York to offer first doctoral program

For the first time in decades, York College of Pennsylvania has had to make a change to its mission statement. That’s because beginning in Fall 2011, the College will offer – in addition to programs leading to associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees – its first doctoral program, the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP).

In 2004, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), a majority of the deans and directors of baccalaureate and higher degree schools of nursing from around the country, voted to move advanced practice nurse preparation from the master’s level to the doctoral level by 2015. This new AACN policy will make the DNP the standard for advance practice nursing education.

The DNP is a practice doctorate, aimed at preparing nurses as experts in specialty areas of advanced nursing practice (nurse anesthetist, clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner and nurse midwife). It is the highest level of education for nursing practice, and according to the AACN, will replace the Master of Science degree for nurse practitioners and those in leadership roles.

“The DNP promotes advanced practice nursing and is the next step for clinicians,” said Lynn Warner, associate professor of nursing and coordinator of the College’s nursing graduate program. “It is what students graduating from our current master’s programs are looking for.“

DNP students will acquire the skills to influence change that will improve health outcomes in populations specific to their advanced specialty preparation, according to Jacqueline Harrington, chair of The Donald and Dorothy Stabler Nursing Program at York College. “The DNP embodies a higher level of overall knowledge and scope of practice, and theoretically, would mean that DNP graduates could assume greater responsibility and accountability for their patients.”

The AACN rationale for moving in this direction was to make nursing education similar to other health care disciplines, like pharmacy, physical therapy, and audiology, where a clinical doctorate has become the standard, according to Harrington. “The precedence has been set, and this is where nursing needs to be,” she said.

In addition, the move to the DNP addresses the demands of graduate applicants and of healthcare systems, according to Harrington. The AACN also cited in its rationale the need to acknowledge the large number of credits already required in advanced practice nursing education, to facilitate the development of faculty to fill the nursing faculty shortage, and to better educate nurses to address increasingly complicated clinical issues. “The DNP has caught on like wildfire,” Harrington added.

York College’s program, which will enroll six students next fall (2011) and will eventually grow to a maximum of 10, will be offered as an executive model to meet the needs of professional, adult learners. That means intensive weeklong courses that allow students to immerse themselves in the academic experience while continuing their job responsibilities. Two courses will be offered during the two weeks before the start of the fall, spring and summer sessions. During the rest of the semester, students will be supported by faculty and their peers through Web-based communication and through occasional on-campus seminars.

Applicants must have earned a master’s degree from a program accredited by the National League for Nursing or the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. “Our program will build on current master’s programs by providing education in evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and health policy changes to enhance health care delivery at the system-wide level,” Harrington said.

The DNP program, which includes 35-39 credits and a minimum of 240 clinical hours, will take about two years (five semesters) to complete. It will culminate with a practice immersion experience in which the student develops, implements and evaluates a practice change initiative within a clinical setting.

York College’s DNP program is the only such program offered in the southcentral Pennsylvania area, according to Warner and Harrington. “We’re offering the DNP in order to continue to respond to the needs of the profession and to meet the needs of our surrounding community as we have in the past,” Harrington said.

Applications for the DNP program will be accepted until Feb. 15, 2011, for enrollment beginning in Fall 2011. For admission or additional information, please contact Andrea Wolf, associate professor of nursing and director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, at awolf3@ycp.edu or 717-815-1583.

The Donald and Dorothy Stabler Nursing Program at York College has offered a Bachelor of Science degree since 1977 and a Master of Science degree since 2001. Nursing is the largest undergraduate major at York, enrolling more than 500 students annually and providing an undergraduate degree with generic, LPN, and RN-to-BS tracks. The Master of Science program, which enrolls about 65 students, provides preparation of the Adult Clinical Nurse Specialist with an administrative or education focus, the Nurse Educator, the Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, and the Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner in Adult Health.