DNP Program Information
The Doctor of Nursing Practice program at Vanderbilt is built upon our internationally recognized advanced practice nursing (APN) programs. It is designed for APNs actively engaged in practice with clinical partners in health care agencies/ organizations who will facilitate the integration of didactic courses within a clinical setting throughout the program.
If you want additional information about whether to pursue the Vanderbilt PhD degree or DNP degree based on your scholarly interests, please see PhD or DNP – Which is Right for Me?
The Vanderbilt DNP program meets recommendations of the American Association of Colleges and Nursing (AACN) – which include having the DNP become the terminal degree for APNs by 2015 – and of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF). Vanderbilt DNP graduates will have a strong scientific foundation for practice – prepared to translate knowledge quickly and effectively to benefit patients in the daily demands of practice environments.
The Vanderbilt Doctor of Nursing Practice program will prepare practice scholars with a blend of clinical organizational, economic and leadership skills to:
- Assess, analyze, evaluate and manage complex health environments serving diverse populations to improve patient and population health outcomes;
- Apply clinical scholarship and available evidence to make clinical and system decisions that reflect professional values and ethical standards;
- Develop, test and disseminate standards of care, clinical practice models and health policy using informatics, organizational and systems leadership skills;
- Advocate for clinical prevention, population health initiatives and evidence-based health policy through collaboration with other professionals and stakeholders.
DNP Program Director
Donna Behler McArthur, PhD, FNP-C, FAANP
Professor of Nursing and DNP Program Director
Dr. McArthur has 40 years experience within nursing, including 30 years as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), an NP educator and an administrator within ambulatory health care settings in the United States and the Middle East. She received her Master of Science in Nursing degree in the FNP specialty from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing and her PhD from the University of Maryland. Her scholarly activities embrace nurse practitioner education and practice with ethnically diverse and vulnerable populations across the lifespan. Prior to her current position, she was a clinical professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing and Director of the DNP Program there. She maintains an Adjunct Clinical Professor position within that institution. Previously, Dr. McArthur was Director of the FNP Program at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, during which time she was awarded a Robert Wood Johnson grant to participate in a national program to develop a model for educating NP students in a managed-care setting. In 2006 she was awarded the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Foundation/Endo Pharmaceuticals Grant for her research study, Pain Perception in Adults with ALS. At present, her practice and community activities are focused on initiatives surrounding this disease. She was one of the first NPs to be inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
