2023-24 Edition

Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.)

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) degree program is a professional practice-focused doctorate designed to develop competencies for advanced clinical and leadership roles in nursing and healthcare. The D.N.P. program increases opportunities for nurses to meet the demands of an increasingly complex and changing healthcare landscape. The program and innovative curriculum capitalize on the educational richness of the College of Health Sciences.

This program utilizes a hybrid educational delivery platform.

DNP - Family Nurse Practitioner Track
The DNP Family Nurse Practitioner track is designed for students who have a B.S. or M.S. in nursing and are seeking a terminal practice-focused nursing degree and certification as a family nurse practitioner (FNP); this track can be completed in 11 quarters.

DNP (Post-Master's) Track
The DNP (Post-Master's) Track is designed for students who have an M.S. in nursing and are seeking a terminal practice-focused nursing degree without certification as a nurse practitioner (NP); this track can be completed in seven quarters.

DNP - Family Nurse Practitioner

Applicants must have:

  • Earned a bachelor’s or master’s degree in nursing from an accredited program
  • An active, unrestricted California RN license
  • At least one year full-time work (or equivalent) as a registered nurse in the U.S. prior to the start of program entry
  • Completed a course in descriptive and inferential statistics with a grade of B or better within five years of admission to the program
  • A complete application file including the application form, official transcripts, three letters of recommendation, and a resume or curriculum vitae
  • Applicants must meet the general requirements of the UCI Graduate Division.
  • A personal interview is required of all applicants considered for admission. The GRE is not required.

DNP (Post-Master's)

Applicants must have:

  • Earned a master’s degree in nursing from an accredited program
  • An active, unrestricted RN license in the state where D.N.P. practicum work will occur
  • At least one year fulltime work (or equivalent) as registered nurse in the U.S. prior to the start of program entry
  • Completed a course in descriptive and inferential statistics with a grade of B or better within five years admission to the program.
  • A complete application file including the application form, official transcripts, three letters of recommendation, and a resume or curriculum vitae
  • Applicants must meet the general requirements of the UCI Graduate Division
  • A personal interview is required of all applicants considered for admission. The GRE is not required.

Students enrolled in the DNP - Family Nurse Practitioner track complete 98 units and 1020 hours of clinical practice. Students enrolled in the DNP (Post-Master's) track complete 53 units and 540 hours of clinical practice. There is no foreign language requirement; proficiency in a language other than English is desirable but not required.

In lieu of a thesis or dissertation, a Scholarly Project will be required for this professional degree. In preparation for developing this D.N.P. Scholarly Project, students will complete a D.N.P. Project Proposal and present this to their D.N.P. Scholarly Project Team during the D.N.P. Scholarly Project II: Proposal course. Once approved by the Team, the student begins implementation of their D.N.P. Scholarly Project. The D.N.P. Scholarly Project requires students to demonstrate a synthesis of evidence-based practice in a practice area specific to their specialty and interest.

The students provide a final presentation of the completed work to the D.N.P. Team and invited University and community guests in their last quarter, at the conclusion of the D.N.P. epilogue course. Development of a formal manuscript suitable for publication is also required.

The normative time to degree for the DNP - Family Nurse Practitioner track is three years, with a maximum time permitted of five years. The normative time to degree for the DNP (Post-Master's) track is two years, with a maximum time permitted of four years.

DNP - Family Nurse Practitioner Requirements
A. Complete:
NUR SCI 200 Research Methods and Evaluation for Evidence-Based Practice
NUR SCI 210 Advanced Pathophysiology
NUR SCI 215 Health Promotion/Disease Prevention
NUR SCI 222A Seminar in Clinical Translational Science
NUR SCI 225A Advanced Pharmacology I
NUR SCI 225B Advanced Pharmacology II
NUR SCI 230 Advanced Health and Physical Assessment
NUR SCI 230L Advanced Health and Physical Assessment Laboratory
NUR SCI 231 DNP Prologue
NUR SCI 232 Leadership and Professional Collaboration in Healthcare
NUR SCI 233 Appraisal and Translation of Evidence for Practice
NUR SCI 234 Health Politics and Policy
NUR SCI 235 DNP Scholarly Project I: Conceptualization and Planning
NUR SCI 236 Social Determinants of Health and Health Equity
NUR SCI 237 DNP Intersession
NUR SCI 238 Foundations of Health Systems and Health Economics
NUR SCI 239 The Science of Change, Quality Improvement, and Program Evaluation
NUR SCI 240 DNP Scholarly Project II: Proposal
NUR SCI 241 DNP Scholarly Project III: Implementation and Evaluation
NUR SCI 242 DNP Scholarly Project IV: Implications
NUR SCI 243 DNP Epilogue
NUR SCI 245 Primary Care Adult/Gerontology Acute Common Conditions
NUR SCI 250 Primary Care Women's Health
NUR SCI 255 Primary Care Obstetrics
NUR SCI 260A Primary Care Adult/Gerontology Chronic Conditions
NUR SCI 270 Primary Care Pediatrics
NUR SCI 279A Frameworks for the Advanced Practice Registered Nursing Role: Nurse Practitioner
NUR SCI 282 Compassionate Care with Underserved Populations
NUR SCI 283 Primary Care Procedures
NUR SCI 285 DNP APRN Practicum I
NUR SCI 286 DNP APRN Practicum II
NUR SCI 287 DNP APRN Practicum III
NUR SCI 288 DNP APRN Practicum IV
NUR SCI 289 DNP APRN Practicum V
NUR SCI 290 DNP APRN Practicum VI
B. If additional units are needed, select from the following:
Curricular Design for the Health Professions
Transformational Leadership in Education for the Health Professions
DNP (Post-Master's) Requirements
A. Complete:
NUR SCI 231 DNP Prologue
NUR SCI 232 Leadership and Professional Collaboration in Healthcare
NUR SCI 222A Seminar in Clinical Translational Science
NUR SCI 233 Appraisal and Translation of Evidence for Practice
NUR SCI 234 Health Politics and Policy
NUR SCI 235 DNP Scholarly Project I: Conceptualization and Planning
NUR SCI 236 Social Determinants of Health and Health Equity
NUR SCI 237 DNP Intersession
NUR SCI 238 Foundations of Health Systems and Health Economics
NUR SCI 239 The Science of Change, Quality Improvement, and Program Evaluation
NUR SCI 240 DNP Scholarly Project II: Proposal
NUR SCI 241 DNP Scholarly Project III: Implementation and Evaluation
NUR SCI 242 DNP Scholarly Project IV: Implications
NUR SCI 243 DNP Epilogue
NUR SCI 248 Curricular Design for the Health Professions
NUR SCI 249 Transformational Leadership in Education for the Health Professions
NUR SCI 291 DNP Practicum I
NUR SCI 292 DNP Practicum II
NUR SCI 293 DNP Practicum III