Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) Major in Nursing Practice

Program Overview

The School of Nursing's (SON) online post-master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program is designed to prepare advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) and nurse executives at the highest level of nursing education. The post-master’s DNP is a clinical practice doctorate and terminal degree for master’s prepared nurses seeking career advancement opportunities through doctoral education.

The DNP program offers two tracks, Executive Practice and Executive Leadership. The Executive Practice track for APRNs empowers students to lead clinicians in complex healthcare environments, including disaster and crisis situations, negotiate within the healthcare system, and learn clinical entrepreneurship and practice management. DNP Executive Practice graduates will be prepared to develop new models of healthcare practice to improve individual, population, and global health; lead policy change; and engage in entrepreneurship. The Executive Leadership for nurse executives track prepares graduates for executive level leadership, business and financial savvy, disaster management, and political influence. Executive Leadership graduates will be well prepared to influence and change policy and transform hospitals or organizations through greater access and integration of innovative ideas from the highest echelons of nursing administration.

The SON’s leading-edge curriculum prepares graduates to effectively translate innovative practice models and expertly direct the delivery of care across the healthcare and organizational continuum. The practice-focused doctoral curriculum affords graduates the specialized knowledge, skills, and competencies needed for nursing roles in today’s complex health care systems. Additional essential competencies include entrepreneurial skills, business administration, healthcare economics, advocacy, disaster management, influence, and the ability to lead change in health policy formation to contribute to the effectiveness of health care systems in Texas and global healthcare settings.

The program admits once a year in summer terms. The program is offered as a part-time, six semester online program with each term ranging from five to eight credit hours per semester. The curriculum was designed to promote school-work-life balance for working professional nurses to enhance the likelihood of success and retention in a rigorous doctoral program. Completion of the program requires a minimum of 41 credit hours. Required virtual or on-campus intensives (OCIs) at scheduled intervals each semester facilitate additional opportunities for learning, engagement, and assessment. In fall and spring terms, students attend virtual or on–campus intensives typically twice for two days at a time.  In summer, students will attend once for a three to five day intensive. Dates are published in advance for applicants and current students.

Doctor of Nursing Practice Program Outcomes

Graduates of the DNP program will gain knowledge, skills, and competencies for the following educational outcomes:

1. Integrate nursing science, theory, and evidence-based principles to advance scholarship and develop new practice approaches to care delivery.
2. Lead interprofessional teams through consultation and analysis of complex practice and strategies to positively affect change across organizational systems.
3. Synthesize and translate evidence into practice to design, implement, evaluate, and disseminate best practices to improve healthcare outcomes of individuals, aggregates, and populations.
4. Evaluate interventions based on the analysis of epidemiological and scientific data that target health promotion and disease prevention efforts to reduce community and global health disparities in individuals, aggregates, and populations.
5. Lead quality improvement efforts incorporating healthcare technology to progressively transform organizational and system performance.
6. Employ strategic leadership skills through advocacy to impact health policy initiatives, social justice, and ethical care for culturally, ethnically, and socially diverse populations.
7. Practice as an expert in an area of specialization within the larger domain of nursing through demonstration of advanced levels of clinical judgement, systems thinking, financial savvy, and accountability to improve individual, population, and global health outcomes.
8. Model professional accountability, collegiality, and ethics in clinical judgement, systems thinking, and professional practice.

Program Standards

Students attending the Doctor of Nursing Practice program must maintain high scholastic standards and develop competencies necessary to work effectively as a nurse leader, practitioner, and/or executive with people with diverse needs and within various healthcare settings. Students are expected to demonstrate emotional, mental, and physical fitness in their interactions with others, model behaviors, and skills and techniques that are generally accepted by the professional community and conform to the Code of Ethics of the American Nurses Association, applicable state board of nursing, and the laws of the state in which they reside. A student’s acceptance into the program does not guarantee that student’s fitness to remain in the program. Faculty members are responsible for assuring that only those students who continue to meet academic and professional behavior standards are allowed to continue in the program.

Evaluating Student’s Professional Behavior

Members of the faculty, using their professional judgment, evaluate student’s academic performance, clinical competency, and professional behavior continuously. Students receive feedback and direction related to their professional behavior performance from faculty members, their advisors, and their clinical preceptors. The criteria used by the faculty to make such judgments include faculty observations of competencies, course performance, evaluation of student’s performance in simulated situations or labs, preceptor evaluations of student’s performance in clinical situations, professional behaviors assessment, assessment of clinical skills, and adherence to the Code of Ethics. Relevant expectations are explicit in each course syllabus, course outcomes, and in clinical evaluations. Students who are not making satisfactory progress in a course will receive remediation; however, those who are not meeting program or professional standards may be encouraged to withdraw from the program.

Clinical Education

All students are required to complete practicum experiences focused on the DNP program outcomes and the DNP scholarly project in clinical health care facilities. Some clinical experiences and preceptor arrangements may require students to travel for practicum hours, any costs of travel during the experiences are the responsibility of the student.

Immunization Requirements

It is the policy of the College of Health Professions that each student must provide a health report completed by a physician or licensed healthcare provider (APRN, MD/DO, PA), and must complete specific titers and immunizations before the student can be placed in a clinical practicum. Students must remain up to date on immunizations and Basic Life Support (BLS) for Healthcare Professionals. Detailed information on these will be provided to students who are admitted to the program. 

