March 1 deadline approaching for next Doctor of Nursing Practice cohort at Northwestern

February 21, 2020

March 1 is the deadline for the next cohort of applicants to apply for Northwestern Oklahoma State University’s highly competitive Bachelor of Science in Nursing to Doctor of Nursing Practice program (BSN-to-DNP).

Recently named the Wisdom Family Foundation Doctoral Program in Rural Nursing Practice, this 73 credit hour program is the first BSN-to-DNP program in a public Oklahoma university to educate Family Nurse Practitioners, said Dr. Shelly Wells, professor of nursing and chair of the Charles Morton Share Trust Division of Nursing.

“While a Family Nurse Practitioner can practice in any community, Northwestern offers the only program in the state that emphasizes the health needs of the rural communities where the demand for Family Nurse Practitioners continues to increase,” Wells said. “It is the most cost-effective DNP program in the state. Family Nurse Practitioners address the primary care needs of people across the life-span from birth to death. They practice in a variety of settings including clinics, community health centers, and schools.

“Northwestern's BSN-to-DNP program is a hybrid program designed to allow the BSN-prepared nurse to bypass the master's degree and earn the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, as is the national trend. Didactic courses are offered online with a one-to-one consultation with expert nursing faculty when needed.”

Wells explained that before starting any clinical experience practicums, students participate in a required on-campus one-week summer residency intensive session where advanced physical assessment skills are validated and common primary care procedures are emphasized. Students then complete more than 1,000 clinical experience hours in their practicum courses over the last two years of this three-year program. They work with the nursing faculty to establish clinical practicum experiences with preceptors in communities near their residence.

Northwestern’s only doctoral program currently has 38 students enrolled and anticipate that nine students will participate in May 9 commencement exercises with its first class since beginning the program in August 2017. This first graduating class will be honored at the annual Charles Morton Share Trust Division of Nursing's Convocation on May 8 at 6 p.m. in Herod Hall Auditorium and will be included in commencement exercises at Ranger Field on May 9 at 10:30 a.m. Each graduate will present their DNP project on campus on July 17 to complete their degrees.

The program expects to admit 25 additional students, depending on their qualifications, with this new group of applicants. These students should expect to be notified in early May of their acceptance into the program. Students from outside Oklahoma also may apply to this program.

“The small faculty-to-student ratio is one of the many strengths of the program,” Wells said.

Having the only rural DNP program in the state means a lot for Northwestern, northwest Oklahoma, the State of Oklahoma, but especially for rural healthcare.

“We are the only family nurse practitioner program that focuses on rural health,” said Dr. Pat Thompson, associate professor of nursing and director of the Wisdom Family Foundation Doctoral Program for Rural Nursing Practice. “There is currently a bill in the legislature that seeks to increase the number of physicians in primary care in rural areas of Oklahoma by offering them significant tax credits.”

Thompson praises Dr. Peggy Wisdom, a 1968 Northwestern graduate who has developed a distinguished career in medicine and teaching by serving as a professor and vice chairman of neurology at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, for her generosity in donating money to the DNP program to help increase the number of primary care providers in rural Oklahoma.

“She realized that it is near-impossible to recruit or maintain physicians in rural areas,” Thompson said. “In contrast, nurse practitioners tend to stay in their home communities. For that reason, we try hard to place our students in rural clinics and correctional facilities so that they are prepared for the challenges of practicing at a distance from major medical centers in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. We also have students complete activities to research the availability of community resources to improve the physical and mental health of Oklahomans, which is currently classified as poor in relation to the rest of the United States.

“The doctoral degree enables the family nurse practitioner to see a much bigger picture than masters-level nurse practitioner education, in terms of knowledge in health policy and population health,” Thompson said. “With the additional knowledge, these students are equipped to become leaders in improving the health of all Oklahomans.”

For additional information on the program and a link to the DNP application form, visit www.nwosu.edu/graduate-studies/bsn-to-dnp. Questions should be directed to Thompson at (580) 327-8497 or prthompson@nwosu.edu.

-NW-