Online Doctor of Nursing Practice

DNP:

For advanced practice nurses who have completed their MSN and wish to lead at the highest level. A DNP degree can help you learn some of the skills you’ll need to pursue a wide range of advanced healthcare positions, including specialized advanced nursing careers, administrative leadership positions, policy roles, and academic positions. All of these roles offer the opportunity to improve patients’ lives and make healthcare better, whether by leading other nurses, educating future nurses, or influencing health policy.

DNP-NP:

For nurses who have completed their MSN and wish to become an NP, while also working through their terminal Doctor of Nursing Practice programs. The DNP-NP creates a pathway to earn your DNP while also earning the academic degree needed to take the respective NP credentialing examinations to earn your NP certification. There is an option to choose from five specialty areas: AGACNP, AGPCNP, FNP, PNP, and PMHNP.

Why is the industry outlook for DNPs so strong?

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) conducted a two-year study titled “The Future of Nursing.” Results indicate an opportunity — and a responsibility — for nurses to take greater ownership of the healthcare field, with a recommendation to double the number of doctoral-prepared nurses by 2020.

There are many other factors propelling the advancement of the nursing profession. Here are a few of the demands driving opportunity and prompting a higher level of preparation among nurse leaders:

• An impending shortage of primary care physicians which is anticipated to reach a minimum of 100,000 by 2025, with a greater scarcity in rural and inner city communities.
• Shortages of advanced practice nurses. The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) estimates that there is only one qualified candidate for every four available nurse practitioner jobs.
• An additional shortage of nursing faculty as current academic leaders reach retirement. In fact, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) reports that U.S. nursing schools turned away more than 75,000 qualified applicants in 2013 due to insufficient faculty and other compounding factors.

• The emergence of nurse-run clinics to meet the needs for improved access to local community healthcare.
• Rising healthcare needs of an aging population.
• Increasingly complex healthcare system and patient needs.
• Rapidly expanding knowledge underlying practice.
• National concerns about quality outcomes and patient safety.

What are the Maryville advantages for online DNP program students?

We’re a private, four-year institution ranked as one of America’s Best Colleges by both U.S. News & World Report and Forbes. When you choose us, you receive a highly flexible and highly regarded education with the added convenience of our 100% online learning platform. Here are a few more reasons why we offer you the best path:

• Our program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
• The convenience of a 24/7 online learning model that syncs up with work, life, and family obligations.
• Opportunities to study important topics that will help pave the way to a better future for yourself and others.
• The chance to conduct research via clinical inquiry courses that will challenge assumptions.
• A quality educational experience based on the principles of caring, collaboration, and excellence.
• Exposure to faculty and nursing leaders who share their goals for public health and the nursing profession.

As you push toward the highest echelon of your nursing career, you’ll need an education that prepares you for the challenges you’ll face and the opportunities you’ll find. That’s what we designed our online Doctor of Nursing Practice curriculum to do. Maryville University offers you the chance to pursue your online DNP degree on its own, or to earn it with a nurse practitioner concentration.

Our online DNP program is designed for nurses who already have their MSN and want to lead at the highest levels of the profession, and it can be completed in as few as 20 months. Our online DNP-NP program can be completed in as few as 36 months, depending on the concentration you select.

You have the option of starting either program in the spring, summer, or fall. All of your courses can be completed 100% online. You can learn more at our curriculum page.

Advanced leadership for an advancing field.

When you earn your online DNP at Maryville, you enter a program that is focused on leadership across the nursing field. We hope to equip you with the skills and knowledge to grow and achieve your goals in nursing. You’ll have the opportunity to explore the field in detail with advanced courses in subjects like epidemiology, statistics, research, ethics, and systems leadership.

Online DNP-NP option.

If you want to become an NP, you can develop those skills while you earn your DNP online with just 17 additional credit hours. You’ll have the opportunity to build your general nursing skill set with courses like Professional Role Development, and you’ll build your NP competencies through advanced courses in pathophysiology, health assessment, and pharmacotherapeutics.