By Staff Reports
(Honolulu) – Hawai‘i Pacific University announced its new Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program that will be available to students starting in the fall semester. The DNP program is designed for master’s-prepared nurses who are seeking a doctoral degree.
The program, which is approved by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WASC Senior), is a practice-based doctoral program that prepares expert clinicians to develop, implement, and evaluate nursing practice using research knowledge and methods to improve patient and population-based care. Students will learn from faculty reflecting an interdisciplinary approach and team focus of health care delivery. The curricula is aligned with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Essential of Doctor in Nursing Practice Education (2011).
“We are proud to be recognized for having the academic quality, depth, and rigor to offer our first doctoral degree,” said Matthew Liao-Troth, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Provost. “This culminates an almost year-long process since our last reaccreditation from WASC Senior focusing specifically on offering doctoral degrees, and the DNP as our first doctoral degree. I credit the strength of our faculty and the staff of our university, as well as the success of our alumni in nursing, with the speedy approval of this first doctoral degree.”
HPU’s DNP is an online program that is tailored for nurses with a Master of Science in Nursing. The initial group of students will complete the program part time in approximately 24 months. Students in subsequent groups will have the option to complete the program in 12 months, enrolling full time.
“Nursing is one of the most complex, yet rewarding, professions in healthcare,” said Jessica Nishikawa, DNP, NP-C, DNP Program Coordinator and Associate Professor, Hawai‘i Pacific University. “Hawai‘i Pacific University created the doctor of nursing practice program for nurses who are committed to making a significant contribution to patient care delivery and desire a terminal degree in nursing.”
The first course of the program is delivered during a one-week mandatory face-to-face intensive on the Hawai‘i Pacific University campus. All other courses are completed online in eight-week sessions. This program allows nurse practitioners to continue working while earning their doctoral degree. The faculty will help students find practicum sites where they live.
The HPU Nursing Program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). CCNE accreditation of the DNP Program is in process.
HPU is now accepting applications for the 2017 Fall Semester. For more information and to review the requirements for the DNP, please click here. You may also contact Dr. Jessica Nishikawa, DNP, NP-C the DNP Program Coordinator at jnishikawa@hpu.edu.
About Hawai‘i Pacific University
Founded in 1965, Hawai‘i Pacific University has grown to become the state’s leading private, non-profit university, with a student population of nearly 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and nearly 65 countries around the world. It has campuses in downtown Honolulu, Kāne‘ohe, and Makapu‘u, and on military bases around O‘ahu. The Chronicle of Higher Education has named it the most diverse private university in the nation. www.HPU.edu