Northeastern University is launching a new clinical doctorate program this fall, the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program. The program is designed to further equip already experienced nurses to assume clinical and leadership positions, and to be effective collaborators and change agents who enhance quality and safety in health care.

“The changing demands of the nation’s complex health-care environment require that nurses serving in advanced practice positions have the highest possible level of scientific knowledge and practice expertise,” says Lynn Babington, associate professor and DNP program director.

Encompassing leadership, research translation, population health, informatics, and health-care economics and policy, the program affords nurses advanced capabilities to:
• design, evaluate and continuously improve health-care delivery systems and environments
• critique nursing and clinical scientific findings
• design programs that deliver care that is workable locally, feasible economically, and that leads to positive outcomes
• appraise research and translate it into practice to influence health-care policy and systems of care
• take on leadership roles in developing innovative programs to reduce medical errors, create new care systems and provide advanced-practice care for underserved, diverse populations

The program culminates in an evidence-based scholarly capstone project. Students will demonstrate publication-worthy mastery in their area of clinical practice. For example, a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit might develop, implement and evaluate a quality control initiative. A pediatric nurse could work with a public health department to evaluate issues related to children’s immunization. Another might take a leadership role in a hospital by developing a self-governance model.

Open to experienced nurses with master’s degrees, the DNP program will be offered full- and part-time as a hybrid of online courses and face-to-face meetings.

For more information, please visit www.northeastern.edu/bouve/programs/dnp.html.