Students will take course work corresponding to the eight essential competencies delineated by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). The competencies address the following:
- Scientific underpinning for practice
- Organizational and systems leadership for quality improvement and systems thinking
- Clinical scholarship and analytical methods for evidence-based practice
- Information systems/technology and patient care technology for the improvement and transformation of health care
- Health care policy for advocacy in health care
- Inter-professional collaboration for improving patient and population health outcomes
- Clinical prevention and population health for improving the nation’s health
- Advanced nursing practice
Required Courses—33 Credit Hours
The core DNP courses serve to enhance the skill and science base of the graduate and strengthen the focus on research utilization. Safety and efficiency in health care systems is addressed and organizational and policy implications are emphasized within the context of care delivery. An emphasis is placed on evidence-based practice, state-of-the-art interventions and information fluency.
- NGR 6063C Advanced Skills or Elective (3 credit hours)
- NGR 6874 Nursing Environment Management (3 credit hours)
- NGR 7115 Philosophical and Theoretical Foundations of Nursing Science (3 credit hours)
- NGR 7123 Concept Development in Nursing (3 credit hours)
- NGR 7176 Advanced Pharmacology in Advanced Practice Nursing (3 credit hours)
- NGR 7892 Healthcare Systems and Policy (3 credit hours)
- NGR 7673 Epidemiological Principles for APN (3 credit hours)
- NGR 6723 Nursing Leadership and Management (3 credit hours)
- NGR 7065 Advanced Clinical Management for APN (3 credit hours)
- NGR 7748 Advanced Clinical Practice Selective for APN (3 credit hours)
- NGR 7817 Quantitative Methods in Nursing Research I (3 credit hours)
Residency—6 Credit Hours
The DNP residency will serve to provide an in-depth clinical experience for students. This advanced practicum will provide the opportunity to link policy making with clinical systems, translate research into practice and serve as change agents for health care. The clinical residency experience will be facilitated by an advanced practice expert clinician/teacher.
- NGR 7948 DNP Residency (6 credit hours)
Doctoral Thesis—9 Credit Hours
The doctoral thesis is the product of the culminating or comprehensive experience of an independent project that demonstrates application of advanced clinical and evidence-based practice. The doctoral thesis is guided and evaluated by an academic committee and is derived from the practice immersion experience (residency). It will serve as a foundation for future scholarly practice.
The doctoral thesis is related to advanced nursing practice and benefits a group, population or community rather than an individual patient. It addresses identified needs and builds on an evidence base. Types of doctoral theses include but are not limited to:
- Translate research into practice and evaluate outcomes
- Quality improvement (care processes, continuity of care, patient outcomes)
- Implement and evaluate evidence based practice guidelines
- Analyze policy: develop, implement, evaluate, or revise policy
- Design and use databases to retrieve information for decision making, planning, evaluation
- Conduct financial analyses to compare care models and potential cost savings, etc.
- Design and evaluate new models of care
- Design and evaluate health promotion and disease prevention programs
- Assess integration of technology in care
The theme that links these forms of scholarly experiences is the use of evidence to improve either practice or patient outcomes. Additional examples of DNP projects can be found on the National Organization of Nurse Practioner Faculty (NONPF) website under Practice Doctorate Resource Center.
Admission to Candidacy
Students are admitted into candidacy upon successful completion of at least 24 credit hours of DNP coursework, the appointment of a doctoral thesis advisory committee, and successful completion of NGR 7939 DNP Thesis Seminar. Admission to candidacy will result in commencement of NGR 6791 Doctoral Thesis hours.
Doctoral Thesis Advisory Committee
A student writing a doctoral thesis must have a doctoral thesis advisory committee consisting of three members, who have qualifications to serve on theses committees (www.graduatecatalog.ucf.edu/GradFaculty/). At least two members of the doctoral thesis advisory committee, including the chair shall be qualified regular doctorally prepared faculty members from the College of Nursing. The third member can be external to the College of Nursing and may be a master's or doctorally prepared expert in the thesis subject area. This committee will make recommendations to the dean of the college regarding the student's program of study, provide continual guidance for the student, and be the principal mechanism for the evaluation of the student's thesis and performance.
Students may specify additional committee membership beyond the minimum of three. All members must be in fields related to the thesis topic. Qualification of additional members must be equivalent to that expected of UCF faculty members. UCF faculty members must form the majority of any given committee.
Committee membership must be approved by the dean or designee of the college. UCF College of Graduate Studies reserves the right to review appointments to a Thesis Advisory Committee, place a representative on any Thesis Advisory Committee, or appoint a co-chair. A student may request a change in membership of the Thesis Advisory Committee by consulting with their program director.
All committee members vote on acceptance or rejection of the Doctoral thesis proposal and the final Doctoral thesis. The Doctoral thesis proposal and final Doctoral thesis must be approved by a majority of the committee.
