ... response to changes in health-care delivery and emerging health-care needs. It supports advanced-practice nurses in securing ... the knowledge required to provide leadership in the discipline of nursing,” a discipline that is complex and rapidly changing.

The AACN requires that all entry-level advanced-practice educational programs be transitioned from the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree to the DNP degree by the year 2015.

Kent State has 12 advanced practice MSN concentrations that will transition to the DNP.

Applications for the program will be accepted for Spring 2011.

The degree will be offered as a part-time, post-advanced practice master’s program.

It will incorporate 37 didactic credit hours, 540 clinical hours and a capstone project.

For more information about the new Doctorate of Nursing Practice degree at Kent State, contact Karen Budd, director of nursing graduate programs, at kbudd@kent.edu or 330- 672-8776.

For more information about Kent State’s College of Nursing, visit www.kent.edu/nursing.