As the highest degree in clinical nursing practice, a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) can prepare healthcare professionals to not only provide excellent care, but also to shape how care is delivered. Earning a DNP opens the door to a world of opportunities in healthcare leadership, clinical experience and community impact. The expanded career paths available through earning a DNP are as diverse as they are rewarding.
A Meaningful Impact on Care Quality
The online DNP program at Frontier Nursing University allows students to achieve their educational goals while balancing their careers and day-to-day responsibilities. FNU’s program offers flexible learning models and students complete coursework while continuing to serve patients in their home communities. Students begin Frontier’s online DNP program with a three-day on-campus orientation experience where they meet and build a support network with their faculty and peers. Upon completion of didactic coursework, students collaborate with their chosen clinical site to lead a rapid cycle quality improvement (QI) project.
By leading QI projects, DNP students can make a meaningful impact on quality of care before they graduate. FNU DNP student Emilee Kidd, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC completed a QI project in 2025 to improve mental health care in a university clinic setting at Montana State University. According to the Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services, Montana has ranked in the top five for suicide rates in the nation for the past 40 years for all age groups.
Emilee worked with the clinic to develop a modified Bundled Mental Health Screening tool to screen for depression, anxiety, insomnia, eating disorders, and suicidal ideation. A Mental Health Management Checklist was also developed to manage positive screenings.
The effective mental health care baseline was 10% and increased to a project total of 88%. The mental health screening tool and smart phrases had the most significant impact on improving effective mental health care by identifying patients with mental health concerns and standardizing documentation. Emilee concluded that mental health screenings in university clinics are imperative and early intervention can improve care and prevent a crisis.
Why Pursue a DNP?
Frontier Nursing University’s DNP degree builds advanced skills in evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and systems leadership. Graduates are equipped to improve patient outcomes, lead interdisciplinary teams, and help change health policy at the local, regional and national level. No matter where you are in your career, whether you are working as a nurse practitioner, nurse-midwife, or nurse leader, a DNP can help you take your career to the next level.
Career Paths for DNP Graduates
- Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) – With a DNP, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse-midwives and more can deliver specialized, high-quality care with additional expertise in a specialized area.
- Healthcare Executive or Administrator – nurses who earn their DNP can advance into leadership positions, such as chief nursing officer, director of clinical operations, healthcare program administrator and more. These roles involve shaping policy, managing teams and improving healthcare systems.
- Clinical Educator or Faculty Member – DNP graduates are uniquely positioned to educate the next generation of nurses in a variety of settings, from universities to community colleges to teaching hospitals. By sharing expertise, DNP-prepared educators and faculty members help ensure a well-prepared healthcare workforce for years to come.
- Policy and Advocacy Leader – With a combination of clinical insight and system-wide thinking, DNP-prepared nurses can leverage their knowledge to help influence healthcare legislation and advocate for patient-centered policy.
- Clinical Researcher – DNP graduates can contribute to advancing healthcare through applied clinical research. While PhD-prepared nurses often focus on theory development, DNP-prepared clinical researchers bridge the gap between research and practice by translating findings into real-world solutions.
Take the Next Step
If you’re ready to take the next step as a nurse leader, a DNP degree could be the path for you. Through advanced clinical knowledge and strategic leadership training, FNU DNP students are equipped to take on new roles with confidence, backed by didactic learning and real-world experience.
For more on how to apply to Frontier Nursing University, please click here. View important application deadlines here.
To learn more about earning your DNP online through Frontier Nursing University, click here.
Carrie Belin is an experienced board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and a graduate of the Johns Hopkins DNP program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Georgetown University School of Nursing, and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She has also completed fellowships at Georgetown and the University of California Irvine.
Angie has been a full-scope midwife since 2009. She has experience in various birth settings including home, hospital, and birth centers. She is committed to integrating the midwifery model of care in the US. She completed her master’s degree in nurse-midwifery at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) and her Doctorate at Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves as the midwifery clinical faculty at FNU. Angie is motivated by the desire to improve the quality of healthcare and has led quality improvement projects on skin-to-skin implementation, labor induction, and improving transfer of care practices between hospital and community midwives. In 2017, she created a short film on skin-to-skin called 
Justin C. Daily, BSN, RN, has ten years of experience in nursing. At the start of his nursing career, Justin worked as a floor nurse on the oncology floor at St. Francis. He then spent two years as the Director of Nursing in a small rural Kansas hospital before returning to St. Francis and the oncology unit. He has been in his current position as the Chemo Nurse Educator for the past four years. He earned an Associate in Nurse from Hutchinson Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Bethel College.
