A world-class city filled with art and culture and an incredible campus that offers cutting edge resources–that’s what students receive at Penn Nursing. And that’s just the start. Penn Nursing and the wider university offer something for everyone, as well as a lifelong community.
Penn Nursing is globally known for educating dynamic nurses—because our School values evidence-based science and health equity. That’s where our expertise lies, whether in research, practice, community health, or beyond. Everything we do upholds a through-line of innovation, encouraging our exceptional students, alumni, and faculty share their knowledge and skills to reshape health care.
Penn Nursing students are bold and unafraid, ready to embrace any challenge that comes their way. Whether you are exploring a career in nursing or interested in advancing your nursing career, a Penn Nursing education will help you meet your goals and become an innovative leader, prepared to change the face of health and wellness.
Penn Nursing is the #1-ranked nursing school in the world. Its highly-ranked programs help develop highly-skilled leaders in health care who are prepared to work alongside communities to tackle issues of health equity and social justice to improve health and wellness for everyone.
Penn Nursing’s rigorous academic curricula are taught by world renowned experts, ensuring that students at every level receive an exceptional Ivy League education. From augmented reality classrooms and clinical simulations to coursework that includes experiential global travel to clinical placements in top notch facilities, a Penn Nursing education prepares our graduates to lead.
Post-Master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice
Our Post-Master’s DNP program equips master’s-prepared nurses with the skills necessary to excel in practice and policy leadership, making them uniquely poised to impact healthcare quality and health equity.
About the Program
Emerge as a leader in practice and broaden your potential.
Penn Nursing’s renowned faculty and world-class academic partners provide students with personalized learning and mentorship opportunities. Graduates of the Penn Nursing Post-Masters DNP (DNP-PM) program are prepared to evaluate and apply nursing science to address practice gaps within communities and complex healthcare systems. Each track within the DNP program prepares students to excel in direct clinical practice, healthcare leadership, and policy development.
All of Penn Nursing’s programs are accredited. To learn more about the accreditation and pass rates, please visit our Accreditation page.
Program Information
Part-Time
Program Length
21 months
Financial aid available?
Yes
Start Semester
Fall
Learning Format
Online
Program Details
Curriculum
With all classes available online, our curriculum offers flexibility and convenience, and allows master’s-prepared nurses to earn their Post-Master’s DNP while balancing a full-time career. Students can also complete their DNP project at their own site of employment, bringing additional value and impact to their own institution. For more information about the DNP Scholarly Project, please consult the DNP Handbook or view previous DNP Scholarly Projects.
Another advantage of completing a DNP at Penn Nursing? Course faculty and project mentors include thought leaders across domains of nursing and healthcare. Through these foundational relationships, students garner access to a global network of experts who are instrumental to scholarly project development and implementation.
The Post-Master’s DNP plan of study includes10 course unitsdesigned to be completed online in 21 months.
Priority Deadline: November 1, 2023 Final Deadline: February 1, 2024 Latest Decision Notification: mid-February
*Dates subject to change without notice.
Costs & Tuition
The estimated total cost (tuition and fees) of the 2023 Post Master’s DNP program (11 CUs) is $74,995.
Your program costs will depend on your individual plan of study. Tuition is charged per CU based on your semester enrollment.
Discount available for employees of our Academic Practice Partners. Click here to learn more.
Tuition
$6,392
Online Services Fees
$150
TOTAL
$6,542
Tuition
$6,392
Online Services Fees
$150
Technology Fee
$116
TOTAL
$6,658
Program Outcomes
At completion of the DNP program, a student will demonstrate the competency to effect advance high-quality, equitable and accessible healthcare by:
Developing ways to improve health and healthcare outcomes through translating research, evaluating evidence-based practice, and implementing innovative ideas.
Applying project management acumen and data analytics to improve outcomes for patient/family, systems, or community-based care.
Disseminating practice knowledge that contributes to nursing and interprofessional scholarship.
The Post-Master’s DNP program provides content in health policy, informatics, quality improvement, epidemiology, data analytics, leadership skills and applied healthcare accounting and economics. Based on their work experience, graduates often seek roles or additional responsibilities in clinical practice improvement, nursing education, and clinical program leadership.
Patricia Bajaj, MSN, RN, ACNP-BC, CCRN Current DNP Student
“I am proud to be a doctoral student at Penn, where the education is rigorous, yet manageable with all my other responsibilities.”
Doctoral programs in the nursing profession primarily fall into two types: research-focused and practice- focused. Most research-focused programs grant the Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD) and are designed to prepare nurse scientists and scholars to conduct generalizable research using rigorous statistical methods. Practice-focused doctoral programs yield the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree (DNP) and are designed to prepare experts in specialized advanced nursing practice. They focus heavily on evidence-based practice that reflects the application of credible research findings. The two types of doctoral programs differ in their goals but are complementary in nature.
The Post-Master’s DNP (DNP-PM) expands the skills of master’s-prepared nurses to translate evidence in order to improve clinical practice and the health outcomes of specific populations. The DNP in Executive Leadership (DNP-EL) provides master’s-prepared nurses who already have leadership experience with the executive-level skills to lead systems and organizational change. Please refer to each program’s website for more information.
Program, Plan of Study, and Cohort
Yes, the program is fully online withsynchronous online.Course content is delivered asynchronously; individual courses may have a limited number of synchronous requirements to facilitate specific course learning objectives that are also made available in asynchronous format. Every course offers virtual, synchronous office hours with course faculty.
We encourage all students to take two courses/termtoremain within your cohort which is known toimproveadult learners’outcomes and supportsnetworking and teamwork, but we understand that life circumstances can be unpredictable. If you have questions about a different pace of study, please contact your respectivetrackdirector.
Penn students are encouraged to explore opportunities to learn in courses offered across the University. There are no required electives in the DNP Plan of Study. If students want to consider additional course work outside the DNP Plan of Study, consultation with an academic advisor is strongly recommended before registering for any additional/extra coursework.
It is not necessary to know your DNP project topic before you apply and, in fact, we expect this to be an iterative process. As you engage in coursework and explorethe literature, we encourage you to be curious and think critically about potential areas for practice change in your organization or specialty.
DNP faculty collaborate with students throughout the program but particularly in the project courses to mentor them through various stages of the DNP project including development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination. Students also work with respective institutional site leaders who guide them in identifying organizational needs and working with key stakeholders. For more information about the DNP Scholarly Project, please consult the DNP Handbook.
Yes, in fact we encourage you to work while in the program as your practice can inform your learning and scholarship. Students often complete their DNP project (usually a quality improvement/practice change initiative) at their site of employment which not only benefits their institution but also showcases your scholarly work.
The PM-DNP program host an all-day synchronous online intensive for first year DNP students at the end of August, at the onset of year one. This is an important, required event that helps DNP students to become familiar with University of Pennsylvania and School of Nursing education resources, develop specific insights for educational expectations of the DNP program, meet DNP faculty, and build relationships and network amongst your cohort. In addition, students participate in workshops that address evidence translation, leadership, and scholarship, including scholarly writing.A second all-day synchronous online intensive for secondyear DNP students is positioned at the end of August, prior to year two to prepare students for project development.During this intensive, you will meet with course faculty and participate in data analytics and project proposal planning activities to launch the secondyear Fall semester coursework.
For the PM-DNP, there are between 20-30 students in a cohort.
Influencing health care and health care workplaces through leadership, policy implementation, and patient care takes incredible skill and thoughtfulness. Penn Nursing’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program is an example of how to do it right.