Frontier Nursing University’s clinical doctorate is designed for registered nurses who want to take their nursing career, leadership skills and clinical expertise to the next level.
If you hold a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), you may be curious about the growing trend of nurses opting for a DNP degree and whether pursuing one would be the right decision for you. In recent years, more and more nurses are choosing to advance their careers by earning a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP).
Frontier Nursing University’s clinical doctorate is designed for registered nurses with certification as a nurse-midwife or nurse practitioner who want to take their nursing career, leadership skills and clinical expertise to the next level, with an emphasis on rural and underserved communities. Below are three reasons why you may consider taking this step.
“I decided to become a DNP to gain confidence in being a leader and advocate for my patients and community,” FNU DNP alumni Carrie Baker said.
“I decided to become a DNP to gain confidence in being a leader and advocate for my patients and community.”
– Dr. Carrie Baker, FNU Alumni
Advance your skills.
The DNP is the highest degree for clinical nursing practice and is highly valued in preparing nurses for advanced practice. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), changing demands of the complex healthcare environment require the highest level of scientific knowledge and practice expertise to assure quality patient outcomes.
FNU’s Post-Master’s DNP program is designed for certified nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners, combining coursework and clinical/practicum experiences to build on knowledge acquired during their master’s program. Students gain new experience in evidence-based practice, quality improvement, systems leadership, and more.
FNU faculty member and alumni Dr. Kristin Gianelis says earning a doctoral degree taught her to think differently.
“It opened my eyes to quality improvement, developed leadership skills and gave me the confidence to be an agent of change in my community,” she said.
“The DNP program is pushing me to become a better leader. I’m used to staying in the background and putting my head down, but I’m being challenged to engage more on a political stage and with stakeholders in my community to make sure my patients get the kind of care they deserve.”
– Dr. Kamil El, FNU Alumni
Improve the standard of care in your community.
A 2022 study by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) found widespread agreement that DNP graduates have great potential to impact patient and system-level outcomes by translating evidence into practice and health policy and by using leadership skills and interdisciplinary collaboration.
FNU’s DNP Program prepares nurses to impact health care nationwide, starting with improving health care outcomes and the delivery of primary health in their communities. The DNP Project guides students through the process of working within a healthcare delivery system to translate evidence into practice.
Our DNP students complete 500 hours planning, implementing and disseminating the results of a rapid cycle quality improvement project using the Institute for Healthcare Improvement model. The clinical project hours involve application and demonstration of The Essentials by AACN including person-centered care, population health, quality and safety, systems-based practice, and personal, professional and leadership development. Many of our alumni consider it a life-changing experience.
“The DNP program is pushing me to become a better leader,” Dr. Kamil El, FNU DNP alumni, said. “I’m used to staying in the background and putting my head down, but I’m being challenged to engage more on a political stage and with stakeholders in my community to make sure my patients get the kind of care they deserve.”
“It opened my eyes to quality improvement, developed leadership skills and gave me the confidence to be an agent of change in my community.”
– Dr. Kristin Gianelis, FNU Faculty Member and Alumni
Shape the future of healthcare.
DNPs are needed in practice, as well as education. Those who earn a DNP can use the degree to educate the next generation of nurses by working as university faculty or precepting. FNU has more than 150 doctorally prepared certified nurse-midwife and nurse practitioner faculty and a network of nearly 16,000 preceptors nationwide.
FNU student Mara-Joanne Derinor was motivated to pursue her DNP in an effort to improve clinical education. She credits her decision to pursue a DNP at FNU as one of the best she’s ever made. Derinor feels that too often nursing students are not given adequate encouragement in their education.
“I want to be the change that I want to see. I want to encourage and motivate future clinical students. I also want to make new discoveries in clinical research.”
– Mara-Joanne Derinor, FNU Student
“I want to be the change that I want to see,” she said. “I want to encourage and motivate future clinical students. I also want to make new discoveries in clinical research.”
A DNP can help you shape the future of healthcare in many ways. At Frontier Nursing University, DNP students complete their coursework online, complete 30 credit hours in 18 months, lead a rapid cycle quality improvement project in collaboration with a chosen clinical site, and participate in a three-day campus immersion experience. To learn more, visit the DNP page on our website.
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).