July 2, 2009, ST. LOUIS – Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College (GSON) has received approval from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools to offer the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing program. It is the first nursing school in the nation to offer a concurrent, totally integrated dual terminal nursing degree.
The DNP/PhD program integrates advanced practice elements inherent in the DNP with the scholarly research emphasis of a PhD, resulting in a nursing professional being prepared as a “practice scientist.”
Classes will be conducted online in combination with annual five-day intensive sessions held on-campus at Goldfarb School of Nursing. The first intensive session will be held immediately prior to the initial semester of study so students will be able to meet with their classmates and potential faculty mentors. Students take practice and research courses concurrently throughout the program. Practice experiences will be arranged on an individual basis based on the student’s location and preference. All courses will be taught by doctorally prepared faculty.
GSON does not offer the DNP and PhD programs separately and instead developed only the dual program. The combined DNP and PhD approach enables students to develop skill sets in both research and practice so they can address practice issues with relevant research approaches. The graduates will also provide contributions to addressing the nursing shortage in both practice and academic arenas.
“A surprisingly low percentage of health care research ever gets adopted into the actual practice, and the time it takes for research that does get translated into practice can be well over a decade,” says Michael Evans, PhD, RN, FACHE, the Maxine Clark and Bob Fox Dean and Professor at GSON. “Our goal is to create nurse practice scientists who are able to understand issues within their specialty areas and create relevant new knowledge that can be adopted quickly into practice. This results in improved patient care quality, safety and ultimately outcomes.”
The first intensive session will begin in December 2009. GSON is currently admitting individuals who have a master’s degree in nursing and will begin to admit those with a bachelor’s degree in the summer of 2010. For more information about the program, visit www.barnesjewishcollege.edu.