Nursing DNP, (BSN to DNP track)

Doctor of Nursing Practice Program

College of Health Sciences
Degree: Doctor of Nursing Practice
Director of Doctor of Nursing Practice Programs, Brenda Hage, PhD, DNP, CRNP

Faculty

Fred Croop, Professor of Business, BS, MBA Wilkes University; EdD Northcentral University

Brenda Hage, Professor of Nursing, BSN State University of New York at Albany; MSN College Misericordia, PhD Virginia Commonwealth University; DNP Chatham University

Brenda Pavill, Associate Professor Emerita of Nursing, RN ST. Agnes Medical Center; BSN Wilkes University; MS Bloomsburg University; MSN College Misericordia; PhD Marywood University

Annette Weiss, Associate Professor of Nursing, BSN The Pennsylvania State University, MSN University of Hartford; PhD Duquesne University

Catherine Zurawski, Assistant Professor of Nursing, ADN Luzerne County Community College; BSN, MSN Misericordia University; Post Graduate Drexel University

Mission/Vision of the Nursing Department

In preparing Baccalaureate, Masters, and Doctoral prepared educated nurses, the Nursing Department of the College of Health Sciences shares the mission of Misericordia University and embraces the values and attitudes of justice, mercy, service and hospitality.  Specifically, the values and beliefs of nursing as a humanistic service continuing to embody the role of the professional nurse as a future leader.  The nurse as a leader utilizes evidence-based decision making while adapting to change in a multicultural society. The professional nurse is envisioned as one who assumes an active and vital role as a member of the multidisciplinary health care team in the planning, provision, and evaluation of ethical, safe and humanistic care in a rapidly expanding health care technological system.

Doctor of Nursing Practice Program Philosophy

The Doctor of Nursing Practice at Misericordia University is designed to combine theory, practice and inquiry to produce the highest level of mastery in advanced practice nurses to meet the nation and world’s increasingly complex health care needs. Accomplishing this mission requires connecting leadership skills, forward thinking clinical expertise and evidence based practice knowledge to formulate quality health care initiatives for improved health care outcomes in a variety of settings. Graduates will be prepared to make a business case for evidence based practice change. Program outcomes are grounded in the Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice developed by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2006).The rigorous expectations of the curriculum of this post-graduate degree program are supported by foundations in population health, quality improvement and organizational system management, leadership, ethics, health care policy, informatics and technology, and utilization of data analysis that informs decision-making. Five hundred (500) post-graduate practice hours provide the student with patient and population focused care opportunities for mastery of the doctor of nursing practice role.

As change agents, Misericordia DNP graduate will be prepared to collaborate with teams of inter-professional colleagues, care for culturally diverse and/or vulnerable populations, and assume the role of a transformational leader in the increasingly complex health care systems across the globe.

DNP Program outcomes:

1. Influence the scientific underpinnings of advanced clinical nursing practice through strategic decision-making and change implementation.
2. Apply organizational and system leadership skills to affect systematic changes in thinking and development of high quality improvement activities to improve health care outcomes.
3. Utilize analytic methods to critically appraise evidence based literature and other data to improve health care outcomes for diverse populations.
4. Integrate current information systems and technologies to promote effective methods of care to improve the transformation of health care.
5. Develop health care policies that facilitate advocacy for equitable health care and social justice to vulnerable and diverse populations.
6. Collaborate with inter-professional team members to enhance prevention and health promotion of patient and population health.
7. Synthesize the concepts of community, environment, culture, and socioeconomic dimensions of health into advanced practice for improvement of the nation’s health.
8. Model advanced level of clinical judgment, systems thinking and accountability in designing, implementing and evaluating evidence based care to improve health care outcomes.

Admission Criteria

1. Official transcripts of all previous college work, including graduate and undergraduate.
2. Completion of an online application form.
3. Master of Science in Nursing degree from a CCNE or NLN accredited institution.
4. Copy of unencumbered license as a registered professional nurse and license to practice as an advanced practice nurse (CNM, CRNA, CNS, or CRNP).
5. Copy of current national board certification as an Advanced Practice Nurse.
6. Minimum of 3.0 GPA from graduate degree program or post-master’s certificate program for MSN to DNP program applicants, 3.25 GPA from BSN program for BSN to DNP program applicants.
7. Two letters of reference (one from current or most recent employer, one from former graduate faculty member).
8. A 500 word typed statement of personal and professional goals.
9. Telephone interview.
10. English language proficiency- if English is not your first language, or if English is not the primary language spoken in your home, you must submit the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The following are the minimum score requirements: Internet based TOEFL exam (iBT): The Internet based TOEFL exam has four subsections, with a grading scale for each section from 1 to 30 (30 being the highest score). Misericordia University will look closely at the score for each section rather than the total score. Applicants must attain the minimum scores for ALL sections in order to be considered for admission to the DNP program. The minimum scores for each section are as follows:

    	Writing:	22
    	Speaking:	22
    	Reading:	22
    	Listening:	22
    	Students should indicate on the registration form that they wish their test results be sent directly to Misericordia University. The TOEFL code for Misericordia University is 2087.