The College of Nursing's Doctor of Nursing Practice was approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on July 19, 2007. The TWU Doctor of Nursing Practice builds on the legacy of the TWU PhD in Nursing Science, the largest doctoral nursing program in the United States.

The TWU Doctor of Nursing Practice is designed to prepare Nurse Practitioners and Certified Nurse Midwives to function as expert clinicians who integrate and evaluate evidenced-based practices in acute and primary care settings. The DNP curriculum broadens and expands on the skills of the master's prepared Advanced Practice Nurse to include enhanced clinical expertise, implementation of healthcare informatics technologies, and increased depth in the application of scientific advances and health care organizational concepts to nursing practice.

The goals of the Doctor of Nursing Practice are to prepare expert Advanced Practice Nurse clinicians who will:

• Apply evidence from nursing and the biophysical, psychosocial, behavioral, and clinical sciences to complex health issues.
• Implement health care delivery models and strategies designed for quality improvement in patient care.
• Analyze existing research and design and conduct evaluations of clinical interventions to implement evidence-based practice.
• Employ an evidence-based framework when conducting research on clinical interventions.
• Develop and advocate for health care policy.
• Collaborate with other health professionals to provide high quality, ethical patient-centered care that meets current standards of best practice.
• Synthesize concepts of health promotion and protection and disease prevention in managing complex health problems.
• Apply expert clinical judgment in providing comprehensive assessment, diagnosis, and management of health and illness in diverse populations.
• Provide visionary nursing leadership through contributions to the management and guidance of health care systems.

The competencies of the graduate with a TWU DNP will be to function as an expert Advanced Nurse Practice who will be able to:

• Provide appropriate independent advanced nursing care to individuals, families, communities, and clinical populations.
• Appraise scientific progress and selectively translate science to guide clinical decision-making and program development. 
• Assume appropriate, effective leadership roles within the health care system.
• Effectively evaluate the quality of health care using technological, financial, clinical, organizational, and scientific methodologies and intervene appropriately to improve quality of care.
• Evaluate current and past scientific evidence into practice, evaluate outcomes of evidence-based interventions, and disseminate findings to diverse audiences.
• Evaluate current technology and information science and implement technological advances in informatics, as appropriate, to clinical situations.
• Analyze legal and ethical implications of health care policy and shape policy to eliminate health care disparities.
• Apply knowledge about organization, management, leadership, and culture to provide optimal care to individuals, families, and communities within diverse health care arenas.

Please contact Peggy Mancuso, PhD, CNM, at pmancuso@twu.edu 214-689-6552 or DNP Secretary Karen Garcia at 214-689-6597 for further information about the Doctor of Nursing Practice program.