STATESBORO - With approval from the Board of Regents, Georgia Southern University will offer a doctor of nursing practice degree beginning in the fall.
The DNP program, offered online through the University's School of Nursing, is one of only two such degree programs in Georgia.
"This is a major milestone not only for the School of Nursing and Georgia Southern University, but for the profession within the state and region," said Fred Whitt, dean of GSU's College of Health and Human Sciences. "By delivering the program online, students will have access to one of the nation's top nursing programs at any location with an Internet connection."
This is Georgia Southern's fifth doctoral degree program. Since being classified a doctoral research university by the Carnegie Foundation for Teaching in 2006, the university has added doctoral degrees in psychology and public health and now DNP. Two doctor of education degrees were first offered in 1995.
The DNP program builds on Georgia Southern's graduate nursing education, which have been ranked number 11 in the country by US News and World Report for three years. The Family Nurse Practitioner program, which provides the foundation for the DNP, is recognized as a model graduate program by the National Organization for Nurse Practitioner Faculties.
"With the approval of this program, Georgia Southern University takes a leadership role in moving graduate nursing education to a new standard," said Dr. Jean Bartels, director of the University's School of Nursing. "Georgia faces an unprecedented and critical shortage of doctoral-prepared nurses, and the approval of this new degree program could not have come at a better time."
The DNP program, offered online through the University's School of Nursing, is one of only two such degree programs in Georgia.
"This is a major milestone not only for the School of Nursing and Georgia Southern University, but for the profession within the state and region," said Fred Whitt, dean of GSU's College of Health and Human Sciences. "By delivering the program online, students will have access to one of the nation's top nursing programs at any location with an Internet connection."
This is Georgia Southern's fifth doctoral degree program. Since being classified a doctoral research university by the Carnegie Foundation for Teaching in 2006, the university has added doctoral degrees in psychology and public health and now DNP. Two doctor of education degrees were first offered in 1995.
The DNP program builds on Georgia Southern's graduate nursing education, which have been ranked number 11 in the country by US News and World Report for three years. The Family Nurse Practitioner program, which provides the foundation for the DNP, is recognized as a model graduate program by the National Organization for Nurse Practitioner Faculties.
"With the approval of this program, Georgia Southern University takes a leadership role in moving graduate nursing education to a new standard," said Dr. Jean Bartels, director of the University's School of Nursing. "Georgia faces an unprecedented and critical shortage of doctoral-prepared nurses, and the approval of this new degree program could not have come at a better time."