Recommendations for Evolving a Doctor of Nursing Practice Program

As Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs have evolved within the nursing profession and nursing academia over the last 20 years, pedagogy and curriculum in DNP education have also continued to evolve. Educational innovation requires continuous assessment to ensure quality and efficacy are maintained. Using the Knowledge to Action (KTA) framework, we adapted the knowledge regarding best practices in a DNP program to fit our College of Nursing needs, our community of learners, and sustain this process improvement by implementing programmatic changes that enhanced the quality and rigor of the DNP program. A newly formed task force identified barriers and opportunities including lack of DNP-prepared faculty, changes needed to the scholarly project paper, revision of the DNP curricula, and a need for a mentor group model to replace the traditional committee structure. Recommendations to strengthen DNP programs include choosing a process model or framework to serve as a guideline for program evaluation and improvement, create a faculty-led task force that continuously monitors program elements, and conduct annual mini retreats to facilitate faculty discussion and review of program elements.