SPOKANE, Wash. – The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education has granted initial accreditation to Gonzaga University’s Doctor of Nursing Practice Program for five years – the longest possible term for a new program – until June 30, 2020. The program began in 2012 as an extension of Gonzaga’s mission to educate people for and with others.
Brenda Stevenson Marshall, dean of Gonzaga’s School of Nursing and Human Physiology, said the accreditation advances Gonzaga’s objectives to prepare nursing professionals to become specialized leaders in a rapidly evolving field – driven by the challenges of our nation’s health care system.
“It is an affirmation of the excellence faculty bring to this advanced practice nursing degree,” Dean Marshall said. “It is obvious that we are qualified to develop a curriculum that speaks to the increased level of knowledge and growing complexity of the nursing profession.”
Students in the DNP conduct a major scholarly research project to identify problems or inefficiencies in their areas of practice – whether as family nurse practitioners, family psychiatric mental-health nurse practitioners, or health system leaders – and use existing scholarly research to implement and expedite their changes.
The goal is to create new research-based improvements that will become available to practicing nurses. In addition, the program aims to create better overall care for patients by offering education at the same level for nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physicians and physical therapists.
The accreditation involves measures of program quality and effectiveness, mission and governance, institutional commitment, curriculum and teaching, and achievement of program outcomes.
For more information about the program, visit its website at https://online.gonzaga.edu/online-doctor-nursing-practice.
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