TCU's first DNP graduates ready to improve patient care

Fort Worth, TX

5/11/2009

By: Stephanie Patrick

For Jennifer E. Jones, a nurse practitioner at Longview Regional Medical Center in Longview, 50 to 60 hour work-weeks are the norm. So, when she decided to pursue an advanced degree, Jones needed a program that was both flexible with her busy schedule and addressed practical applications for patient care.

“There’s so much information out there to help patients,” she said. “If you know how to get the research and how to properly apply it, you can make the necessary changes and decisions that can really change people’s lives and conditions for the better.”

Two years after Jones opted to tackle a Doctorate of Nursing Practice degree at TCU’s Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences, she was one of 23 nurses to graduate May 9 in its inaugural DNP class. All DNP graduates did their coursework online while employed in six states as nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse anesthetists or clinical nurse specialists.

“These are highly qualified professionals, who have now earned degrees similar to what lawyers, dentists or physicians have,” said Dr. Kathy Baker, an associate professor who became director of the DNP program in March 2008. “Instead of preparing a student to be a scientist in nursing, this degree actually prepares a nurse to be a leader in using research in practice."

DNP degrees focus on finding solutions to each patient’s problems, not on why processes don’t work or why the problems exist. Harris College launched the two-year degree program in response to national trends in nursing education and practice. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing recognizes the DNP program as the highest level of clinical practice, even recommending that the current level of preparation necessary for advanced nursing practice move from a master’s degree to the doctorate level by 2015.

The first year of Harris College’s program includes a curriculum of didactic courses, while the second year focuses on practice and has each student completing a final project. Students in the program also have the opportunity to travel to Australia to learn how that country’s health care system compares to the United States’ model.

Seventeen advanced practice nurses have been accepted into the program in the fall. The program also has 20 students currently enrolled, who are scheduled to graduate in Spring 2010. To further address the changing needs of the nursing profession, a second track in nursing administration---designed for chief nursing officers and nursing directors primarily--- will start in the fall, 2009. The deadline for applications has passed, but students have yet to be selected.

“Those who succeed in the DNP program are self-motivated and able to take the course content and streamline it into their own personal career interests and strengths,” she said. “A few of our students have even commented that they liked the research processes much more than they expected and are considering working towards a Ph.D. to complement their DNP skills.”

The newly styled Dr. Jones, who did her final project on pandemic flu and has used some of the information she learned while treating some possible H1N1 flu cases in Longview, said earning her DNP was a good decision.

“You work hard, but you can make the program fit your needs and the needs of your patients,” she said. “It definitely raises the bar, as far as what you can do as a nurse.”

For more information about earning a Doctorate of Nursing Practice from TCU, visit www.harriscollege.tcu.edu/dnp.asp.