Doctoral Thesis Requirements
The doctoral thesis consists of a common theme with introduction and literature review, details of the project, and results and conclusions. See the Organization of Document listed below.
An oral defense of the thesis proposal, Chapters 1-3 of the thesis, must be completed and approved by the thesis advisory committee prior to implementing the project.
An oral defense of thesis is required. The approved thesis must be written and prepared in accordance with program, college, and university requirements and approved by the thesis committee prior to the defense. Since the work is original, it is very important that care is taken in properly citing ideas and quotations of others. Academic dishonesty in thesis, research report and dissertation work may result in termination from the degree program.
Thesis students are required to submit their thesis electronically. Electronic thesis/dissertation (ETD) submissions are archived by the UCF Library in digital format that is widely accessible. The electronic thesis may include video and audio clips as well as other formats that are appropriate for the field of study.
All theses that use research involving human subjects, including survey, must obtain approval from an independent board, the Institutional Review Board (IRB), prior to starting the research. Graduate students and the faculty that supervise them are required to attend training on IRB policies, so this needs to start well in advance of the research start date. It is imperative that proper procedures are followed when using human subjects in research projects. Information about this process can be obtained from the Office of Research. Click on "Compliance" and the IRB Policy and Procedures Manual is available for your review. In addition, should the nature of the research of the faculty supervision change since the IRB approval was obtained, then a new IRB approval must be sought. Failure to obtain this prior approval could jeopardize receipt of the student's degree.
Students who wish to complete their degree requirements in a given semester must take their oral defense and submit their final electronic copy to UCF College of Graduate Studies by the dates shown in the Academic Calendar.
Enrollment in Doctoral Thesis Hours
The university requires all professional doctoral student to take a minimum of 6 credit hours of doctoral thesis hours; however, specific programs may require more than this minimum. Doctoral thesis research is considered to be a full-time effort, and post-candidacy enrollment in at least three Doctoral Theses hours constitutes full-time graduate status. Doctoral students who have passed candidacy and have begun taking Doctoral Thesis hours must enroll in at least three doctoral thesis hours each semester (including summers, without skipping a semester) and continue doing so until they complete the Doctoral thesis and graduate. Post-candidacy enrollment is allowable for a maximum of four years subject to the seven-year time limitation.
Doctoral Thesis Defense
The dean of the college or designee will normally attend all Doctoral Theses defenses. The Doctoral thesis will be approved by a majority vote of the advisory committee. Further approval is required from the dean or dean designee and the UCF College of Graduate Studies before the Doctoral Thesis receives final acceptance toward fulfilling degree requirements.
Public Access
Students, faculty, staff, and other interested parties are strongly encouraged to attend Doctoral Thesis final defense sessions. Notices providing date, time, and location of such meetings must be distributed to all academic departments.
These sessions are educational and informative for graduate students and provide an opportunity for colleagues to observe the work of their peers with students. At the discretion of the Chair of the Committee, questions may be invited from the audience. That part of the session involving committee discussion leading to a vote on the acceptance of the work will be closed. Sessions may be recessed briefly to excuse visitors and the candidate before this stage begins.
Organization of Document
Chapter 1—Introduction
- Introduction
- Problem/issue to be addressed
- Significance/importance of problem to nursing practice
- Purpose/goals of the project
- Definition of terms
Chapter 2—Review of Literature
- Summary of the literature/evidence related to the topic
- Framework to guide project, if applicable (e.g., quality improvement model)
Chapter 3—Methods
- Description of approach to the project (e.g., how the project is to be implemented)
- Protection of Human Subjects (as relevant)
- Procedures for conducting the project
- Participants in the project (e.g., nurses, patients)
- Tools, instruments, other measures to collect data; reliability and validity as appropriate
- Evaluation of data related to the project
Chapter 4—Results
- What was gained from the study?
- Factual information only
- Tables, figures, etc. to display data
Chapter 5—Discussion
- What was learned/gained from the project?
- How do findings relate to what is already known on the topic?
- How will practice change as a result of the project?
Appendices
- Approval letters
- IRB approval
- Data gathering tools
Progression
Students are required to maintain a 3.0 grade point average. Students who receive a grade of “C” in any course will be reviewed by the DNP Admissions, Progression and Graduation Committee for continuation in the program. Grades of “C” or below are not acceptable in the doctoral program in the College of Nursing. Students who do not maintain a 3.0 GPA will be put on probation or dismissed from the program.
Graduation Requirements
- All course work completed with a minimum grade of “B”
- A satisfactory DNP doctoral thesis
- Clinical performance evaluated at a satisfactory level
- A satisfactory public presentation of the DNP doctoral thesis
- A professional portfolio