BSN to DNP
To further your career, the NDSU Doctor of Nursing Practice degree prepares you to become certified and licensed to provide advanced nursing care as a family nurse practitioner.
NDSU’s program provides you an on-campus opportunity to personally interact with graduate faculty with clinical and research expertise. We focus on face-to-face instruction, with synchronous classes offered between Fargo and Bismarck sites.
Our faculty work with all FNP students to find clinical placements. Faculty have the primary responsibility to secure clinical placements. NDSU graduates have a 100% first time passing rate on the FNP certification exam.
Learn from eight NDSU FNP faculty members with more than 100 years of combined clinical experience. As we are among the first four DNP programs established in the U.S., we use that expertise to help you advance your nursing goals.
We emphasize evidenced-based approaches to healthcare using strategic problem-solving skills.
Guidelines provided by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) are utilized in the curriculum.
The Doctor of Nursing Practice program at NDSU is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (http://www.ccneaccreditation.org).
Role of the Family Nurse Practitioner:
- Obtains medical histories and performs physical examinations.
- Diagnoses and treats acute health problems such as infections and injuries.
- Diagnoses, treats, and monitors chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
- Orders, performs, and interprets diagnostic studies such as lab work and x-rays.
- Prescribes medications and other treatments.
- Provides prenatal care and family planning services.
- Provides well-child care, including screening and immunizations.
- Provides health maintenance care for adults, including annual physicals.
- Promotes positive health behaviors and self-care skills through education and counseling.
- Collaborates with physicians and other health professionals as needed.
Advising
Each student is assigned an advisor on admission to the program. The graduate student is responsible for initiating each step in progression toward the degree. At the point of submission of the degree plan to the graduate office, the chair of the supervisory committee becomes the advisor. This may or may not be the same faculty member who was assigned as advisor for the student on admission to the nursing program. The student should notify the graduate nursing program academic assistant if there is a change in advisor.
The curriculum of the North Dakota State University Doctor of Nursing Practice program prepares graduates to:
- Translate knowledge and ways of knowing from nursing science, ethics, social, biological, and other sciences to benefit practice effectiveness and the health of individuals, families, communities, organizations, and populations.
- Demonstrate clinically expert, evidence-based practice that focuses on personcentered, holistic, and individualized care to improve the health of individuals, families, communities, and populations.
- Collaborate with stakeholders to influence population health through prevention, health promotion, and disease management.
- Understand, apply, and evaluate scholarship and evidence-based best practices and methodologies.
- Design, manage, and evaluate systems for quality and safety to improve delivery of healthcare.
- Collaborate with other health disciplines and stakeholders to increase accessibility to healthcare, work toward elimination of health disparities, and optimize health outcomes.
- Appraise complex systems and healthcare resources to influence innovation, equity, and effectiveness.
- Use technology and informatics (information and patient care) to enhance nursing practice for improvement of quality and efficiency of care.
- Cultivate students’ professional and ethical identity that accounts for diversity, equity, and inclusion that supports and reflects nursing’s characteristics and values.
- Integrate strategies to foster personal and professional resilience, capacity for leadership, and lifelong learning.
(Advanced practice nurse with a baccalaureate in nursing)
- Applicants must complete the graduate school admissions application by February 15 for fall admission. The graduate school application and directions are at https://www.ndsu.edu/gradschool
- Three professional references are required. Two of the required references are to be from professional colleagues that address clinical competence and ability to succeed in graduate study.
- Prospective students are asked to compose an essay that includes a narrative of professional experience and a statement of their professional goals.
- Current unencumbered license as a registered nurse
- Baccalaureate degree in nursing from a nationally accredited nursing program with a minimum GPA of 3.0
- Preference is given for one or more years' experience
- Proficiency in computer skills and access to a computer with Internet capabilities
- Admission interviews with nursing faculty are scheduled in February for fall admission.
Progression
After admission, the following must be completed
- Documentation of health status
- Criminal background checks
- Documentation of ACLS certification - prior to first clinical
- Degree plan completed in collaboration with faculty by the end of the second semester
- A cumulative grade of at least 3.0 must be maintained. No more than two grades of less than B may be earned in courses required for the degree.
Degree requirements must be completed within seven years after admission.
The outcomes of the doctor of nursing practice program in nursing are derived from the mission, vision and core values of the school of nursing and the following professional guidelines:
- The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (AACN 2021)
- Criteria for Evaluation of Nurse Practitioner Programs (NTF,2022)
- The Code of Ethics with Interpretive Statements (American Nurses Association,2015)
- Scope and Standards of Advanced Practice Registered Nursing(2015)
- The North Dakota Board of Nursing Rules and Regulations
- Nurse Practitioner Core Competencies (NONPF2022)
Curriculum
NDSU offers a program to prepare students for eligibility for certification as a family nurse practitioner. The full-time eight-semester course of study leads to a Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree (DNP).
The curriculum is comprised of three components:
- Graduate core courses
- Practice core courses, and
- Specialty curriculum content
A minimum of 1,020 hours clinical practice are required.
