curriculum is a program designed to prepare the RN with the BSN degree to function in the role of an advanced practice nurse caring for adults with a variety of health care needs.

To satisfy the requirements for graduation, the student must complete 72 semester credit hours of course work and 1080 hours of time in the clinical setting with a preceptor. The student must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or above. The DNP curriculum is congruent with established standards for clinical doctorate programs, includes appropriate advanced nursing practice competencies, role specific professional standards and guidelines, and certification requirements. In addition, it has clearly articulated student learning outcomes and program outcomes consistent with contemporary practice.

The advanced practice nursing curriculum emphasizes competence, accountability, and legal, ethical standards in the practice of the profession, and evidence based practice. The curriculum includes cultural, ethnic, and socially diverse concepts and may also include experience from regional, national or global perspectives.

Graduates of the DNP program will be able to demonstrate the following competencies, which are aligned with the National Organization for Nurse Practitioner Faculties and the ACEN Standards for Clinical Doctorate, including:

• Scientific Foundation competencies
• Leadership competencies
• Quality competencies
• Practice Inquiry competencies
• Policy competencies
• Health Delivery System competencies
• Ethics competencies
• Independent Practice competencies

Graduates of the BSN-DNP program will demonstrate leadership skills and knowledge in advanced nursing care and the measurement of clinical outcomes to ensure patient safety. Specifically, graduates of the BSNDNP program will demonstrate the ability to:

• Utilize epidemiologic, scientific findings from nursing and other clinical disciplines, as well as organizational, political, and economic sciences, to develop practice initiatives that will improve the quality of care delivery.
• Assume organizational and system leadership in the analysis, delivery, and management of nursing care.
• Provide organizational and systems leadership to develop care delivery models that are fiscally responsible and demonstrate sensitivity to diverse organizational cultures.
• Engage in clinical scholarship to evaluate the effectiveness of evidence-based efforts in the planning and practice of health care program delivery to individuals and communities.
• Utilize theories, concepts, and analytic methodologies to design, implement, and evaluate practice by applying evidence to transform nursing system.
• Collaborate with healthcare professionals, consumers, and other stakeholders to influence health policy and health promotion/disease prevention endeavors at the local, state, federal, and/or international levels that improve patient and population health outcomes.
• Implement the highest level of advanced nursing care to produce high quality, cost-effective outcomes for diverse patient populations.
• Contribute to the knowledge of best-practices nursing interventions and the dissemination of outcomes through professional writing and presentations.
• Develop practice standards based on the integration of ethics and evidence-based nursing care. The School of Nursing is responsible for all components of the program, including the selection, supervision, and evaluation of Nursing students, and the curriculum—both didactic and clinical. The curriculum includes cultural, ethnic, and socially diverse concepts and may also include experience from regional, national or global perspectives. Throughout the program, the focus is on the advanced practice nurse as a leader for the interdisciplinary health team, working with physicians, mental health providers, social workers, and other healthcare professionals to meet the health care needs of patients in a diverse environment.

Additional Requirements Criminal

Background Check

Kentucky Board of Nursing (KBN) requires all misdemeanor and felony convictions occurring in Kentucky or any other states well as federal and military convictions be reported to the KBN. Conviction of certain felonies will cause a “Notice to Deny Licensure” to be issued to applicants seeking to write the nursing licensure examination. In accordance with this policy, the School of Nursing requires that each student submit an undated criminal background check to the School of Nursing annually.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

All students enrolled in Nursing Courses are required to have CPR for the Healthcare Provider certification, i.e. They must be certified in Adult, Child, and infant CPR as well as the use of the AED. This training must be from an approved CPR American Heart Association curriculum. Each student must keep a current CPR card on file in the School of Nursing.

Immunizations

The University