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A doctorate in nursing practice from MU can help you advance your career in gerontology. If you want to become a clinical expert in advanced nursing, empower other nurses, and effect system wide improvements in care, this may be the degree for you.
Graduates will be eligible for certification from the following bodies:
Quick facts
Official name
Doctor of nursing practice with an emphasis in adult-gerontology clinical nurse specialistCampus
Program type
DoctorateAcademic home
Sinclair School of NursingDelivery mode
Blended, some campus visits requiredAccreditation
Higher Learning Commission, Commission on Collegiate Nursing EducationCredit hours
72Estimated cost
$43,200.00*This cost is for illustrative purposes only. Your hours and costs will differ, depending on your transfer hours, your course choices and your academic progress. See more about tuition and financial aid.
Career prospects
Potential careers
- Clinical nurse specialist for aging adults
- Health care services coordinator
- Institutional health care consultant
- Research coordinator
- Clinical instructor
Program structure
Delivery of this program is blended: You will complete most course work online, but an on-campus visit is required for five days during the summer before course work begins for orientation to the DNP program. Additional campus visits will be required throughout the program, approximately once per year.
Courses are semester-based. How long it takes to complete the program depends on your academic experience. If already have a master’s degree, you can study part time and complete the program in three years. If you have a bachelor’s degree and want to study part time, the program is more likely to take you five or six years.
Course work includes
- Diagnosis and treatment of acute, critical and chronic illness
- Improvement and monitoring of quality, safety and performance outcomes
- Teaching clients symptom- and self-management strategies
- Health care policy and finance
- Physiology/pathophysiology
- Pharmacology
Delivery
Blended, some campus visits requiredCalendar system
Semester-basedTypical program length
3 yearsTypical course load
Part timeAccreditation
The University of Missouri is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States. The DNP at the Sinclair School is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
