Students participate in an online synchronous orientation to get them started in the program and they have one on one access to faculty mentors and their advisor for project development. Students are encouraged to come to campus to present their final DNP project during the DNP scholarly symposium.
While in the online Doctor of Nursing Practice program, students are required to successfully complete all DNP coursework, have 1,000 documented advanced practice clinical hours (including up to 500 clinical hours earned in the master's program), produce a publishable scholarly paper, and successfully present their DNP Project.
DNP projects are designed in consultation with faculty and content experts. This allows DNP students to develop knowledge, skills, and strategies for a quality improvement project. Students assume the role of leader of their DNP project team in interdisciplinary collaboration, consultation, and partnership as they plan and implement their project. The DNP project proposal is developed in NURS 980, Doctoral Scholarly Project I; the project is implemented in NURS 981, Doctoral Scholarly Project II; and then evaluated and disseminated during their final course, NURS 982, Doctoral Scholarly Project III.