Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

1. Non-refundable $50.00 application fee (check made payable to Endicott College, cash or online). Application fee waived for veteran and military students; 

2. Three letters of recommendation (one academic reference and two professional references);

3. Official transcripts of all post-secondary academic work sent directly from the institution(s) including confirmation of undergraduate degree, date confirmed, and any other graduate work; 

4. Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Personal statement: An original 500–1,000-word document (double-spaced, 12 pt. font, APA formatted) that responds to the following prompts with academic sources as support.

• What relevant knowledge, skills, and experiences will you contribute to your doctoral study?
• Describe an area of interest and your potential plans for a scholarly project.

5. Writing Sample: Prospective applicants are asked to attach a 5–10-page APA formatted paper from their Master’s Program or from a prior published work to their application. If a prospective applicant does not have a writing sample on file from their Master’s program, the student is asked to write a 5–10-page APA formatted paper on the following prompt:

• What relevant knowledge, skills and experiences will you contribute to your doctoral study and how will you leverage your doctoral study to positively impact your professional environment 

6. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) for all students whose native language is not English; minimum score of 550 (paper-based) or 79 (iBT) is required. The institutional code for Endicott College is 3369. Endicott also accepts an IELTS score of 6.0 or better; 

7. GPA greater than or equal to 3.3; 

8. Registered Nurse License verification, which must be current and unrestricted;

9. A basic statistics course is required of all students; 

10. Resume and/or curriculum vitae; 

11. Interview with the program director. 

All admissions requirements must be satisfied in order to be formally accepted in a degree program. 

Program of Study Learning Outcomes

Upon Completion of the DNP Program, the graduate will be able to:

1.  Critically analyze and integrate knowledge from the humanities and sciences within the context of nursing science to support the highest level of nursing practice. (scientific underpinnings)

2.  Evaluate the organizational and systems leadership roles of the advanced practice nurse in initiating and guiding systems thinking and quality improvement. (Organizational and systems leadership)

3.  Synthesize research and theoretical evidence from nursing and other disciplines and apply appropriate analytic methods in the development, implementation and evaluation of evidence based practice for quality health care delivery. (clinical scholarship and analytical methods for EBP)

4.  Utilize information systems and patient care technologies to support and improve patient care and healthcare systems. (Information systems and patient care technology)

5.  Participate and lead in the development of and advocacy for health care policy to improve access, equity, safety, quality and efficacy in health care. (policy/advocacy)

6.  Evaluate the dynamic forces affecting healthcare delivery and communicate and collaborate within interprofessional teams to improve patient and population health outcomes. (Interprofessional collaboration and population health)

7.  Assume a leadership role in the analysis, implementation and evaluation of clinical prevention and population health activities central to achieving improved health outcomes. (Clinical Prevention and Population Health)

8.  Demonstrate advanced nursing practice inclusive of refined assessment skills and the application of biophysical, psychosocial, behavioral, sociopolitical, cultural, economic and nursing science as appropriate to a specialized area of nursing practice. (AACN Essential VIII-Advanced Nursing Practice).

9.  Integrate ethical, legal, and professional standards of practice in advanced nursing practice (Policy and Advocacy, Advanced nursing practice)

10.  Collaboratively create workplace environments that foster ongoing learning, scholarship, and responsiveness to changing healthcare needs and the dynamic health care environment (Interprofessional collaboration)

Required Curriculum

Post-Master’s DNP Curriculum -34-37 Credits- 2 years/6 Semesters

Prerequisites: Earned MSN Degree from an accredited institution and Master’s level coursework in Nursing Theory, Nursing Research, and Health Policy

Sample Curriculum:

Fall Year I (6 Credits)

NUR 726: Organizational and Systems Leadership for Quality Improvement (3 credits)
NUR 728: Healthcare Informatics for Advanced Nursing Practice (3 credits)

Spring Year I (6 Credits)

NUR 725: Epidemiology (3 credits)
NUR 702: Research Methods II: Qualitative (3 credits)

Summer Year I (7 credits)

NUR 736: DNP Scholarly Practice Project I (4 credits/100 practicum hours)
NUR 735: Research Methods I: Quantitative (3 credits)

Fall Year II (4 credits)

NUR 737: DNP Scholarly Practice Project II (4 credits/100 practicum hours)

Spring Year II (7-13 credits)

NUR 738: DNP Scholarly Practice Project III (4 credits/100 practicum hours)

Elective (3-6 credits) Individually assigned coursework that contributes to professional role development and Scholarly Practice Project and includes 100 role-specific practicum hours.

Summer Year II (4 credits)
NUR 739: DNP Scholarly Practice Project IV (4 credits/100 practicum hours)

*Up to 6 credits of prior coursework at the Master’s or Doctoral level may be applied to requirements after evaluation by the Program Chair, but students are still required to complete a total of 500 practicum hours at the DNP-level to meet the role-specific competencies.