Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Clinical Nurse Specialist (online)

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is a DNP?

  The DNP is a doctoral degree focused on the clinical practice of nursing. The degree represents the highest academic preparation for nursing practice. The DNP curriculum focuses on the knowledge needed to provide comprehensive direct care across settings. It can be conferred in conjunction with any specialty in advanced practice.

• What academic preparation is preferred in a DNP Advanced Practice candidate?

  A strong foundation in courses such as anatomy and physiology, microbiology, pharmacology, and physical assessment with a grade of B or above is one key to success.

• What knowledge and skills will I gain through this program of study??

  The curricular content will enable the graduate to make complex diagnoses, provide evidence-based treatment modalities, utilize sophisticated informatics and decision-making technology, and assimilate in-depth knowledge of biophysical, psychosocial, behavioral and clinical sciences.

• How is this different from current APN practice?

  Through expanded preparation to become a Clinical Nurse Specialist, graduates learn to independently manage the care of complex and vulnerable populations across all settings, including ambulatory, acute, community and home settings, at the doctoral-level. The expanded curriculum will focus on implementing evidence-based decisions at the system level to improve patient outcomes.

• How long will it take?

  The DNP Clinical Nurse Specialist tracks are all four year programs. They do not offer a part time plan of study.

• Can I work while in the program?

  The DNP Advanced Practice Track is completed over a four year period.  Students may be able to work in the first year as a Registered Nurse in settings that offer flexible scheduling.  As students begin to take specialized courses that prepare them for the respective role (i.e., NP or CNS), they will be engaged in settings to learn their future role and in which the DNP Project is situated. Hence, it will be challenging to maintain employment that is not flexible beyond the first year.

• How does the DNP differ from the PhD or other research doctorates?

  The DNP, or clinical doctorate, prepares the graduate to practice independently with the most complex patients, in any setting where the patient requires care, utilizing complicated informatics and evidence-based decision-making. Research doctorates prepare graduates to initiate and conduct sophisticated research projects, serving as the principal investigator.

• How many credits can I transfer?

  The school accepts up to six credits of transfer from outside the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. Once admitted into the program you can request to transfer credits by completing the transfer of graduate credit form.

• What academic terms do students attend?

  The School of Nursing follows the regular academic schedule (prospective students should note that these courses are not self-paced). Students are enrolled for the fall, spring, and summer terms. Prospective students should refer to the plans of study found on the curriculum pages for each specialty.

• What is the cost per credit hour?

  Please visit School of Nursing’s Tuition and Fees page for the current program costs.

• How are courses delivered?

  CNS coursework is delivered online with periodic onsite immersions.

• How will I get clinical experience if I don’t have experience working as a RN?

  The DNP program requires a minimum of 1000 practice hours.  The majority of these hours will be in the clinical practicum where you will apply what you learn in the theory courses to gain the competence required for your particular specialty.  The balance of the practice hours are devoted to the DNP practicum which focuses on the DNP Project. Ideally, you will have one-year of RN experience before starting the first specialty clinical.

• How many students are in a class?

  Many of the core courses will be taken by all DNP Advanced Practice students at the same time. This could be as many as 60 students. However, the track specialty courses will be taken with only students in that specific specialty. In clinical courses, there is a ratio of 1 to 6 students per clinical instructor with each student assigned to a preceptor.

• Do we attend the same classes with our cohort?

  Students in the same specialty and the same plan of study (3- or 4-year) will move through as a cohort. 

• If I have a specific area that I would like to focus in, for example oncology, are there additional electives I can take or other opportunities where I could gain more insight and experience in that particular area? 

  It is possible for students to negotiate a clinical site within their area of interest, but these cannot be guaranteed. The DNP Scholarly Project could allow students to identify a problem within a specific area and bring that together with the specialty role. 

• What is the difference between a Nurse Practitioner and a Clinical Nurse Specialist? 

  Learn more about the NP and CNS roles. 

• How are clinical sites for clinical practicum determined? 

  Clinical practicum experiences are determined by the student’s CNS focus area, student interest, site and preceptor availability, and the student’s programmatic needs. The specialty track coordinator and clinical course coordinator select clinical sites and clinical preceptors for the clinical practicum experiences and student learning needs. These decisions are based on the competencies required for each specialty. CNS students provide preceptor names to the CNS track coordinator and clinical course coordinator for potential clinical sites. The CNS track coordinator will make the final decision on the preceptor based on appropriate fit for the course. Flexibility is key as students are expected to meet the clinical preceptor/site availability.

• What is included in a DNP Project?

  The American Association of Colleges of Nursing requires that all DNP Projects should:

  1. Focus on a change that impacts healthcare outcomes either through direct or indirect care.
  2. Have a systems (micro-, meso-, or macro- level) or population/aggregate focus.
  3. Demonstrate implementation in the appropriate arena or area of practice.
  4. Include a plan for sustainability (e.g. financial, systems or political realities, not only theoretical abstractions).
  5. Include an evaluation of processes and/or outcomes (formative or summative). DNP Projects should be designed so that processes and/or outcomes will be evaluated  to guide practice and policy. Clinical significance is as important in guiding practice as statistical significance is in evaluating research.
  6. Provide a foundation for future practice scholarship.
      
• What is the process for the DNP practicum?

  There are four DNP Project courses that sequentially reflect the stages of evidence based practice quality improvement: Project Identification, Project Proposal, Project Implementation, and Project Evaluation. Each of the four courses has an associated practicum. The first course for the DNP Scholarly Project, DNP Problem Identification has an accompanying DNP practicum.  The DNP Scholarly Project is situated in the clinical setting where the student will carry it out.  As the project is a quality improvement focus, key stakeholders in the practice setting are necessary to identify clinical problems they want to address and for which they want to partner with a student or team of students.  See your plan of study for the number of practicum hours associated with each course associated with the DNP Scholarly Project.