The College of Health Professions now offers a new Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Leadership track to prepare nurse leaders for advanced roles as health care executives across the health care continuum.     

Inaugurated in 2012, the DNP program was initially designed for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses currently licensed as nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, clinical nurse specialists, and nurse midwives, notes Dr. Aaron M. Sebach, chair of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program.

Prior to developing this new track, “we unfortunately turned away qualified candidates who were nurse executives,” he says. “We can now provide nurse executives with the opportunity to advance their careers.”

The Leadership track, launched in January 2017, offers four experiential engagement courses that help students develop and refine executive competencies established by the American Organization of Nurse Executives. Nurse leaders will be able to directly translate these skills into practice.

“Nurse leaders are clinical experts who are advancing outcomes from a systems management perspective,” Dr. Sebach says.

The DNP Leadership program can be completed in 28 months, requires 45 credits and 1,000 hours of experiential engagement courses, permitting students to collaborate with faculty and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses. Health care executives who hold national board certifications in health care administration and are Fellows of the American College of Healthcare Executives teach courses.

“At the end of the day, having a rich conversation between nurse leaders and Advanced Practice Nurses is extremely beneficial, particularly because health care does not occur in a silo,” Dr. Sebach says.