The College of Nursing's Doctor of Nursing Practice was approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on July 19, 2007. The first cohort of DNP students will begin the program in the Summer of 2008. The DNP program builds on the legacy of the TWU PhD in Nursing Science, one of the oldest nursing doctoral programs in the United States.

The TWU Doctor of Nursing Practice is designed to prepare Nurse Practitioners and Certified Nurse Midwives to function as expert clinicians who integrate and evaluate evidenced-based practices in acute and primary care settings. The DNP curriculum broadens and expands on the skills of the master's prepared Advanced Practice Nurse to include enhanced clinical expertise, implementation of healthcare informatics technologies, and increased depth in the application of scientific advances and health care organizational concepts to nursing practice.

The Doctor of Nursing Practice will be based at the TWU Dallas Institute of Health Sciences, with support courses offered from the TWU Denton campus. The Doctor of Nursing Practice requires 46 credit hours, and many courses are completely or partially on-line. Please contact Peggy Mancuso, PhD, CNM at pmancuso@twu.edu (214-689-6564 or 214-689-6552) for further information about the Doctor of Nursing Practice program at TWU.

• Apply evidence from nursing and the biophysical, psychosocial, behavioral, and clinical sicences to complex health issues.
• Implement health care delivery models and strategies designed for quality improvement in patient care.
• Analyze existing research and design and conduct evaluations of clinical interventions to implement evidence-based practice.
• Employ an evidence-based framework when conducting research on clinical interventions.
• Develop and advocate for health care policy.
• Collaborate with other health professionals to provide high quality, ethical patient-centered care that meets current standards of best practice.
• Synthesize concepts of health promotion and protection and disease prevention in managing complex health problems.
• Apply expert clinical judgment in providing comprehensive assessment, diagnosis, and management of health and illness in diverse populations.
• Provide visionary nursing leadership through contributions to the management and guidance of health care systems.

All applicants must meet the general requirements for admission to the Graduate School. In addition to these general requirements, the College of Nursing requires the following for unconditional admission to the Doctor of Nursing Practice program.

Academic Requirements:

• Master's degree with a major in nursing from a program accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting body

• Minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 on prior graduate level course work or

• A preferred score of 460 on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Verbal and 500 on the GRE Quantitative; or

• A preferred score of 50 on the Miller Analogies Test (MAT)

• Course in research at the graduate level

• Course in statistics at the graduate level

Professional Requirements :

• Current unencumbered license to practice professional nursing in the United States

• Certification as an APN (NP or CNM) by a nationally recognized accrediting body

• Eligibility to be recognized as an APN in Texas

Other Requirements :

• Curriculum vita or resume

• Two letters of recommendation

• Letter discussing professional goals

• All applicants being considered for admission will be interviewed

Applicants who do not meet the unconditional criteria, but who have a minimum GPA of 3.0 on prior graduate level course work, may be considered for provisional admission on an individual basis. Factors that will be considered in the admission decision are

• GPA on graduate level work,

• GRE Verbal and Quantitative scores or MAT score

• Scholarly activities

• Professional leadership

• Work history

Semester	Courses	Credit Hours
I (Summer)	NURS 6023 Philosophy of Nursing HSM 5003  Management of Health Services Total Hours	3 3 6
II (Fall)	NURS 6313 Epidemiology, Health Promotion, and       Research in Advanced Nursing Practice LS 5363 Health Sciences Information Serrvices          BIOL 5533 Medical Genetics                  Total Hours	3 3 3 9
III (Spring)	NURS 6163 Health Outcomes: Measurement,       Management, and Analysis NURS 6033 Ethical Dimensions of Nursing               NURS 6323 Informatics and Research in Nursing       and Health Care Total Hours	3 3 3 9
IV (Summer)	NURS 6043 Policy, Power, and Politics      Elective                                                                 Total Hours	3 3 6
V (Fall)	NURS 6035 DNP Practicum I                                       Elective                                                                                Total Hours	5 3 8
VI (Spring)	NURS 6045 DNP Practicum II                                   NURS 6303 Professional Capstone Project               Total Hours	5 3 8