Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program at Southeastern Louisiana University is an advanced practice degree designed to prepare graduates at the highest level of nursing practice. The DNP Program focuses on advanced nursing practice to influence health outcomes for individuals (populations including direct care, care management or indirect care such as nursing administration, health policy, informatics, or population health).

DNP Student Handbook

The Post-MSN DNP applicant holds a Master of Science in Nursing and has experience as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), including nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwife, certified registered nurse anesthetist, or clinical nurse specialist and/or a nurse executive.

The BSN-DNP applicant holds a Bachelors of Science in Nursing and has experience as a registered nurse. The applicant desires a specialization as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP), or Nurse Executive.

The DNP is a practice-focused terminal degree.  Practice-focused graduates are prepared to generate knowledge through innovation of practice change, translation of evidence and the implementation of quality improvement processes in a variety of practice settings, systems, or with specific populations to improve health or health outcomes.  Organizational and systems leadership are critical for DNP graduates to develop and evaluate new models of care delivery and sustain change at the organization and systems levels.

The curriculum includes areas such as Biostatistics, epidemiology, clinical scholarship and analytic methods, preventive care, informatics, organizational and systems leadership, ethics, healthcare policy, project planning and practicum hours.

Students successfully graduating with an MSN concentration as a Family Nurse Practitioner meet the educational requirements to take either the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) national certification examinations for Family Nurse Practitioner.  Certification is required to be eligible for licensure as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) in Louisiana.

Most of the coursework required in the program is conducted through online technology allowing for flexible course completion.  The online courses go through the Course Alignment Process (CAP).  CAP is a facility-centered, peer review process designed to certify the quality of online courses and is based on national standards of best practice, research and instructional design principles.

Students must be on campus for DNP orientation and defense of the DNP project.  Students choose preceptors and facilities.  Practicum hours are obtained within various facilities. 

The DNP Program prepares graduates to:

• Function at the highest level of professional practice to provide complex care for patients and families in a variety of settings.
• Incorporate scholarship, research, and analytic methods to redesign and evaluate nursing and healthcare systems.
• Function as leaders in healthcare, service, and academic settings.

Those who earn a Southeastern DNP degree:

• Synthesize advanced theoretical concepts from nursing and other disciplines to support clinical leadership practices
• Incorporate scholarship, research, and analytic methods to lead evidence-based practice change and continuous quality improvement
• Generate clinical prevention and population health improvement strategies
• Translate complex scientific findings into clinical and leadership practice
• Integrate processes that support technology-enhanced, data-based healthcare
• Foster intra- and interdisciplinary collaborations, which advance the level and quality of care across populations and systems
• Utilize knowledge of health policy to facilitate advocacy initiatives, social justice, and ethical care
• Assume high-level leadership roles in organizations and systems to positively impact the health of individuals and populations

Dr. Susan Prude,
Graduate Coordinator College of Nursing & Health Sciences
SLU Box 10448
Hammond, LA 70402
Tel: (985) 549-5045
Fax: (985) 549-5087
Email: [email protected]