Brandy Jackson serves as the Director of Undergraduate Nursing Programs and Assistant Educator at Wichita State University and Co-Director of Access in Nursing. Brandy is a seasoned educator with over 15 years of experience. Before entering academia, Brandy served in Hospital-based leadership and Critical Care Staff nurse roles. Brandy is passionate about equity in nursing education with a focus on individuals with disabilities. Her current research interests include accommodations of nursing students with disabilities in clinical learning environments and breaking down barriers for historically unrepresented individuals to enter the nursing profession. Brandy is also actively engaged in Interprofessional Education development, creating IPE opportunities for faculty and students at Wichita State. Brandy is an active member of Wichita Women for Good and Soroptimist, with the goal to empower women and girls. Brandy is a TeamSTEPPS master trainer. She received the DASIY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty in 2019 at Wichita State University. 
Dr. Sabrina Ali Jamal-Eddine is an Arab-disabled queer woman of color with a PhD in Nursing and an interdisciplinary certificate in Disability Ethics from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Dr. Jamal-Eddine’s doctoral research explored spoken word poetry as a form of critical narrative pedagogy to educate nursing students about disability, ableism, and disability justice. Dr. Jamal-Eddine now serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in UIC’s Department of Disability and Human Development and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities (NOND). During her doctoral program, Sabrina served as a Summer Fellow at a residential National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute at Arizona State University (2023), a summer fellow at Andrew W. Mellon’s National Humanities Without Walls program at University of Michigan (2022), a Summer Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute (2021), and an Illinois Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) trainee (2019-2020).
Vanessa Cameron works for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nursing Education & Professional Development. She is also attending George Washington University and progressing towards a PhD in Nursing with an emphasis on ableism in nursing. After becoming disabled in April 2021, Vanessa’s worldview and perspective changed, and a recognition of the ableism present within healthcare and within the culture of nursing was apparent. She has been working since that time to provide educational foundations for nurses about disability and ableism, provide support for fellow disabled nursing colleagues, and advocate for the disabled community within healthcare settings to reduce disparities.
Dr. Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse-midwife, Associate Professor of Nursing, and Director of the Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia University, a master’s degree from Yale University, specializing in nurse-midwifery, and a PhD from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Canty has provided reproductive health care for over 29 years. Her research interests include the prevention of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, reducing racial and ethnic health disparities in reproductive health, promoting diversity in nursing, and eliminating racism in nursing and midwifery.
Dr. Lisa Meeks is a distinguished scholar and leader whose unwavering commitment to inclusivity and excellence has significantly influenced the landscape of health professions education and accessibility. She is the founder and executive director of the DocsWithDisabilities Initiative and holds appointments as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Learning Health Sciences and Family Medicine at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Nikia Grayson, DNP, MSN, MPH, MA, CNM, FNP-C, FACNM (she/her) is a trailblazing force in reproductive justice, blending her expertise as a public health activist, anthropologist, and family nurse-midwife to champion the rights and health of underserved communities. Graduating with distinction from Howard University, Nikia holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in public health. Her academic journey also led her to the University of Memphis, where she earned a master’s in medical anthropology, and the University of Tennessee, where she achieved both a master’s in nursing and a doctorate in nursing practice. Complementing her extensive education, she completed a post-master’s certificate in midwifery at Frontier Nursing University.
Dr. Tia Brown McNair is the Vice President in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC. She oversees both funded projects and AAC&U’s continuing programs on equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices, and student success. McNair directs AAC&U’s Summer Institutes on High-Impact Practices and Student Success, and TRHT Campus Centers and serves as the project director for several AAC&U initiatives, including the development of a TRHT-focused campus climate toolkit. She is the lead author of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education (January 2020) and Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success (July 2016 and August 2022 Second edition).