Nursing, DNP
Program Description
The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Doctor of Nursing Practice Program is an online, part-time, post-master’s, clinical doctorate for registered nurses interested in expanding their skills as nurse leaders or nurse practitioners. This program prepares graduates to provide the most advanced level of nursing care for individuals, families, organizations and communities.
This includes direct care of individual patients, management of care for individuals and populations, administration of nursing systems, development and implementation of health and evidence-based practice.
Because courses are delivered remotely, students can remain in the communities where they live and work while completing program requirements. Travel may be required for students to interact with state or national experts in their areas of study. The curriculum is consistent with program standards set forth in the Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Practice. Students enrolled in the program will complete a scholarly project designed to improve patient or system outcomes.
The Doctor of Nursing Practice program at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (http://www.ccneaccreditation.org).
Nursing Programs Goals
The goals of the Nursing Programs in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences are:
- To develop within the student the knowledge and skills necessary for beginning professional and advanced nursing practice, cultivating basic and specialized abilities needed to successfully pursue a career, and
- To promote the concept of nursing as caring and facilitate attainment of a care delivery system sensitive to multicultural communities and their health values, and
- To offer individuals the opportunity to increase the breadth and depth of the theoretical base for nursing practice, enhance and expand competence, prepare for role specialization, and contribute to the discovery of new nursing knowledge, and
- To provide an educational environment of respect within which students may evolve as broadly educated, technology competent, responsible, and accountable professionals dedicated to the principles of lifelong learning, and
- To build a foundation for life-long learning & systematic practice, and
- To serve the community as nursing experts, leaders and consultants in professional organizations, health promoters, providers of health care policy information and advocates of ethical distribution and usage of resources.
Graduate Programs
The College of Nursing and Health Sciences offers course work leading to the Master of Science in Nursing degree and the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. Additionally, the college offers graduate courses in Health Care Administration.
All graduate nursing courses and several of the health care administration courses employ distance education instructional strategies for the vast majority (75% or more) of the instruction and interaction.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- Integrate nursing science knowledge from the biophysical, psychosocial, analytical, and organizational sciences and ethics as the basis for practice.
- Provide culturally relevant health promotion and disease prevention initiatives based on epidemiological, bio-statistical, environmental, and other scientific evidence for diverse populations.
- Demonstrate visionary organizational leadership by designing and implementing efficient effective practice and policy models.
- Apply advanced levels of clinical scholarship, systems thinking and analytical methods in evidence-based management and practice.
- Translate and disseminate knowledge to transform caring management and practice.
- Leverage information systems and patient care technology for the improvement and transformation of health care.
- Analyze, develop, and advocate for healthcare policies to improve healthcare systems across diverse constituencies.
- Collaborate inter-professionally to improve patient and population outcomes through practice, education, and leadership.
For Additional Information
Website:
http://conhs.tamucc.edu
Phone: (361) 825-5893 - CONHS Graduate Academic Advisor
Campus Address:
Island Hall Third Floor
Mailing Address:
College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
6300 Ocean Drive, Unit 5805
Corpus Christi, Texas 78412-5805
Contact:
Dr. Tammy McGarity | DNP Program Coordinator
Phone: (361) 825-2607
Email: tammy.mcgarity@tamucc.edu
Island Hall 339
College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
6300 Ocean Drive, Unit 5805 Corpus Christi, Texas 78412-5805
Admission Requirements
Students seeking admission to the Doctor of Nursing Practice program will need to:
- Complete an application to the University for admission to College of Graduate Studies and to the DNP Program.
- Students must complete an online application to the College of Nursing and Health Sciences using the application in Apply Texas. If the student is not already enrolled at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, the student must also apply to the University for admission. Admission to the University does not constitute admission to the nursing program.
- Have earned a Master of Science in Nursing or equivalent master’s degree.
- Provide evidence of current valid unencumbered licensure as a registered nurse with authority to practice in Texas.
- Have earned a satisfactory grade point average of 3.0 on 4.0 scale in their graduate nursing program.
- Write a 500-word essay explaining why they are enrolling in a Doctor of Nursing Practice program.
- Submit three letters of recommendation from individuals knowledgeable about their potential to work effectively in advanced, professional, and scholarly roles.
- Provide a current resume that delineates an applicant’s professional contributions and work experiences and contains sufficient information to represent the applicant’s accomplishments in nursing.
- Hold national certification as a Nurse Practitioner (for DNP in NP only).
- Submit a copy of authorization to practice as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) in Texas (for DNP in NP only).
- Have completed within the past seven years, a graduate-level inferential statistics course with a grade of B or better. Provisional admission is possible for students who do not meet this requirement. Students admitted with provisional status must complete this requirement within the first academic year of the DNP program and before enrolling in any research course.
- Have completed a graduate level research course.
Program Requirements
Curriculum
The core nursing courses consist of graduate-level study of the scientific knowledge that comprises the discipline and profession of nursing, and prepares the student for advanced nursing practice.
