DNP Application and Requirements

You must reside in one of the following states:

• Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, or Virginia. At this time, the Doctor of Nursing program is limited to these specific states.

Earned a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or greater.

You must hold a Master's Degree from a program of nursing accredited regionally or nationally and by a nursing accreditor, including CCNE, NLNAC, CNEA, or ACEN.

• The unencumbered active license needs to be in the US State or territory that you reside and are completing your practicum project in.
• Hold a U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status at the time of application.
• Possess basic computer skills to complete Internet searches and use Microsoft Office.
• An essay discussing the topic of interest for the DNP Scholarly Project.
• One letter of reference from a Nursing or Healthcare supervisor/professional
• Be able to comply with Touro Nevada's required Nursing Technical Standards and Good Moral Character Behavior policy which includes the physical, emotional, and mental abilities necessary to perform as a nurse.

Visits to campus are not required. The DNP courses are offered in a fully online format. Students complete the practicum and scholarly project portions of the program in their geographical area.

The program is offered in 2 formats: Standard and Accelerated.

Standard track – recommended for nurses working full time.

• Students take 3 – 8 credits per trimester. This track requires approximately 12- 20 hours of work per week for successful completion.

Accelerated track – this is an intensive accelerated track that may be completed in 12 months of full-time study.

• Students take 11 credits per trimester. This track requires 30-40 hours of work per week for successful completion.

At the DNP level, 1,000 post-baccalaureate practicum hours are required to earn the degree. These hours help you develop deep knowledge and understanding of nursing leadership in areas you are interested in. The DNP curriculum has 528 hours of practicum built in.

Students who completed less than 472 hours of supervised, academic practicum at the Master’s level must complete additional practicum coursework in the DNP program. Additional practicum hours may be incorporated into the 12 months of study or the program may be extended an extra trimester. If your MSN was in an area of advanced practice nursing, you will not be required to take any extra practicum hours, only the practicum hours incorporated into the standard curriculum.

Contact the school you attended for your master's degree to verify the total practicum hours included in the program of study that you completed. Ask for an official letter to be sent from the director of your program. Alternatively, copies of syllabi that specify the practicum hours associated with the courses documented on your academic transcript may also be supplied. If you hold a National Certification in an area of advanced practice nursing, official verification can serve as evidence of practicum hour fulfillment for the MSN degree.

No, the program focuses on an indirect care role (nursing leadership). The program will not lead to eligibility to become certified as an advanced practice nurse (NP, CRNA, CNM, or CNS) and does not require students to have certification as an advanced practice nurse for admission.

You are required to be licensed for practice as an RN or an APN by the state within which you practice. Each state has its own procedure for granting licensure and its own licensing board. Students in the School of Nursing who complete any clinical or practicum requirement within the State of Nevada must be Registered Nurses in the State of Nevada.

Some MSN-Nursing Education programs supply verified clinical hours as a part of their required curriculum. These hours, as long as they are spent in the patient care environment and not in educating nursing students, may be considered. The national standard for DNP programs requires at least 1,000 hours of academic and supervised practicum be completed at the graduate level (inclusive of both MSN and DNP programs).

Hours spent in unsupervised clinical activity or hours spent supervised while educating nursing students can’t be considered. All practicum hours must be documented with an official transcript from an accredited institution of higher learning or by another approved method such as official verification letter. The practicum hours are focused on nursing professional development or quality improvement in clinical areas. Work with pre-licensure nursing students will not be able to be counted toward the practicum hour requirement.

Nursing Leadership is offered. The concept of leadership is focused on the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to fully implement the specialty role of the nursing leader in various practice settings. Other tracks may be offered in the future.

Yes, Touro University Nevada is licensed by the Commission on Postsecondary Education (CPE) to offer programs of higher learning in the State of Nevada. The University is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), which is a regional accreditation agency recognized by the United States Department of Education. The program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

You should identify a general topic area that is amenable to an evidence-based, translational research approach. This often means a quality improvement project in a nursing practice setting. The topic must relate to an area of interest within nursing leadership in a practice setting of your choice. The topic you identify in the application process may not be the topic that is approved for implementation throughout the program.

Examples of completed projects include:

• Disaster Preparedness through the Red Cross in a Rural Community in Kentucky
• Skin Cancer Screening in an Urban Homeless Shelter: A Program for Prevention
• Fall Prevention in an Urban Emergency Department
• Improving Antibiotic Selection for Symptomatic UTI’s in Older Adults without Indwelling Catheters in the Long-Term-Care Environment
• Reducing wait times in a local Urgent Care Clinic
• Improving Mental Health Treatment Protocols in a State Prison System
• Tobacco Free Teens Program in a Mobile Clinic
• Rural Native American Healthcare: Improving Health Literacy through a Standardized Care Approach
• Reducing BMI of Factory Workers: An Employer-Based Wellness Program

Focus on a specific topic related to nursing leadership in the practice area of your choice and tie the topic to a potential evidence-based project idea. You are expected to have a general topic area for scholarly exploration but are not expected to have a perfectly formed question in your essay. You will refine the topic and create the question for further exploration during the first DNP course.

Follow APA guidelines (7th ed.) for style and format. Adhere to general rules of the English language when composing the essay. Make your message clear and succinct.

No, a dissertation is completed in PhD programs. Scholarly projects are completed in DNP programs. The scholarly project does require a significant amount of written work. A dissertation is considered research of discovery (doing new research) and a DNP project is taking research that has already been proven in the published literature and implementing it into practice to improve outcomes.

The DNP curriculum provides didactic education and practice experience that supports your success in a variety of ways. For example, the program walks you through the steps of completing the scholarly project. You begin the process in the first DNP course and build the project throughout the remainder of the program. By the end of the last DNP course, you will have identified a topic, devised, implemented, and evaluated your project.

The program uses a constructivist philosophy, which encourages student engagement and application of major concepts as they are studied. A more traditional approach asks students to read specific material, discuss what they’ve read, and complete an assignment. The course grade is comprised of how well the student’s work reflects the expected outcomes associated with each assignment.

Each student is assigned an academic mentor upon admission to the program. The academic mentor (AM) serves in an advisory capacity and works with the student throughout the program to answer questions, ensure significant milestones are met, and to coach and encourage the student towards success. A practice mentor (PM) is chosen by the student and approved by the faculty during the first DNP course. The practice mentor serves as a support person and role model in the practice setting. The AM is a faculty member, while the PM may be a nurse educator not on faculty at Touro University Nevada but that has a willingness to assist the student and possesses expertise in the area of the student’s scholarly project topic.

Touro University Nevada supports student success by providing access to the online Jay Sexter Library, instructional technology resources, a full complement of student services, including academic support, and others.

The DNP graduate is prepared to translate existing knowledge and evidence into practice to improve healthcare outcomes.

The PhD graduate is prepared to create new knowledge and evidence through research of discovery.

Rolling admissions signifies that applications are reviewed as they arrive through the Touro University Nevada admissions application. The committee review selection begins after applications and documents are complete and submitted fully, and will continue until all the accepted seats are filled. This may take place well before the stated deadline(s) due to the volume of applications.

Yes, Pass/Fail grades will be accepted. Passing grades will be given the weight of a 3.0 GPA received for that course(s).