Doctor of Nursing Practice

Prepare for advanced, high-level leadership in nursing.


The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) is a practice-focused program that combines a scholarly approach to the discipline of nursing while advancing the profession of nursing through practice. The Doctor of Nursing Practice program at Aspen University is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (http://www.ccneaccreditation.org).

The program is designed to prepare students for leadership roles in nursing. The program does not prepare students to obtain a state RN license. Intensive, immersive experiences inform the practice-focused DNP Capstone Project.

Enjoy Flexibility – 11 online DNP courses with start dates every 2 weeks
Choose Where You Learn – Online courses & local immersion
Affordable Monthly Payments – Opt to pay $375 per month
Focus On Your Passion – Choose your Capstone

Intensive, immersive experiences inform the practice-focused DNP Capstone Project. The program requires students to complete 1000 hours of clinical practice immersion hours. Applicants who provide evidence of clinical hours from an MSN or other nursing-specific degree have the potential to have a percentage of those hours applied to the required 1000 before the Project course sequence.

While being a working nurse is not a program requirement, the DNP’s 1000-hour immersion experience requires students to have access to a clinical site and preceptor to successfully complete DNP courses with embedded immersion hours.

Program Goals

  1. Theoretical Underpinnings: Evaluate scientific knowledge underpinnings for translation, integration, application to practice, and create a theoretical framework based on research.
  2. Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Collaborate with professionals in other disciplines to improve person-centered care and population health outcomes.
  3. Population Health: Establish collaborative approaches to improve equitable health improvements in both traditional and non-traditional partnerships to include the healthcare delivery continuum for patient-centered care, public health prevention and disease management of diverse populations.
  4. Nursing Scholarship: Generate, translate, and disseminate evidence-based practices to improve and transform healthcare.
  5. Innovation, Quality, and Safety: Improvement science focused on enhancing quality and system effectiveness.
  6. Leadership: Improve the quality of nursing practice, by using leadership strategies and systems-based thinking and practice, to lead organizations to change through personal and professional development. 
  7. Healthcare Technology and Informatics: Utilize data-driven decision-making to inform the delivery of safe, high-quality healthcare services supported by healthcare technology.
  8. Healthcare Advocacy: Advocate for improved diverse, inclusive, and equitable healthcare and policies.
  9. Personal, Professionalism, and Leadership: Life-long learning, collaborative disposition, support of nursing expertise, and assertion of leadership.

View the DNP Handbook

Admission Requirements

  • Application – A completed application.
  • Registered Nurse Licensure – Current, unrestricted licensure as a registered nurse, nurse practitioner, and/or advanced practice registered nurse in the United States, a US territory, or Canada. Registered nurses, nurse practitioners, and/or advanced practice registered nurses licensed outside of these areas are not eligible.
  • Masters of Science in Nursing – Evidence of a masters degree in nursing (MSN), or a relevant discipline, in the form of official transcripts from an accredited institution or an equivalently certified degree from a recognized foreign college or University. GPA must be 3.0 or greater.

Courses:

    This course focuses on the translation of evidence, integration, and its application to practice and learn disciplinary knowledge for advanced nursing practice. Students will examine knowledge within nursing science and its application to nursing history, practice, research, and education. Translation of theories from nursing and other disciplines related to practice will be synthesized. Foundational aspects of knowledge attainment related to liberal and social sciences will be explored.

    4 Credits
    Required Books

    This course focuses on personal and professional development contributing to the promotion of life-long learning, self-care, and well-being. Examination of the management of complex environments where leaders demonstrate cognitive flexibility and advocacy for social justice, equity, and structural racism will be explored. Advanced leadership concepts will be integrated into cultures of collaboration, mentorship, and professional growth. Accountability of life-long learning in the profession will be using evidence-based practice explored to demonstrate a commitment to professional service to advance the nursing profession.

    4 Credits
    Required Books

    This course will focus on the nurse leader, as a change champion, continually assessing the evolving healthcare system. Organizational strategic planning and interprofessional collaboration to optimize outcomes for safety and quality will be explored. The student will demonstrate strategies for internal and external solutions for organizational workforce demand, demonstrating cost-effective, data-driven, and strategic outcomes. Leadership strategies, including emotional and cultural intelligence for advancing systems-based initiatives to improve care delivery and outcomes, will be demonstrated. **Note: Students will begin Chapter 1 of the manuscript focusing on creating the Introduction, Problem, and Purpose for the Doctor of Nursing Practice project. The course requires documentation of 125 immersion hours associated with the DNP Project.

    4 Credits
    Required Books

    This course will focus on utilizing diverse evidence-based practice resources for quality improvement. Knowledge of the basic principles of the research process, evaluation methodologies, and critique of research is essential for the nurse scientist. Course concepts will build upon the foundation of translational research, demonstrating the generation and synthesis of evidence from nursing science into practice. This course will provide opportunities for the application of quality improvement initiatives for established and emerging principles of safety science. National quality and safety initiatives utilizing proven research within individual and systems-based settings will be explored. **Note: Students will begin Chapter 2 of the manuscript by creating the Literature Review. The course requires documentation of 125 immersion hours associated with the DNP Project.

