Doctor of Nursing Practice
The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) is a terminal degree for nurses who are interested in becoming a nursing practice expert. Applicants must hold a current, active and unencumbered license to practice as a Registered Nurse (RN) in the United States, as well as a programmatically accredited Master of Science in Nursing degree from a institutionally accredited institution.
The Doctor of Nursing Practice is designed to build on the skills, talents and educational groundwork of a Master of Science in Nursing program and helps students prepare for advanced nursing roles in systems leadership and administration, maximizing the application of evidence to improve healthcare outcomes. The program provides instruction in healthcare delivery systems, health economics and finance, health policy, research methods, translation of evidence into practice, concepts in population health, and nursing leadership.
This program does not lead to additional licensure or certification. As such, CTU has made no determination regarding prerequisites for licensure or certification in any state or jurisdiction.
Degree Requirements
Courses-Core
| NRSG810 | Scientific Underpinnings of Nursing Practice | 4 |
| NRSG812 | Applying Evidence-Based Practice and Research to Improve Health Outcomes | 4 |
| NRSG815 | Information Systems and Advanced Nursing Practice | 4 |
| NRSG817 | Health Policy and Advancing Nursing Practice | 4 |
| NRSG825 | Population Health and Epidemiology | 4 |
| NRSG830 | Organization and Systems Leadership | 4 |
| NRSG831 | DNP Project I: Design and Planning | 6 |
| NRSG832 | DNP Project II: Implementation of Evidence Based Practice | 6 |
| NRSG833 | DNP Project III: Evaluation of Change | 5 |
| DNPSPI | DNP Specialty Topic I | 4 |
| DNPSPII | DNP Specialty Topics II | 4 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 49 |
Students who have not completed the required 500 post-baccalaureate clinical hours must complete the DNP Transitions course/s prior to beginning their DNP Project courses.
| NRSG820 | DNP Practice Transitions I | 1-5 |
| NRSG821 | DNP Practice Transitions II | 1-5 |
| NRSG822 | DNP Practice Transitions III | 1-3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 13 |
Courses- DNP Specialty Topic Options
| HCML870 | Health Policy and Regulations | 4 |
| HCML872 | Economics and Financing of Healthcare Organizations | 4 |
| HCML874 | Continuous Improvement for Systems in Healthcare | 4 |
| HCML876 | Informatics in Healthcare | 4 |
| LDR870 | Self-Insight and Personal Development as a Leader | 4 |
| MGMT824 | Strategic Thinking and Organizational Alignment | 4 |
| ODC870 | Organizational Strategy & Design | 4 |
| ODC872 | Current Topics in Organizational Development | 4 |
| ODC874 | Leading and Managing Large Scale Transformation | 4 |
| ODC876 | System Thinking and Decision Making | 4 |
Total Credit Hours: 49-62
Program Requirements
Admission to this program requires a current, active and unencumbered license to practice as a Registered Nurse (RN) in the United States. All students must maintain this licensure throughout the program of study.
Students must have graduated with a programmatically accredited Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree from an institutionally accredited institution. A minimum grade point average (CGPA) of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale is required for acceptance into the program.
Prior to starting the nursing program all applicants must submit an unofficial or official copy of their college transcript from their MSN degree for review. Applicants to the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree program who meet all general admission requirements, but did not successfully complete a graduate level statistics course, may be granted provisional admission, until the completion of a graduate level statistics course with a B- or higher. Provisionally accepted students who do not complete a graduate level statistics course prior to NRSG812 Applying Evidence-Based Practice and Research to Improve Health Outcomes will be administratively withdrawn. CTU offers HCM671 Healthcare Statistics that fulfills this program requirement. Students who do not have prior graduate level statistics should consult with their Student Success Coach about options to satisfy this requirement.
The DNP requires a minimum of 1,000 post-baccalaureate clinical hours. CTU may recognize up to 500 hours of supervised, documented clinical hours from your post-baccalaureate (MSN or Post Graduate Certificate) experience toward this clinical requirement.
Potential DNP students must have completed a minimum of 120 documented clinical hours at the post-baccalaureate level prior to admission to the DNP program. Students with 120 clinical hours or greater, but less than 500 clinical hours, will be scheduled for the DNP transitions course(s). This course can be taken at varying credit hours depending on clinical hours transferred into the DNP program. Verification of post-baccalaureate clinical hours completed in the MSN or Post Graduate Certificate program must be submitted on the Colorado Technical University Attestation of Supervised Clinical/Practice/Practicum form.
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students are required to attend a symposium event two times during their enrollment in the program. Additional information about CTU's doctoral symposium can be located in the Doctoral Symposium section of this catalog.
At this time, Colorado Technical University cannot accept inquiries for the DNP program from residents of the states of Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Tennessee, Washington, and West Virginia.