Post-Bachelor’s Nursing, D.N.P.

Julie Honey, Dean, College of Nursing
Erin Shankel, Associate Dean of Graduate Nursing
Kathryn Dambrino, Chair, Graduate Nursing
Meg Rowland, Director, Graduate Nursing Practice

Post-Bachelor’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

BSN-prepared RNs can continue their education and earn a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree at Belmont University College of Nursing, choosing between two separate tracks.

• Family Nurse Practitioner Track: Students on this track will be eligible for the national family nurse practitioner certification exam through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program (AANPCP). The FNP Track is a primarily online program with onsite immersions.
• Leadership and Innovation Track: Students will choose electives in one or both areas of healthcare leadership and clinical education. Students will be prepared academically to take the AONL Executive Nursing Leadership or Nursing Educator certification exam. The Leadership and Innovation Track is a primarily online program with onsite immersions.

The Belmont DNP meets the core competencies for advanced-level nursing practice (“The Essentials”) developed by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). 

Optional Nursing Pedagogy Package for Future Nurse Educators

• Some Doctor of Nursing Practice students may wish to practice as faculty in an academic setting. Belmont offers courses to prepare these students in essential aspects of curriculum development, implementation, revision, and evaluation in healthcare education settings. 
• Doctor of Nursing Practice students awarded the Nurse Faculty Loan Program funding are required to complete 3 or more hours of coursework as a part of their program of study specifically preparing them to be nurse educators. These courses will prepare students in essential aspects of curriculum development, implementation, revision, and evaluation in healthcare education settings.  Students in the NFLP program are required to sign an approved individualized plan of study which includes the additional 3 or more hours of coursework. 
• Students who are not part of the NFLP program may also opt to add these courses as electives to prepare them as nursing educators.  
• Students who complete nine credits of these courses may sit for certification as a Certified Nurse Educator. (These nine credits are not required for students who have already been employed for two years or more in a nursing program in an academic institution within the past five years.)