DNP in Nurse Executive Leadership in Health Care Management

The DNP Executive Nurse Leader also has a focus on evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and systems leadership, but partners with the Duquesne University Palumbo-Donahue School of Business Health Care Management program to enable. The program is offered as post-master’s or post-bachelor’s options. Students will combine their nursing experiences with areas such as finance, budgeting, organizational behavior, ethical leadership, and more. This program is designed to prepare graduates to become chief executive officers, chief nursing officers, executive directors of quality, clinical practice, or nursing directors in hospitals, ambulatory, and non-profit organizations.

Elevate your professional writing skills
Writing is a complex process, especially at the doctoral level. That’s why our writing residency prepares you to deliver high‑quality academic papers and projects. Prior to orientation, you will gain access to writing modules created exclusively for DNP online students. Each module can be completed at your own pace.

Complete a specialized leadership project
Nurses prepared at the DNP level are expected to provide leadership for evidence‑based practice in nursing. That’s why we require you to complete a Doctoral Practice Project.

Working closely with faculty, you will select an area of interest to evaluate, such as a population, program, system or clinical intervention, within a health setting. Each course in our DNP program builds on the last — enabling you to work toward the completion of your DNP project every step of the way.

 

Program Information

The Doctor of Nursing Practice Executive Nurse Leadership in Health Care Management is a two-year program (post-master's; 4-year program post bachelor's) in which students combine their nursing experiences with coursework in finance, budgeting, organizational behavior, and more. Graduates are prepared for executive-level roles in health care.

Program Type

Major

Degree

Doctorate

School

School of Nursing

Duration

2-4 years

Required Credit Hours

35 (Post Master's) 56 (Post Bachelors)

Modality

Online

Admissions

Admission Requirements

To qualify for the online Post-Bachelor’s track of our Executive Nurse Leadership DNP program, you must:

  • Hold a current, unencumbered RN license.
  • Hold a bachelor’s degree (nursing or non-nursing) from an accredited college or university with a 3.0 GPA or higher. BSN degree preferred.
  • Have completed an undergraduate statistics course with a “C” or higher.
  • Have at least one year of full-time work experience as an RN prior to registration in the clinical or specialty courses.

 

To qualify for the online Post-Master’s track of our Executive Nurse Leadership DNP program, you must:

  • Hold a current, unencumbered RN license.
  • Hold a BSN degree (required) from an accredited college or university with a 3.0 GPA or higher.
  • Hold a master’s degree (nursing or non-nursing) from an accredited college or university with a 3.0 GPA or higher. MSN degree preferred.
  • Have completed an undergraduate statistics course with a “C” or higher or graduate statistics course with a “B” or higher.


Note: Strong leadership experience is preferred.

Admission Process

  • Resume or curriculum vitae
  • Goal statement (2-3 pages)
  • Official transcript(s)
  • An interview may be required
  • Three reference letters. Recommendations should be from persons who can comment on the applicant’s professional or academic abilities. Examples:
    • One Supervisory and two Academic (Nursing Professor/Nursing Preceptor)
    • Two Supervisory and one Academic (Nursing Professor/Nursing Preceptor)
    • Or three Supervisory if you have been out of school for more than five years
    • The supervisor reference letters must come from a direct supervisor who is responsible for your performance evaluation

 

