Nursing

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) degree program is a professional practice-focused doctorate designed to develop competencies for advanced clinical and leadership roles in nursing and healthcare. The D.N.P. program increases opportunities for nurses to meet the demands of an increasingly complex and changing healthcare landscape. The program and innovative curriculum capitalize on the educational richness of the College of Health Sciences.

This program utilizes a hybrid educational delivery platform.

DNP - Family Nurse Practitioner Track
The DNP Family Nurse Practitioner track is designed for students who have a B.S. or M.S. in nursing and are seeking a terminal practice-focused nursing degree and certification as a family nurse practitioner (FNP). This track can be completed in 11 quarters.

DNP (Post-Master's) Track
The DNP (Post-Master's) Track is designed for students who have an M.S. in nursing and are seeking a terminal practice-focused nursing degree without certification as a nurse practitioner (NP). This track can be completed in seven quarters.

Admission

DNP - Family Nurse Practitioner

Applicants must have:

• Earned a bachelor’s or master’s degree in nursing from an accredited program
• An active, unrestricted California RN license
• At least one year full-time work (or equivalent) as a registered nurse in the U.S. prior to the start of program entry
• Completed a course in descriptive and inferential statistics with a grade of B or better within five years of admission to the program
• A complete application file including the application form, official transcripts, one letter of recommendation, and a resume or curriculum vitae
• Applicants must meet the general requirements of the UCI Graduate Division.
• A personal interview is required of all applicants considered for admission. The GRE is not required.

DNP (Post-Master's)

Applicants must have:

• Earned a master’s degree in nursing from an accredited program by matriculation
• An active, unrestricted RN license in the state where D.N.P. practicum work will occur
• At least one year fulltime work (or equivalent) as registered nurse in the U.S. prior to the start of program entry
• Completed a course in descriptive and inferential statistics with a grade of B or better within five years admission to the program.
• A complete application file including the application form, official transcripts, one letter of recommendation, and a resume or curriculum vitae
• Applicants must meet the general requirements of the UCI Graduate Division
• A personal interview is required of all applicants considered for admission. The GRE is not required.

Requirements

Students enrolled in the DNP - Family Nurse Practitioner track complete 104 units and 1080 hours of clinical practice. Students enrolled in the DNP (Post-Master's) track complete 48 units and 570 hours of clinical practice. There is no foreign language requirement; proficiency in a language other than English is desirable but not required.

DNP Post-Masters students who have not taken advanced pathophysiology, pharmacology, and health assessment in a master’s program prior to admission are required to take NUR DNP 210: Advanced Pathophysiology, Pharmacology, and Health and Physical Assessment for Nurse Educators, to address the APRN core content as required by CCNE standards for accreditation. After admission to the program, students are advised as to whether or not they need to complete this course.

In lieu of a thesis or dissertation, a Scholarly Project is required for this professional degree. In preparation for developing this D.N.P. Scholarly Project, students complete a D.N.P. Project Proposal and present this to their D.N.P. Scholarly Project Team during the D.N.P. Scholarly Project III: Planning and Proposal course. Once approved by the Team, the student begins implementation of their D.N.P. Scholarly Project. The D.N.P. Scholarly Project requires students to demonstrate a synthesis of evidence-based practice in a practice area specific to their specialty and interest.

The students provide a final presentation of the completed work to the D.N.P. Team and invited University and community guests in their last quarter, at the conclusion of the D.N.P. Scholarly Project VI: Implications and Dissemination course. Development of a formal manuscript suitable for publication is also required.

The normative time to degree for the DNP - Family Nurse Practitioner track is three years, with a maximum time permitted of five years. The normative time to degree for the DNP (Post-Master's) track is two years, with a maximum time permitted of four years.

DNP - Family Nurse Practitioner Requirements

DNP (Post-Master's) Requirements