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William Paterson University in Wayne will offer its first doctoral degree program, the doctor of nursing practice, to provide advanced practice nurses with opportunities for the further education needed as nursing takes on a more significant role due to health care reform. The degree program has been authorized by the New Jersey Presidents’ Council and the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education.
The doctor of nursing practice degree is the highest-level clinical degree in nursing. It will give nurses who already hold master’s degrees additional education in leadership in nursing practice and health care organizations, and prepare them to be scholars recognized for outstanding patient care outcomes.
“As part of health care reform, there is a great need for nurse practitioners with preparation at the highest level, as more emphasis will be placed on care that can be provided at nurse-run practices and clinics as well as in-patient settings,” says Sandra DeYoung, dean of William Paterson’s College of Science and Health. “In order to fill this need, as well as have an impact on health care policy and decision-making, nurses will need the advanced education offered by the doctor of nursing practice degree. It will provide the skills—and the credentials equivalent to those with professional degrees in medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy and psychology— to make a significant impact on health care outcomes.”
“I began my career at William Paterson as assistant professor of chemistry 40 years ago, in support of the nursing program,” says President Arnold Speert, who is retiring from the University on August 1. “I am delighted that one of my final official actions as president was gaining formal approval for the University to offer the doctor of nursing practice degree.”
The program, which will begin fall 2011, is for nurses who hold a master’s degree in nursing. The curriculum includes 38 credit hours that can be completed in six semesters of part-time study (two courses per semester). Course work includes: utilizing technology to advance the quality of care; evaluating health care policy; providing leadership and inter-professional collaboration in multiple health care areas; and evaluating systems responses to health and illness, along with knowledge of nursing theories, related sciences, humanities and economics. Students must also complete a minimum of 1,000 supervised practice hours.
William Paterson University, one of the nine state colleges and universities in New Jersey, offers more than 250 undergraduate and graduate academic programs through five colleges: Arts and Communication, Cotsakos College of Business, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Science and Health. Located on 370 hilltop acres in Wayne, the University enrolls approximately 11,000 students and provides housing for nearly 2,600 students. The institution’s 371 full-time faculty are highly distinguished and diverse scholars and teachers, many of whom are recipients of prestigious awards and grants from the Fulbright Program, the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation.
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