Because DNP education is specialized, the specialty content preparing DNP graduates for various practice roles will differ substantially across specialty areas. However, all DNP graduates will demonstrate the competencies delineated in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's (2006) The Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Practice Nursing. These include:

• Scientific Underpinnings for Practice
• Organizational and Systems Leadership for Quality Improvement and Systems Thinking
• Clinical Scholarship and Analytic 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
• Interprofessional Collaboration for Improving Patient and Population Health Outcomes
• Clinical Prevention and Population Health for Improving the Nation's Health
• Advanced Nursing Practice

Program Requirements