Curriculum

View Course Descriptions
A DNP in Executive Nurse Leadership and Health Care Management will allow you to apply your current leadership experiences in a curriculum that advances your business acumen, while developing your knowledge of evaluating and implementing evidence-based practice and how it is used to improve health care outcomes and transform organizations.
Post-Bachelor's Track
56 Credit Hours
18 Courses
  • GPNG 548 Evidence Based Practice for Advanced Practice Nursing (3 credits)
  • MGMT 605 Behavior in Organizations (3 credits)
  • MGMT 601 The Entrepreneurial Manager (3 credits)
  • GPNG 550 Clinical Prevention and Population Health Promotion (3 credits)
  • GPNS 977 Transcultural Health and Global Healthcare Delivery (3 credits)
  • GPNS 974 Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare (3 credits)
  • GPNS 948 Evidence Based Practice – Translation of Research to Practice (50 Hours) (3 credits)
  • GPNS 969: Analytical Methods for Evidence Based Practice (50 Hours) (3 credits)
  • GPNS 979: Analytical Methods – Healthcare Program Evaluation and Analysis (50 Hours) (3 credits)
  • GPNS 920: Health Care Policy (3 credits)
  • GPNS 975: Organizational Leadership for Healthcare Leaders (50 Hours) (3 credits)
  • MGMT 619 Budgeting and Finance for Managers (3 credits)
  • GPNS 906: Healthcare Informatics (50 Hours) (3 credits)
  • GPNS 908: Evidence Based Practice – Leading Change Management (50 Hours) (3 credits)
  • GPNS 980: Doctor of Nursing Practice Practicum I: Implementation (Up to 350 Hours) (4 credits)
  • MGMT 620 Business Strategy (3 credits)
  • GPNS 981: Doctor of Nursing Practice Practicum II: Evaluation (Up to 350 Hours) (4 credits)
  • GPNG 978: Social Justice and Preventing Vulnerable Populations (3 credits)
Post Master's Track
35 Credit Hours
11 Courses
  • GPNS 948 Evidence Based Practice – Translation of Research to Practice (50 Hours) (3 credits)
  • GPNS 969: Analytical Methods for Evidence Based Practice (50 Hours) (3 credits)
  • GPNS 979: Analytical Methods – Healthcare Program Evaluation and Analysis (50 Hours) (3 credits)
  • MGMT 601 The Entrepreneurial Manager (3 credits)
  • GPNS 975: Organizational Leadership for Healthcare Leaders (50 Hours) (3 credits)
  • GPNS 974 Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare (3 credits)
  • GPNS 908: Evidence Based Practice – Leading Change Management (50 Hours) (3 credits)
  • MGMT 619: Budgeting and Finance for Managers (3 credits)
  • GPNS 980: Doctor of Nursing Practice Practicum I: Implementation (Up to 350 Hours) (4 credits)
  • MGMT 620 Business Strategy (3 credits)
  • GPNS 981: Doctor of Nursing Practice Practicum II: Evaluation (Up to 350 Hours) (4 credits)

 

Ask a Question

Do you still have questions about the DNP in Nurse Executive Leadership in Health Care Management program?

Manny Bravo

Enrollment Counselor

School of Nursing

Learning Outcomes

  1. Demonstrate effective clinical judgement and innovation in nursing practice through the integration, translation, and application of distinct nursing knowledge utilizing shared multi-disciplinary theory and research-based knowledge.
  2. Develop person-centered plans of care that integrates holistic, compassionate, evidence-based, and developmentally appropriate knowledge, regardless of specialty or functional area, integrating assessment, evaluation, and diagnostic skills into care coordination.
  3. Engage in traditional and non-traditional public health partnerships that demonstrate advocacy and equitable policy strategies and consider the socioeconomic impact of health care delivery to ensure equitable population health outcomes and advanced preparedness during disasters and public health emergencies.
  4. Transform into practice evidence-based nursing knowledge based on scholarly ethical foundations that promote, integrate, and improve health care systems and patient outcomes.
  5. Formulate interprofessional quality improvement practice and safety initiatives within the healthcare system through performance, fiscal, and policy measures, and organizational processes.
  6. Model interprofessional collaboration through partnerships between various healthcare disciplines, patients, families, and communities, utilizing team dynamics to empower colleagues, patients, families, and communities to act on behalf of justice and improved healthcare outcomes.
  7. Implement safe, cost-effective, quality, interprofessional, and equitable care to diverse populations that utilize evidence-based practices and innovations to optimize care across healthcare systems.
  8. Review data obtained from the use of technology, communication, and informatics to create meaningful information to guide decision-making and support the expansion of knowledge and ethico-legally sound advanced nursing practice within health care delivery systems serving diverse populations.
  9. Create opportunities to teach, mentor, and facilitate professional and interprofessional development of nurses and other healthcare disciplines to promote a participatory approach to the delivery of healthcare across all diverse cultural and spiritual milieus.
  10. Integrate personal health and well-being practices while contributing to a resilient workplace environment fostering individual and professional growth while employing leadership skills that advance nursing practice that supports the role of the professional nurse in promoting social justice across the healthcare delivery systems.

Accreditation

The DNP in Nurse Executive Leadership in Health Care Management program at Duquesne University School of Nursing is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education

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