Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

The Washburn DNP-prepared advanced practice nurse can play an important role in transforming health care for patients/clients, families, organizations, and healthcare delivery systems. In today's complex and rapidly changing health care environments, the need has never been greater. Your chosen track as a family nurse practitioner or psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner is designed to prepare you as a leader for improving patient outcomes and promoting innovation in health care. With a strong emphasis on systems thinking and quality improvement, the DNP graduate enters the workforce prepared to work with individuals and population across systems of care.
Career Forecast Bright OutlookAverage Salary $120,610online
NP checking carotid artery for pulse

Doctor of Nursing Practice at Washburn

The Washburn DNP program is offered in a distance accessible online format that offers advanced practice education for nurses according to their entry education level, certification, and practice interest.

Specialty tracks available include:

  1. Family nurse practitioner (FNP)
  2. Psychiatric nurse practitioner (PMHNP)

Our program is designed for students to work while completing their degree. The online structure allows students to access learning activities when it best fits their schedules, with faculty mentoring to help pace students through required activities and competency attainment. Paired with “live” virtual classes that are held at pre-arranged times, students participate in an active learning environment with faculty and peers. The Washburn DNP is a summer start program unless a student has successful completed an approved graduate statistics course within the past ten years.

Selected on-campus experiences are designed to support and expand online learning for BSN-DNP students when they first enter the program, and to provide hands-on instruction in performing advanced patient assessments and office-based interventions for students seeking to become family nurse practitioners. Faculty are skilled educators, who also maintain active clinical practices and bring real-world experiences into the student learning environment

Clinical Hours

Preceptor-guided clinical experiences provide DNP students with a minimum of 1000 hours of direct patient care. An MSN to DNP applicant who is nationally certified as a nurse practitioner at the time of program entry may be awarded up to 500 clock hours toward the minimum 1000 clock hour requirement.

Students work with faculty and program staff to arrange clinical placements.  Whenever possible, students identify suitable preceptors and sites that are convenient or close to where they live. Faculty provide oversight and supervision of students at approved clinical sites. 

Jobs and Opportunities

CAREER FORECAST: bright outlook
The need for primary care and psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners is driven by a predicted shortage of primary care physicians and psychiatrists. Additional practitioners are needed due to an aging population and increased emphasis on preventive healthcare services.

Average Salary

$120,610 (FNP)
$130,813 (PMHNP)

Job Growth

36%

(2016-2026)

Faculty Ratio

1:8

(clinical supervision)

CNNE Accreditation logoThe baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master’s degree program in nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice program and post-graduate APRN certificate program at Washburn University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

GET IN TOUCH WITH School of Nursing

School of Nursing
Petro Allied Health Center
1700 SW College Ave.
Topeka, KS 66621-1117

Phone & Fax
Ph: 785.670.1525
Fax: 785.670.1032

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