Curriculum & Course Descriptions

Course Descriptions

Curriculum Information

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program at the University of St. Francis is a post-MSN program designed to prepare graduates of advanced practice nurse programs for greater leadership in health care delivery, administration, and education. In response to the position paper issued by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing 2004, the DNP degree has garnered widespread support from numerous nursing organizations as the mechanism to ensure that advanced practice nurses are influencing the direction and nature of health care delivery nationwide. The DNP is the nurse of the future!

The University of St. Francis College of Nursing has taken another leadership role in promoting advanced nursing practice and healthcare delivery. USF’s DNP program is one of only 120 in the nation and the fourth in the State of Illinois. The DNP degree will prepare graduates to provide the most advanced level of nursing care for individuals and communities based on evidence-based scientific, medical and nursing research and practice guidelines.

Graduates of USF’s DNP program are advanced practice nurses of the highest caliber, fully prepared as a primary health care providers to practice in health care settings that serve our must vulnerable citizens, including the poor, elderly, working families, the marginalized, and the uninsured. And for those of you interested in educating tomorrow’s nurses, an optional education concentration is also available. The DNP program is a natural outgrowth of the university’s highly acclaimed graduate nursing programs that have sustained a 100 percent pass rate on certification exams over the past three years.

The DNP program is delivered online, and is accessible to graduate nursing students nationwide. Be ready to learn the newest and latest treatment guidelines In fact, USF has its own nurse-managed clinic for the underserved, designated Edge Runner status by the American Academy of Nursing, and several DNP nursing faculty members are Edge Runners themselves, bring cutting-edge technology and practice to your learning experience.

The DNP student will provide and direct primary health care to individual patients and families, promote the public’s health, manage vulnerable populations who experience health disparities, manage and direct provider services, and influence health care policy. The elderly, patients with chronic physical and mental illnesses, families at-risk, and women and children in violence shelters are proposed emphases of study, but students may specialize in vulnerable populations they plan to work with upon graduation.

Curriculum (40-45 semester hours)* Major Program

Professional and Organizational Communication (4)
Information Management in Advanced Practice (4)
Healthcare Policy, Politics and Practice (4)
Diversity and Social Justice Issues in a Global Society (4)
Advanced Quantitative and Qualitative Research (4)
Healthcare Finance and Practice Management (4)
Advanced Practice Role Selective (4)
Translational Research Scholarly Initiative: Development (4)
Translational Research Scholarly Initiative: Completion and Dissemination (4)
Advanced Practice Role Fellowship (4)

Education Concentration

Full-time Program Plan (40-45 semester hours)
Professional and Organizational Communication (4)
Information Management in Advanced Practice (4)
Healthcare Policy, Politics and Practice (4)
Diversity and Social Justice Issues in a Global Society (4)
Advanced Quantitative and Qualitative Research (4)
Healthcare Finance and Practice Management (4)
Teaching in Nursing (3)
Nursing Education Methods and Measurement (3)
Nursing Education Practicum (3)
Translational Research Scholarly Initiative: Development (4)
Translational Research Scholarly Initiative: Completion and Dissemination (4)
Advanced Practice Role Fellowship (4)

*Students choosing to complete the optional Education Concentration will take NURS 645 in place of NURS 916, for a total of 45 semester hours.

For more curriculum information

See the University Catalog