Transforming Nurse Practitioner Education Through an Innovative Academic Partnership

In order to meet the increasingly complex demands of the health care system, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Position Statement on the Practice Doctorate in Nursing called for moving the level of preparation of advanced nursing practice from the master’s to the doctoral level by 2015.  Similarly, the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) report on the Future of Nursing recommended that the number of nurses with doctorates should be doubled by 2020.  The transformational change in the educational preparation of advanced practice nurses to the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) emphasizes leadership, innovation and evidence-based practice.  Recent reports also suggest that employers recognize the contributions being made by DNP prepared nurses.  The purpose of this presentation is to describe the development of an academic partnership designed to educate a critical mass of DNP prepared nurse practitioners and meet the recommendations of the AACN and IOM.

The academic partnership is based on an agreement between a large, metropolitan healthcare organization and a college of nursing in a state land-grant university.  Beginning in January, 2014 the $7.5 million, 7-year academic partnership will prepare a total of 150 nurses with Doctor of Nursing Practice degrees who will be eligible sit for certification and be licensed as Advanced Practice Registered Nurses.  Applicants must be currently employed in the health care organization, have three years of service with the organization and meet the College of Nursing’s DNP program admission criteria.  The partnership calls for admission of five cohorts of 20-30 students in the College’s existing, 3-year, accredited BSN-DNP program. The following nurse practitioner specialty options will be offered: Adult-Gerontology Acute Care, Primary Care (Adult-Gerontology, Family, and Pediatric), and Psychiatric Mental-Health. 

The presentation will describe the development of the proposal, admission process, curriculum delivery model, issues related to faculty and staff workload, and plans for formative and summative evaluation.  The challenges encountered while implementing an academic partnership will also be discussed.