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The WHNP-C provides primary care to patients with an emphasis on conditions unique to the female genital, urinary, obstetric and mammary organ systems across the lifestyle within the context of sociocultural environments — interpersonal, family and community.
Students seeking the Doctor of Nursing Practice are choosing a terminal academic degree for clinicians, not a research-focused degree. The DNP program students will learn skills that a Master’s level prepared nurse practitioner will use with individual patients in practice, they will also be taken beyond the provider patient relationship to a systems level thinking skill set. The DNP learns the necessary skills to affect a population of patients. The DNP is more rigorous because it requires competent writing skills, high level thought, and skill set competence which can be utilized in a healthcare systems level.
Quick facts
Official name
Doctor of nursing practice with an emphasis in women's health nurse practitionerCampus
Program type
DoctorateAcademic home
College of NursingDelivery mode
Blended, some campus visits requiredAccreditation
Higher Learning Commission, Commission on Collegiate Nursing EducationCredit hours
70Estimated cost
$62,230.00*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
In providing care, the WHNP-C considers the inter-relationship of gender, social class, culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation, economic status and socio-political power differentials (AACN, 2013).
Program structure
The online women’s health nurse practitioner involves 70 credit hours. Students complete most of their course work online and asynchronously. Select classes use a live, synchronous format. The program additionally requires on-campus intensives.
Full-time students finish this online program in three years. Part-time candidates fulfill all requirements in about four years.
For your culmination, you’ll learn how to put evidence into practice and measure the outcomes through completion of a clinical scholarship project (CSP) in the final year of the program.
The program’s structure includes:
Foundational concepts (33 credit hours): Explore the role and responsibilities of the nurse practitioner in delivering and improving access to care at patient to system levels. Courses advance your knowledge of health care systems, research techniques and intervention methods and delve into social determinants of health. See how biostatistics, health informatics, leadership, program evaluation and management and health care policy all factor into providing care and making decisions.
Clinical expertise (12 credit hours): Refine your evaluation and intervention skills through courses in pathophysiology, pharmacology, health assessments and the diagnostic process.
Integration of practice (14 credit hours): Assist patients and observe real-world applications of nursing theories through 600 practice hours.
Emphasis area (11 credit hours): Prepare to address, monitor and provide evidence-based care in women’s health.
Delivery of this program is blended: You will complete most course work online, but on-campus visits are required for orientation, five immersive learning experiences and a final dissertation defense. The immersive learning experiences include a health assessment, diagnostic reasoning and practicums to enhance your knowledge base in simulated learning environments.
Delivery
Blended, some campus visits requiredCalendar system
SemesterTypical program length
3-4 yearsTypical course load
2-3 classes per semesterAccreditation
The University of Missouri-St. Louis is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States.
The UMSL DNP program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
Faculty spotlight
Charity Galgani is an experienced clinician and healthcare leader. Dr. Galgani is a women’s health nurse practitioner in the St. Louis area. She cares for women from menarche through menopause and beyond. Her practice interests are the management of menopause, vaginal and vulvar conditions and perinatal mental health. She earned her doctor of nursing practice from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 2018.
Her work has been published and she has presented at many conferences. She was awarded UMSL’s Conference Travel Award, the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, among others. She’s a member of various nursing organizations.