    4 Credits
    Required Books

    This course focuses on examining best practices for advanced informatics and technological processes used to drive decision-making. Healthcare technologies and informatics will identify information and communication technologies to improve the delivery of safe, high-quality, and efficient healthcare services. State, federal, and regulatory policies for decision-making will be explored. Ethical and legal aspects for direct and indirect patient care using technology will be emphasized. Evaluation of patient outcomes, inefficiencies, and gaps will be explored when using data-driven decision-making in healthcare environments. **Note: The course requires documentation of 125 immersion hours associated with the DNP Project.

    4 Credits
    Required Books

    This course focuses on the evaluation, influence, and recognition of addressing health policy disparities and inequities within segments of a population by demonstrating advanced-level nursing leadership skills. Health policy, advocacy, and partnerships focus on advocating strategies related to health outcomes at the system, local, regional, and national levels striving toward health equity and improved health for all. Students will analyze principles for professional interdisciplinary collaboration when interpreting, evaluating, and leading policy change. **Note: Students will begin Chapter 3 of the manuscript creating the Method/Student Design and selecting their Doctor of Nursing Practice Project Team Committee. The course requires documentation of 125 immersion hours associated with the DNP Project.

    4 Credits
    Required Books

    This course analyzes the continuum of healthcare delivery from public health prevention, disease management of populations, and health equity perspective. Students focus on the improvement of equitable health outcomes for populations within the community settings, public health, healthcare delivery systems, and government entities. Students will assess system-level capabilities to support and target a population's healthcare needs by recognizing ethical principles, bias, and barriers associated with health outcomes. Collaboration with systems-level stakeholders to evaluate crises and determine a coordinated response. An advanced-level nurse's role in response to public health emergencies to population health, perspective of prevention, surveillance, and containment will be assessed. **Note: Students are required to complete and pass the Oral Proposal Defense by the end of the course. The course requires documentation of 125 immersion hours associated with the DNP Project.

    4 Credits
    Required Books

    This course analyzes system-wide initiatives and processes that improve the delivery of care and outcomes within the advanced-level leadership role. Analysis of system-wide strategies that improve cost-effectiveness considering structure, leadership, and workforce needs. The student will describe models of quality improvement and effective communication and collaborative strategies needed for addressing gaps and failures in the delivery of service is a focus of this course. Evidence-based practice models and interventions for sustaining quality improvement will be analyzed. This course will focus on interprofessional collaboration working in management within complete system-level settings. Assessment and self-reflection on leadership skills will be a major focus of this course. **Note: Students are required to submit and obtain Aspen University IRB approval. The course requires documentation of 125 immersion hours associated with the DNP Project.

    4 Credits
    Required Books

    This course will focus on strategic healthcare practices for quality, access, value, budgeting, and cost-effectiveness. The student will evaluate and recommend system-wide strategies which focus on improving cost-effectiveness while assessing the organizational structure and workforce needs. Students will analyze relevant internal and external factors that drive healthcare costs, revenue and reimbursement between agency requirements and quality, fiscal, and value-based indicators. Evidence-based methodologies for the advanced level nurse related to the quality of care utilizing innovative solutions will be analyzed. Budgetary considerations, cash flow, cost to benefit analysis, and salaries are discussed in a forthright and comprehensive manner. **Note: Students will implement the Doctor of Nursing Practice Project within the approved immersion site. The course requires documentation of 125 immersion hours associated with the DNP Project.

    4 Credits
    Required Books

    This course will focus on the nurse as an advanced-level leader who analyzes and applies research and evaluation methodologies. Students will finalize a scholarly and academic response for Chapter 4 of the manuscript, post-project implementation, and data analysis. The course will focus on the implementation results of the DNP project. Project findings and recommendations will be reported within the manuscript. Implications for nursing practice will be integrated into practicum activities related to the Doctor of Nursing Practice Project and program outcomes. **Note: Students will be required to pass the Final Proctored Exam during this course and complete Chapter 4 of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Manuscript. The course requires documentation of 125 immersion hours associated with the DNP Project.

    4 Credits
    Required Books

    The DNP Capstone project course will focus on finalizing the final chapter of the manuscript. The student will demonstrate clinical significance, interprofessional collaboration and scholarship, reflect on personal and professional growth, leadership development, and defend the DNP project, findings, and recommendations before their full committee. Requirements for this course will include dissemination and defense. **Note: Students will complete Chapter 5 during this course and successfully defend their Doctor of Nursing Practice Project before their full DNP Project Team Committee in addition to dissemination of the DNP project findings.

    2 Credits
    Required Books
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