Program Description
The La Salle Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program is in response to the call for health care improvement and innovation. This post-Master's program is designed in accord with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Position Statement on Doctoral Education and The Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice.
The program is a practice-focused doctorate with a strong clinical component designed for all health care environments providing opportunities for expert knowledge and skill development through completion of clinical hours and a final project. The program delivered online includes yearly Immersion experiences.
Mission
The mission of the La Salle University Nursing Programs is to provide scientifically based nursing curricula to educate clinically competent, caring, nursing professionals with a commitment to excellence in practice, service, life-long learning, and scholarship.
Program Goals
- Educate professional nurses to translate evidence for interprofessional practice in advanced nursing roles across community and health care settings.
- Meet the health needs of diverse individuals, families, groups, communities and populations through curricular and service activity.
- Support faculty and student scholarly activity that informs quality and safety in healthcare systems.
Program Specific Information
Students may enroll in the post-MSN program on a part-time (three credits/semester) or full-time (six credits/semester) basis. Required clinical hours vary depending on the student's entry level attainments; 1,000 hours of supervised post-baccalaureate clinical practice in an academic program is required. The La Salle plans of study are individualized and include at least 500, of the required 1000, clinical hours. Advanced Practice Nurses (CNS, CRNA, NP, and Nurse Midwives), as well as other Master's prepared nurses with a BSN may apply.
The DNP Student Handbook and DNP Project Manual can be found at https://www.lasalle.edu/doctor-of-nursing-practice/
Student Learning Outcomes
At the completion of program the student will be able to do the following:
- Apply theoretical and research-based knowledge from nursing and other disciplines to plan and implement safe, quality health care for vulnerable individuals and groups in an APRN or advanced nursing practice (APN) role
- Facilitate inter-professional collaboration to provide patient-centered, quality, ethical and safe healthcare
- Analyze the impact of evidence based healthcare interventions on patient outcomes
- Evaluate health promotion and disease prevention efforts and outcomes to achieve quality healthcare
- Analyze the influence of public policy decisions on the health promotion, disease prevention, and health restoration services provided to diverse populations
- Enhance clinical judgment and decision-making abilities to address health promotion/disease prevention efforts for individuals, aggregates, or populations
- Utilize advanced communication and leadership skills to lead quality improvement and patient safety initiatives
- Promote culturally congruent and comprehensive healthcare services to all
- Analyze healthcare information systems/technologies to improve healthcare outcomes
- Demonstrate responsibility and accountability for ongoing professional development
Academic Requirements
The DNP Program consists of 34 credit hours beyond the master’s degree. A statistics course and a graduate research course is required for admission. These courses are available as pre-requisites to the DNP.
Optional courses for project completion, if needed, are:
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Credits |
| NUR 881 | DNP Project Seminar | 1 |
| NUR 883 | DNP Project 3 | 1 |
| NUR 887 | Clinical Practicum | 1-2 |
Clinical practice hours for DNP students with less than 500 master’s-level clinical hours will be individually evaluated based on their transcripts. Additional clinical hours can be completed in the Program in NUR 887 Clinical Practicum and may occur in the student's place of employment, or at health care organization sites in the state which the nurse is licensed. The practice component is conducted with the assistance of professional mentors or preceptors who practice in the community where the clinical is conducted. Goals and objectives of the practice experience are based on a gap analysis, and negotiated between the student and faculty.
DNP Project Requirement
The DNP Project is a scholarly experience using principles of evidence-based practice and research translation that is designed to provide students with a guided opportunity to address a meaningful practice concern relevant to nursing and meaningful to healthcare systems, processes, and/or outcomes.
Working closely with faculty members, students identify an issue or question within nursing practice that is of clinical interest and conduct a scholarly review and synthesis of the related literature. Students develop a project around this issue or question, implement and evaluate this project and disseminate findings and recommendations.
The DNP Project end-product will be a tangible practice-related deliverable. This scholarly project will be reviewed and evaluated by an academic committee. The DNP Project should be a synthesis of the student’s work and lay the groundwork for future scholarly endeavors, including publication.
Faculty
Program Administration and Faculty:
Jeannine Uribe, Ph.D, RN
Director, DNP Program
Deborah Byrne, Ph.D., RN, CNE
Patricia DiGiacomo, Ed.D., RN, RNC
Patricia Dillon, PhD, RN, CNE, Professor Emerita
Maureen Donohue-Smith, Ph. D., PMHNP -BC
Kathleen Czekanski, Ph.D., RN, CNE, Professor Emerita
Frances Kinder, Ph. D., RN, CPNP, Associate Professor Emerita
Rita Ann Laske, Ed. D. RN, CNE
Jeannine Uribe, Ph.D., RN
Mary Wilby, Ph. D., MSN, CRNP, ANP-BC, RN, Associate Professor Emerita
Zane Robinson Wolf, Ph. D., RN, FAAN, Professor Emerita
Program Contact Information
Jeannine Uribe, PhD, RN
Director, DNP Program
Associate Professor
Phone # 215-951-1446
uribe97@lasalle.edu
Staff Contact Information
Christine M. McGlinn - Beerman, MS
Graduate Nursing Programs
La Salle University
School Of Nursing and Health Sciences
4417 Benilde Tower
1900 W. Olney Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19141
215-951-1413
(F) 215-951-1896
mcglinn@lasalle.edu