DNP Educational Leadership

About the DNP Educational Leadership Program

The Doctor of Nursing Practice Educational Leadership program is a practice-based, leadership-focused program that prepares faculty, program directors and deans to lead nursing education programs.

Whereas most traditional Ph.D.s are research-based, not practice-focused, and traditional Ed.D. programs are focused on general education not specific to nursing, our DNP Educational Leadership provides the terminal credentials needed to endorse credibility and competence for nurse education leaders sitting alongside academic and business leaders. Our DNP program develops six key competencies needed by today’s nursing education leaders: leadership, finance and fund development, new models of curriculum development and delivery, education policy, education research, and strategic planning.

What’s it like to be a DNP student? View a chat session between a prospective student and a current American Sentinel DNP student.

Program Details

American Sentinel offers a flexible, online study format allowing Doctor of Nursing Practice Educational Leadership students to fit their course work into their busy schedules. Features of the DNP program online include:

  • Two-year program, 42 credit hours.
  • One 10-day residency per program year at American Sentinel in Denver (two residencies total).
  • Online course work, discussions of application theory and evidence-based practice in the workplace, and assignments.
  • Eight-week courses.
  • Capstone implementation science project (not a dissertation) tailored to the professional goals of the student.

One of the most flexible DNP programs online available, our Doctor of Nursing Practice Educational Leadership is designed to foster the advanced practice of nursing leadership within a complex, highly regulated nursing educational system.

Course Highlights

Our rigorous curriculum covers a breadth of issues in nursing and health care, giving students the foundation and skills to lead nursing education programs. Here are a few of the DNP Educational Leadership program’s online courses:

  • Leadership: Setting the Example (N700): This five-day immersion course focuses on executive leadership in a dynamic health care environment. Students explore leadership theory and take into account organizational culture and governmental complexities.
  • Role of Technology and Simulation in Nursing Education (N714): The course explores the use of the Internet, Web 2.0 tools and other online technologies in the delivery of academic programs. Students will explore current research on best practices in online learning.
  • Grant Funding (N744): This course develops a better understanding of grant-funding opportunities to support faculty development, strengthen program capacity, and enhance new technologies.

Eligibility

The program is open to nurse educators who have a minimum of two years of full-time work experience in a leadership or faculty role in nursing education at a two- to four year college or university, hospital or health care organization within the past five years. Applicants must hold an active and unencumbered nursing license and a MSN degree from a regionally or nationally accredited institution. Foreign students must hold a comparable degree from a recognized institution. No GRE or other placement testing is required.

All DNP applicants are required to have a MSN degree. Applicants with master’s degrees in other disciplines (e.g., MBA, MHA, MPH or MEd) may transfer credits from courses that are equivalent to the courses in the American Sentinel MSN program. They will then complete the MSN program at American Sentinel before being accepted into the DNP program.

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the DNP Educational Leadership program will be able to:
  • Lead complex organizations through strategic decision-making and change implementation.
  • Assume roles as leaders and collaborators with other professionals and communities in planning, providing and evaluating nursing education.
  • Create new models to explain, predict and improve the performance of graduates.
  • Enhance professional nursing practice and education through the generation of research and evidence-based practice.
  • Utilize health information technology to analyze meaningful data which informs leadership.
  • Utilize theoretical knowledge, meaningful data and best practice research to create strategic plans for organizational change.
  • Lead research activities and utilize knowledge gained from research to create improved models of education, care delivery and organizational performance.
  • Create new models for nursing in a global society.
  • Participate in the development of health policy which ensures stewardship of natural and man-made resources, social justice, and a participatory partnership with consumers in maintaining health.

Career and Industry News

Health Care

  • Preventing Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTIs) >> Read Story
  • Critical Care Travel Nurse Turns Her Career to Teaching >> Read Story
  • Longtime Pediatric Nurse Turns to American Sentinel to Strengthen Her Skills as a Nurse Educator >> Read Story

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Curriculum

Completion of the DNP Educational Leadership degree requires 42 credit hours. The expected length of the program is two years. The program is structured to have two onsite residencies, with the remainder of courses offered online in eight week modules. No doctoral-level courses will be accepted for transfer. All credit hours must be taken at American Sentinel University.

COURSES CREDIT HOURS*
REQUIRED COURSES (42 credit hours)
N700 Leadership: Setting the Example** 3
N740 Capstone Project I** 3
N702 Organizational Dynamics of Higher Education 3
N710 Learner-Centered Curriculum Design and Learning Outcomes 3
N712 Assessment of Learning 3
N714 Role of Technology and Simulation in Nursing Education 3
N732 Educational Research 3
N765 Capstone Project II** 3
N745 Strategic Leadership** 3
N744 Grant Funding 3
MA700 Advanced Statistics OR N741 Qualitative Research Methods 3
N742 Principles of Finance and Fund Development 3
N770 Capstone Project III 3
N760 Strategic Planning 3

** residency courses

* Credit hours are equivalent to semester hours

Career and Industry News

Health Care

  • Preventing Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTIs) >> Read Story
  • Critical Care Travel Nurse Turns Her Career to Teaching >> Read Story
  • Longtime Pediatric Nurse Turns to American Sentinel to Strengthen Her Skills as a Nurse Educator >> Read Story

American Sentinel University Health Care Blog:
Subscribe for updates to via RSS OR by Email

Career Opportunities in Nursing Education

American Association of Colleges of Nursing estimates that approximately 67,000 qualified applicants were turned away from schools of nursing in 2010, primarily due to the lack of faculty. A recent study by the Southern Regional Board of Education reported that 16 states and the District of Columbia are experiencing a serious shortage of nursing faculty, resulting in a 12 percent shortfall in the number of nurse educators needed today. In addition, the mean age of faculty with doctorate degrees was 53 in 2011, signifying that impending retirement of this population will impact nursing education programs. In short, there is ample opportunity—and high demand—for highly qualified and educated nursing educators, now and in the future.

In today’s economic environment, nursing deans and directors are increasingly involved in strategic planning, technology planning, financing and fund development, and accreditation and regulatory issues. The American Sentinel University Doctor of Nursing Practice Educational Leadership will help you develop the skills and aptitude to expand and enhance your role as a leader in nursing education. You will be prepared to develop curriculum to stay in tune with today’s rapidly evolving health care system and address the many other issues inherent in nursing programs today—regulatory issues, financing and more. Our practical DNP program prepares nursing education leaders to deliver new models of teaching and learning for tomorrow’s nursing workforce.

Job Outlook for Nursing Leadership

In the increasing complexity of the health care system today, proactive nurse executives with additional education are more important than ever. Graduates of the DNP Educational Leadership will have excellent job prospects. Learn more about advancing your nursing career in American Sentinel's nursing chat series with NurseTogether.com.

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