Graduation Requirements
| Requirements | Credit Hours |
|---|---|
| Core Courses | 33 |
| Advanced Specialty Courses | 3 |
| DNP Project Seminar (1 hr./each of 4 last 4 semesters) | 4 |
| 1000 hours of field experience (maybe be completed within the required courses) | |
| DNP Project (maybe be completed within the required courses) | |
| Total Credit Hours | 40 |
The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi College of Graduate Studies Recency of Credit rule requires that all credit earned for a graduate degree must be completed within seven years of the first semester in which a student is enrolled in a graduate program. This requirement means that students are expected to complete their DNP program in seven years. In rare situations, an exception to this seven-year policy may be granted from the Dean for the College Graduate Studies when a student is unable to complete courses in this time. The student must complete a request with an explanation as to why the exception should be made as soon as the student determines that courses will not be completed within this time frame. The request should be submitted to the Graduate Academic Advisor and the DNP Program Coordinator.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core DNP Courses | ||
| NURS 6300 | Health Policy and Economics for the DNP * | 3 |
| NURS 6301 | Epidemiology and Statistics for Evidence-Based Practice * | 3 |
| NURS 6302 | Genomics in Health Care * | 3 |
| NURS 6303 | System Behavior and Impact on Health Care * | 3 |
| NURS 6304 | Application of Evidence in Practice I * | 3 |
| NURS 6306 | Informatics and Technology for Advanced Practice * | 3 |
| NURS 6307 | Application of Evidence in Practice II * | 3 |
| NURS 6308 | DNP Project Proposal * | 3 |
| NURS 6309 | Integration and Translation of Theory in Practice * | 3 |
| NURS 6311 | DNP Project Report * | 3 |
| NURS 6393 | The DNP Project and Biostatistics * | 3 |
| Advanced Specialty Course | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Nurse Practitioner Special Course | ||
| Application of Advanced Principles for Clinical Nursing Practice * | ||
| Nurse Executive Specialty Course | ||
| Advanced Principles for Executive Practice * | ||
| DNP Seminar | ||
| NURS 6195 | DNP Project Seminar * | 4 |
| Total Hours | 40 | |
- *
Online offering
Field Experiences
Students are expected to complete a minimum of 1000 hours of field experience related to their courses and focus of study. Appropriate field or clinical hours completed in an MSN program will be counted as part of the 1000 hours (up to 500). Applicants will be required to demonstrate these hours were completed in relevant settings. Students will be responsible for identifying and selecting agencies or preceptors for their field experiences. For more information, please see the CONHS Doctoral Student Handbook.
DNP Project
All students must complete a scholarly project as a requirement for the DNP degree. The project provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate their ability to develop effective interventions for patients and patient populations with complex health problems. The projects will be completed through multi-disciplinary collaborative partnerships and under faculty guidance.
Courses
Deliverables related to the DNP project. Open only to DNP students in the CONHS with consent of the DNP Chair. Does not count as credit toward regular graded coursework for DNP degree. Grade assigned will be "credit" (CR) or "no credit" (NC).
Prerequisite: NURS 6304*, 6307*, 6308* or 6311*.
* May be taken concurrently.
Focus is on the use of political efficacy and competence to improve health outcomes and improve the quality of the health care delivery system. The interrelationships between policy, political trends, health care quality outcomes, access to care, and economics will be examined.
Principles of epidemiology and biostatics applied to the management of population health.
Focus is on the relationship between genes, environment, and health. Emphasis will be placed on concepts of prevention and treatment effectiveness within cultural care contexts. Ethical and legal considerations will also be addressed.
Principles and application of organizational behavior that promotes quality care delivery in diverse healthcare settings. The microsystems framework for quality management will be applied to quality management in selected healthcare settings. May require field-based activities.
Exploration of issues related to evidence-based practice in select clinical settings under the direction of faculty. Synthesizes key research related to clinical topics as part of systematic review of evidence. Requires field-based activities.
The examination of the use and mobilization of information and technology across organizations for insuring continuity of quality care. May require field-based activities.
Integration of practice, theory, and research to expand clinical expertise in the management of clinical or system problems. Includes the examination of care delivery structures and processes that contribute to specific clinical problems. Clinical practice experiences available with this course.
Development of DNP project proposal. Requires presentation to DNP faculty for approval at the end of the course.
Expanded development of expertise in the management of health problems in selected populations through integrating and translating theory in practice. An overview of theoretical principles and guidelines appropriate for use in DNP projects, quality improvement and implementing evidence-based projects.
Demonstration of advanced role competencies through the design and the implementation of a project with potential to have a positive impact on patient or system outcomes.
Emphasis will be on synthesis of past clinical practice, with advanced understanding of theory, evidence based practice, policy issues, and principles of quality assurance and safety to continue the development of the doctoral student as an expert reflective practitioner. Individualized clinical focus will be on designated populations.
Application of financial and human resource management principles in designing solutions to complex healthcare delivery problems emerging from current healthcare reimbursement and performance requirements. Clinical experiences are required for this course.
In depth study of various leadership and clinical nursing practice areas. Students will study techniques in evidence based research and apply aspects of research methods including quality improvement methodologies and statistical techniques.
Prerequisite: NURS 6308.