Background Check and Drug Screening

As a condition for admission to the program and clinical in professional practice sites, students are required to have a background check and drug screening to meet requirements set by individual sites. Information on the background check/drug screening process will be provided by the SON upon admission. Previous misdemeanor or felony convictions under various titles of state penal codes may affect licensing status. All nursing students are subject to random, or for cause drug and alcohol screenings throughout the program.

Application Requirements

The items listed below are required for admission consideration for applicable semesters of entry during the current academic year. Submission instructions, additional details, and changes to admission requirements for semesters other than the current academic year can be found on The Graduate College's website. International students should review the International Admission Documents page for additional requirements.

• completed online application
• $55 nonrefundable application fee

         or

• $90 nonrefundable application fee for applications with international credentials
• an earned Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree and Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from a regionally accredited institution and nationally accredited nursing program by CCNE, ACEN, or NLNAC
  • The MSN major must be in administration/leadership or in one of the four APRN roles (nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, nurse anesthetist, nurse midwife).
  • Other MSN majors will be considered but may require additional coursework.
• official transcripts from each institution where course credit was granted
• minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for MSN degree
  • If a student completed an Associate Degree in Nursing to Master of Science in Nursing (ADN-MSN), minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in last 60 hours of upper division nursing undergraduate nursing courses is required.
• current, valid, unencumbered Registered Nurse licensure in Texas or have current multi-state licensure
  • For those applying to the APRN track, a current, valid, unencumbered Advanced Practice Registered Nurse license in the state in which they practice, along with current national board certification as a nurse practitioner, nurse midwife, clinical nurse specialist, or nurse anesthetist.
• GRE not required
• current CV or resume showing minimum equivalent of one-year full-time experience in a managerial or leadership role, or APRN position prior to the application deadline for the program
• written professional essay and goals statement using guidelines provided by the program
• three (3) professional letters of recommendation from persons competent to assess the applicant's academic capability, clinical expertise, and interest in pursuing doctoral nursing education
• an interview with DNP Admissions Committee

TOEFL, PTE, or IELTS Scores

Non-native English speakers who do not qualify for an English proficiency waiver:

• official TOEFL iBT scores required with a 78 overall
• official PTE scores required with a 52
• official IELTS (academic) scores required with a 6.5 overall and minimum individual module scores of 6.0

This program does not offer admission if the scores above are not met.

Additional Information

Additional admissions criteria must be completed prior to admission and the required due dates as listed on the School of Nursing's DNP webpage.

All DNP students are required to have accumulated 1000 clinical practicum hours by graduation from the DNP program. Total clinical practicum hours include both eligible master’s degree hours and earned DNP program practicum hours. Students who enter the post-master's DNP program may have varied amounts of graduate clinical hours accumulated during their master’s nursing program. A gap-analysis of hours will be completed by the DNP Admissions Committee upon admission. Admitted students who do not have a minimum of eligible 480 post-baccalaureate clinical practicum hours from their MSN program will be required to complete additional clinical practicum hours through required practicum courses. These hours are beyond the 520 hours they will accumulate in the Texas State DNP curriculum and assist the student to meet the minimum 1000 clinical practicum hour requirement. 

Degree Requirements

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) major in Nursing Practice requires 41 total semester credit hours.

Students enrolled in the DNP program are required to earn a grade of at least 80% ("B" or higher) in all courses in the DNP curriculum. DNP nursing courses are offered in a lock-step sequence. Each course will be offered only once each academic year; therefore, progress in the program will be delayed if the student fails ("C" or lower) or drops/withdraws from a course. Students may repeat or withdraw from one nursing course only one time during the duration of the program. 

Students who fail to keep their admission requirements (immunizations, CPR, etc.) up to date cannot attend class or clinical, resulting in a student unable to meet course requirements. Students who do not maintain admission or prevailing requirements within two weeks of notification of expiration will be required to meet with the program director and may be subject to withdrawal from their courses. This will alter program progression and counts towards the number of course attempts in the program.

Students who withdraw with permission from the program for more than one semester must petition the Nursing Admission, Progression and Graduation (APG) Committee to reenter. Re-entry is not guaranteed due to faculty-student ratios, accreditation requirements, and other aspects of the program. A student who has been out more than one year will have to reapply to the program through The Graduate College using the standard application process. Students who have been out of the program over one year may also be required to retake courses in the program to remain current.

Course Requirements

To graduate with the DNP degree, a student must successfully complete all graduate nursing courses, practicum hours, and program requirements and maintain a 3.0 or higher GPA in the graduate nursing program. Students have five (5) years to complete their DNP degree in the SON.

Comprehensive Examination Requirement

All candidates for graduate degrees must pass one or more comprehensive examinations. The comprehensive exam for the DNP program is the DNP Scholarly Project and successful completion of required DNP practicum hours, which includes designing, implementing, and dissemination of a translational research project. Students complete a written scholarly paper, professional poster, and presentation of their project in the last year of the program. Students who do not successfully complete the requirements for the degree within the timelines specified will be dismissed from the program.

Doctoral level courses in Nursing Practice: NURS

Courses Offered

Nursing (NURS)