Doctor of Nursing Practice

Applications now being accepted for Fall 2013

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program at The University of Akron offers doctoral preparation to nurses whose career emphasis is on furthering their direct clinical advanced nursing practice skills (Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Anesthetist, and Nurse Midwife) or whose practice is in areas that directly support clinical practice such as nursing administration and/or healthcare policy/program development. The DNP program at The University of Akron is a post masters model and candidates therefore must be credentialed to be considered for acceptance.

The program is offered in a hybrid format. This means that there is a blend of intensive face to face, distance and/or asynchronous learning modalities that are determined based on the course/content/semester. The student can complete the program in two years of full time (two courses per semester) study.  Part time options are also available.

The University of Akron has a long tradition of being home to one of Ohio’s top ranked programs of nursing. One of the particular strengths of our DNP program is that unlike other DNP programs, the courses at The University of Akron are taught by a complimentary blend of DNP and PhD prepared faculty, thus offering the student exposure to the best of both clinical/professional and academic/research scholarship. 

Program Goals

1. Prepare nursing leaders to engage in professional nursing practice at the highest level in complex interdisciplinary healthcare environments and emergent systems
2. Translation of research for practice, evaluation of clinical outcomes and best practices
3. Identification and management of the health care of individuals, communities and populations regionally and nationally within a global context
4. Integrate advances in scientific knowledge, technology, and information systems into patient care outcomes

What to Expect Upon Completion

Graduates of the DNP program will be able to:

1. Practice clinically at the highest level of advanced practice nursing
2. Assume leadership positions in organizational and health systems
3. Engage in scholarly activities related to translational science methodologies
4. Demonstrate analytical skills in the evaluation of health policy
5. Become adept at influencing health care either my leading interdisciplinary health care teams or shaping health care policy at the local, regional, or global level