The Executive Healthcare Leadership (EHL), Doctor of Nursing Practice D.N.P. is a practice degree designed to prepare nurse leaders to assume advanced executive leadership roles. The EHL D.N.P. program has two entry points, depending upon prior educational experience. The curricular plan is designed for the student who has a B.S.N. and the requisite experience or a masters degree with a nursing emphasis, or a Master’s degree in business administration (M.B.A.), healthcare administration (M.H.A.) or public health (M.P.H.). The curriculum consists of course work equivalent to that of a master’s degree in nursing plus additional course work (beyond the master’s degree requirements) that extends the leadership skills and provides preparation for a variety of executive leadership roles in the health care arena.

Graduates may be eligible to apply to take a national certification examination in nursing leadership; eligibility is determined by a combination of work experience and educational preparation.

Learning Outcomes

1. Identify direct and indirect clinical problems in complex health settings and work with interprofessional teams to address them.
2. Differentiate theoretical knowledge as it applies to direct or indirect clinical care.
3. Translate evidence to address nursing and healthcare workforce issues.
4. Integrate databases and information literacy in designing interventions for system-level health care practice.
5. Execute evidence-based interventions to improve health care outcomes.

Entry Options

The DNP program offers two entry points for students:

B.S.N. entry - a bachelor of science in nursing degree (B.S.N.) from a program that is nationally accredited and the requisite experience.

Master's entry – a Registered Nurse (R.N.) who holds a holds a Master's degree with a nursing emphasis or a Master’s degree in business administration (M.B.A.), healthcare administration (M.H.A.) or public health (M.P.H.).

Requirements for Earning the D.N.P. Degree include:

1. Doctoral residency of at least 18 graduate credit hours for three consecutive major semesters. Enrollment in a summer term is not required to maintain continuity, but credits earned during summer terms (including May session) will count toward the 18 hours required for Residency. The residency requirement may be met only after admission to the D.N.P. program;
2. Completion of an approved program of study;
3. Comprehensive assessment through defense of project proposal;
4. Completion of a research utilization / evidence-based practice project and oral defense.

Course Requirements (36 hours)

All EHL DNP students will take the following courses (Total 36 credits hours):

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
NURS 737	Foundations for DNP Development	3
NURS 779	Health Policy 1	3
NURS 780	Organizational Theories and Systems in Healthcare	3
NURS 781	Applied Technology in Health Care	3
NURS 806	Executive Health Care Leadership I 1	3
NURS 807	Executive Health Care Leadership II 1	3
NURS 808	Advanced Nursing in Population Health	3
NURS 809	Advanced Healthcare Financing	3
NURS 817	Application of Statistics for Evidence Based Nursing Practice	3
NURS 819	Evidence and Nursing Practice	3
NURS 897	DNP Project Preparation and Residency 1	6
Total Credit Hours		36

¹

Indicates practicum hours.

Additional Required Courses for Post-BSN Entry Students:

24 credit hours (Total program 60 credit hours):

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
NURS 717	Application of Basic Statistics for Nursing Practice & Service Management	3
NURS 720	Clinical Application of Population Analysis	3
NURS 734	Conceptual Basis of Health Systems	3
NURS 738	Financing of Health Care	3
NURS 740	Facilitative Processes in Health Care Leadership	3
NURS 741	Coordinating Processes in Health Care Leadership 1	3
NURS 742	Integrative Processes in Health Care Leadership 1	3
NURS 790	Research Methods for Nursing	3

¹

Indicates practicum hours.