Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program at Pace University is grounded over 40 years of expertise of the Lienhard School of Nursing in educating primary health care advanced practice family nurse practitioners (FNPs). The DNP program prepares advanced practice nurses to provide dynamic clinical leadership through culturally competent, evidence-based practices and clinical innovations directed at improving health care quality.

The Lienhard School of Nursing’s DNP program is a 37-credit program for the advanced standing student.  Twenty-seven credits reflect nine 3-credit courses designed to help students understand the relationship between clinical practice and organizational systems, finance, health care policy and economics, ethical and legal contexts of practice, the application of teaching and learning, analytic methods and information systems to their practice.  Students then complete the last 10 credits in a clinical mentorship where they draw upon their knowledge and skills learned in previous coursework to identify and carry out a culturally competent, evidence-based practice project. Current clinical partnerships to support the students’ mentorship requirement include: Hudson Valley Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center, The Mount Sinai Medical Center, Northern Westchester Hospital Center, NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation-Elmhurst Hospital Center, and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York.

The complexity and sophistication of health care delivery, coupled with the need for improving patient safety and health care outcomes, as documented by the Institute of Medicine, is a call to action for nursing. To substantially address this need, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing has recommended that advanced practice nursing move from master’s level preparation to that of doctor of nursing practice. Transitioning from the master’s level to the practice doctorate for advanced practice nursing by 2015 is a national movement for entry into advanced nursing practice. For further information on the DNP, visit the AACN web site www.aacn.nche.edu/DNP/index.htm.

ADMISSION CRITERIA

Candidates for the DNP program must:

• Be a graduate of an accredited master’s degree program in nursing
   
• Have exceptional conceptual skills as evidenced by a writing sample
   
• Have a minimum GPA of 3.3 in their master’s degree program in nursing, or equivalent professional experience
   
• Be state certified and board eligible as a family nurse practitioner* and licensed as a registered nurse in the state where the capstone courses will be completed
   
• Have advanced practice nursing experience
   
• Submit a 2-page essay with their application discussing personal goals for completing the DNP:
  • Student essays must be submitted in Arial or Times New Roman, 12 pt font size, with 1 inch margins, double-spaced
  • Student essays must have the applicant’s name and the title of her/his statement
     
• Submit two letters of recommendation that describe the applicant’s (advanced) clinical practice, potential for achievement in graduate study, and potential for professional achievement.  The letters of recommendation should address the applicant’s intellectual ability, ability to work with others, ability in written and oral expression, maturity, initiative/independence, and creativity/originality.
   
• Submit a current professional resume

*Although the Pace DNP program is designed for family nurse practitioners, we now have an option for adult, pediatric, geriatric, and women’s health master’s prepared nurse practitioners who wish to obtain FNP certification as an FNP-DNP. If you are interested in this option, you will need to meet with the FNP-DNP Program Director who will conduct a gap analysis to determine what additional clinical courses will be required.

No standardized admission test (GRE or Miller Analogy) required.